Woolworths (Ireland) was a retail chain that operated in Ireland. Woolworths had operated stores in the Republic of Ireland until 1984, while stores in Northern Ireland became fully part of F. W. Woolworth plc and these stores lasted until 2009 when the
Woolworths Group fell into administration. The defunct brand then being owned by
The Very Group
The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 2005 ...
.
During the 70 years of operations, Woolworths established itself at the heart of Irish shopping and stores sourced about 80% of their range locally, offering Irish equivalents to the items usually carried in Woolworths stores in Britain.
In July 2021,
Woolworth purchased the defunct Irish Woolworths brand, trademarks and intellectual property from The Very Group for an undisclosed sum.
History
The first F. W. Woolworth store in Ireland opened on 23 April 1914 on
Grafton Street in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. Plans for an outlet in the industrial north had continued despite the outbreak of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, with a new opening on High Street in Belfast on 6 November 1915. After this, more stores opened in towns and cities throughout Ireland. In 1921, the company's two stores in Dublin were forcibly closed by agents of
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
, an event which the American parent had not anticipated might happen when entering the Dublin market.
By 1931, a decision had been made to liquidate the profitable F.W. Woolworth Company of Ireland, Ltd. and merge with the British concern in order to form one company covering both Ireland and Great Britain—F.W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd., of England.
At the time, there were six stores in Ireland: two in Dublin and one each in
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
,
Cork,
Kilkenny
Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
and
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
.
In 1966, the Grafton Street store had been rebuilt in the modern style where the new look mimicked an identical transformation which had recently been completed at the store in Limerick.
On the night of 23 October 1971, during
The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in Northern Ireland, three men in their twenties were shot in the street by the British Army from an observation post on the roof of the Hill Street Woolworths store. They were mistakenly believed to be engaged in a bank robbery across the street.
In the 1970s, the
Cork and
Tipperary stores also had makeovers and in 1980 alone the stores on
Henry Street in Dublin, Limerick and
Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
had all been modernised, while
Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
had been the last store to be refurbished before the American majority shareholders sold out in 1982.
At the same time under-performing stores had been weeded out. The branch in
Thomas Street, Dublin, which had been a disaster, had been closed in the 1960s, followed by
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...
, which had pioneered self-service in the Irish chain in 1971, and the branches in
Bray and
Thurles
Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...
. The modernisation of the Tipperary store caused its sales and profit to collapse, causing the store to close in 1978.
Withdrawal from the Republic
In 1983, Woolworths informed staff of its intention to pick 37 freehold branches to be sold. When news broke in April 1984 that the Grafton Street branch had been sold for
IR£
The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction.) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until ...
4.75 million few were surprised. It occupied a prime spot, and its IR£1.6 million annual turnover had long been eclipsed by its neighbour across the River Liffey in Henry Street, where sales had just topped IR£4m for the first time. Grafton Street had the equivalent of 30 full-time staff, all of whom were given the option of redundancy or a transfer to a neighbouring store. Most considered this a sad but acceptable sacrifice if it meant that judgement day had passed.
On 25 July 1984, Woolworths announced it would withdraw from the Republic altogether, arguing that almost all of the stores were loss-making and could no longer be considered viable. Semi-state bodies such as Córus Trácthála Teo (CTT), which championed the efforts of many small manufacturing concerns supplying Woolworths, were also oddly silent. In 1981, CTT had forecast that the IR£2.5m worth of Irish-made goods sold from Woolworths counters per annum would rise to IR£7m in 1982 and had expected further growth to rise to IR£15m over the next five years, but such optimistic hopes were dashed. All of the 18 remaining stores in the Republic closed on 6 October 1984 and resulted in 277 jobs being lost.
In August 1996, market research was undertaken by
Woolworths investigating opportunities to re-enter the Republic of Ireland market. About 32 potential locations were identified that could support a Woolworths store. However, the project did not proceed beyond the market research phase.
Northern Ireland stores
After withdrawing from the Republic, F. W. Woolworth plc took full control of stores in Northern Ireland where these stores were popular with
cross-border shoppers from the Republic, especially stores close to the
Irish border
Irish commonly refers to:
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state
***Erse (disambiguatio ...
. The stores continued to trade normally until the
Woolworths Group went into administration in November 2008. Stores in Northern Ireland began to close during Christmas 2008 and the final stores closed on 3 January 2009, when the Woolworths brand disappeared from the island of Ireland.
See also
*
Woolworths Group
*
F. W. Woolworth Company
References
{{Authority control
1914 establishments in Ireland
1984 disestablishments in Ireland
Companies based in Dublin (city)
Department stores of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
Retail companies established in 1914
Retail companies disestablished in 1984