80 jobs to go as fashion company granted interim examinership

Bestseller Retail (Ireland), which is wholly owned by its Danish parent company Bestseller A/S, has been trading in Ireland since 1991 and sells clothes and accessories under four different brand names - Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, Only and Name It.

To “secure its future as a viable trading entity”, the firm will close 14 of its worst-performing stores.

The stores that are scheduled to be closed are located in: Swords, north Dublin; Carlow; Waterford; Sligo; Blackpool, Cork; Douglas, Cork; Charlestown; Drogheda; Athlone and Navan.

In Athlone, the Vero Moda and Jack & Jones stores in Athlone Town Centre will close, but the Vero Moda store in the town’s Golden Island Shopping Centre will remain open for business.

In Drogheda, the Vero Moda and Jack & Jones stores will close but the name it outlet in the town will continue to trade.

“We deeply regret the impact the closing of these stores will have on our employees and it is not a decision which has been taken lightly,” said Lucy O’Mahoney, general manager, Bestseller Retail (Ireland).

“We have been examining all our options over the past 12 months, however, and we believe that the process of examinership and the restructuring of our operations will strengthen the long-term viability of the company.”

Declan McDonald of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed as the interim examiner.

“We look forward to the continued support of our many customers in Ireland,” said O’Mahoney.

“Along with the support of our parent company, we are confident that we will emerge from Examinership in a strong position to face the future.

“Along with the rest of the retail sector, we have experienced a very challenging trading environment in the last two years. Our trading position has been further undermined by the steady increase in rents across all of our stores, which has seen property costs rise to unsustainable levels.

“During the examinership, we will be negotiating with all of our landlords to secure more realistic rental levels.

“In summary, we believe that the appointment of the Examiner, combined with our plans for the redevelopment of our business, will provide a solid platform to help us to continue to do business in Ireland.

“We are working closely with our creditors to ensure the long term viability of Bestseller Retail (Ireland) Limited.”

The 14 Bestseller Retail (Ireland) Limited stores that are to be closed are:

Vero Moda, Swords

Jack & Jones, Swords

Vero Moda, Carlow

Vero Moda, Waterford

Vero Moda, Sligo

Vero Moda, Blackpool

Vero Moda, Douglas

Vero Moda, Charlestown

Name it, Charlestown

Jack & Jones, Drogheda

Vero Moda, Athlone

Jack & Jones, Athlone

Vero Moda, Drogheda

Vero Moda, Navan