Competition from bigger DIY shops forces Hickey’s to close after 75 years

HICKEY’S hardware is to close its six shops in Cork and Limerick with the loss of nearly 80 jobs, it emerged yesterday.

Hickey’s, which has been in business for more than 75 years, said competition from bigger DIY shops and the roadworks in Cork city centre had decimated its business over the past five years.

Over the next few months, its five shops in Cork in Maylor Street, Watercourse Road, Wilton, Douglas and Ballyvolane shopping centres will be wound down with the loss of 45 full and part-time jobs. A central distribution warehouse in the Southside Industrial Estate in Togher will also close.