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.

A further 28 jobs will go from Newsom’s on William Street in Limerick.

A company spokesman said: “Management and staff have made every effort to adapt to a changing marketplace. But the arrival of the DIY superstores and their locations has had a dramatic effect on shopping patterns, products on offer, and we simply couldn’t compete any longer.”

It is unlikely that a rival will look to buy the company, though the Maylor Street shop might be suitable for other retail purposes if sold.

The spokesman added that the company had a large amount of stock and would continue to trade until it had a sufficient amount of cash to make redundancy payments to staff.

Losses at the company have mounted over the last couple of years. According to the company’s latest accounts, its pre-tax losses in 2004 were €100,000 - nearly double the level of the previous year, while its assets of €1.9 million were offset by liabilities of €1.8m.

Staff were told of the decision to close in recent days. It is thought they may get four and half weeks’ redundancy per year of service.