Harvey Nichols will close its Dundrum store in Dublin this September, according to reports, with staff already informed.
Frasers completed its acquisition of Harvey Nichols on 14 August through a pre-pack administration, paying roughly £40m. The deal brings six UK stores, Knightsbridge, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Edinburgh into the Frasers empire.
On 18 August, Harvey Nichols temporarily paused online trading as it transitions to new ownership under Frasers Group.
Now the Irish Times are reporting administrators Grant Thornton confirmed that the Dublin store will close on 13 September after it was unable to reach an agreement with Dundrum Town Centre to continue trading.
A statement read: “We recognise that this is difficult news for employees, customers and other stakeholders. Representatives of the joint provisional liquidators (or Grant Thornton) will be on site to meet with employees, answer questions and provide support during this period.
“Our immediate focus is on supporting staff through this process and ensuring an orderly wind-down of operations.”
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The High Court was told the Dublin store, which has 33 staff and was part of the Harvey Nichols group in the UK, was unable to pay its debts and was insolvent.
John Boland and Nicholas O’Dwyer of Grant Thornton were appointed as joint liquidators of the store, which had an annual rent bill of almost €1.1 million.
The sole director of the trading entity behind the store, Julia Goddard, said there was no buyer for the company and the board had decided it was in its best interests to enter a winding-up process.
Goddard said if no buyer could be found for the Dundrum company, the joint liquidators would be best placed to implement an orderly cessation of trading and secure the assets of the company.
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