Mothercare enters liquidation in Ireland closing all its stores
Mothercare's 14 stores in Ireland will not reopen after the company was placed in liquidation due to the impact of Covid-19.
The company employed almost 200 people across retail, warehouses and administration.
In the UK, Mothercare had already closed all its stores in January after 59 years in business with the loss of 2,500 jobs. The Irish franchise was separate and continued to operate and posted profits of €105,768 on revenues of €28.5m in the 12 months to the end of March.
However in a statement this morning the company said: "Mothercare Ireland has taken the difficult decision to place the company into liquidation and as a result we have ceased trading with immediate effect."
"When Covid-19 began to spread in Ireland no one knew the scale of the impact that this would have. The impact on our business to date is unprecedented and what has become clear over the recent weeks is that store sales are going to be seriously impacted whilst social distancing measures are in place in the short term and longer term as consumer habits permanently change. When we factor this in coupled with issues we have in our supply chain, the business will sustain significant losses this year and will continue to do so into the future."
Mothercare Ireland was set up in 1992 by David Ward, who had previously run the BHS, Habitat, and Mothercare businesses in Ireland for the Storehouse Group.
"As a family business, it is devastating news for the entire team. Whilst we've tried to keep our teams as up to date as possible through these challenging times, it's still a huge shock."
