Harvey Norman has big plans for expansion

RETAILER Harvey Norman plans to open up to nine more shops in Ireland. The Australian company, which recently opened its third Irish outlet in Cork, says it wants to become the biggest electrical retailer in the country.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on Monday in Sydney, chairman Gerry Harvey said eight or nine shops were in the pipeline for next year.

“I can’t see how it is not possible that we won’t become the number one retailer in Ireland in five, six or seven years,” he said, adding that a move into Northern Ireland was also on the cards.

The company, which sells everything from electrical goods to furniture, entered the Irish market in 2002 with stores in Dublin and Dundalk. The Cork outlet is based close to the Kinsale Roundabout.

The last set of accounts for Harvey Norman’s two Irish stores show a loss of €3 million on sales of almost €27m. However these figures only cover nine months of its first year trading in Ireland.

Harvey Norman’s said in the four months ended October 31 its group sales rose 7.6% to €888m. Like-for-like sales - sales of stores open at least a year - rose by 4% during the period.