THERE have been widespread fears of job losses in the retail sector with unfortunate news coming from two popular city retailers in recent days.
The two-storey bargain store Dealz on Bedford Row in Limerick City is set to close in the coming weeks, the chain’s owner confirmed, while job fears have been raised at another major Irish bargain retailer, EuroGiant, which was placed into liquidation by the High Court this week.
A spokesperson for discount retail giant Dealz, known in the UK as Poundland, confirmed that its store on Bedford Bow in the heart of Limerick City is set to close on March 21.
It is understood that the chain’s other stores in the city – William Street, Childer’s Road, and Crescent Shopping Centre – will remain open and unaffected.
Regarding job fears for the Bedford Row staff, a Dealz spokesman said that “it goes without saying we will do all we can to look for other opportunities for colleagues impacted by Limerick’s closure”.
The spokesman said that the closure on Bedford Row comes as the company has been “unable to secure lease terms that would enable us to keep trading there”.
The spokesman confirmed that the closure is not linked to a court-approved restructuring of Poundland stores in the UK last year, which saw the company go from 800 stores across the UK to 651.
“No Republic of Ireland Dealz store was impacted by these closures,” the spokesman said, confirming that “any future and current closures are a consequence of standard business-as-usual lease events expected at a retailer with a large store network, not because of the restructure”.
Elsewhere, Irish discount retail chain EuroGiant was placed into liquidation by the High Court, raising fears for 640 workers throughout the chain’s 77 stores across Ireland – including at the Parkway Shopping Centre, Arthur’s Quay Shopping Centre, and on William Street in Limerick City.
The company cited “rising costs” for the move, but said its stores will “remain open and continue trading as normal” while a review is carried out.
“Rent and day-to-day operating expenses, along with increased competition in the retail sector, mean the business is no longer viable in its current form,” a statement from the company said.
EuroGiant founder Charlie O’Loughlin, who started the business on Dublin’s Moore Street over 30 years ago, said it was “a very hard day” and that he “never imagined it would end like this”.
“What matters most to me now is our staff. Many people have given a huge part of their working lives to the company, and I know how worrying and unsettling this will be for them and their families,” he said.
“We did everything we realistically could to keep the business going, but the pressures it faced over time meant that was no longer possible. My focus now is on supporting an orderly wind-down of the business and working with the liquidator to achieve the best possible outcome for employees.”