Department store Shaws sees turnover grow 2.7% to €72.4m 

Shaw & Sons has been trading for over 160 years and operates 16 stores across Ireland

The Shaws store on Patrick Street, Fermoy. Shaws has 16 stores across Ireland. Picture Dan Linehan

Irish department store group Shaws saw turnover grow to €72.4m last year, up 2.7%.

Accounts filed by the fashion, home, and beauty retailer showed the company reported a loss after tax of €715,144 for the year ended February 2, 2025. 

Despite this, the reported turnover of €72.4m was up on €70.5m reported in 2024. Gross profits of €28.35m were achieved, representing a gross margin of 37.5% on sales,  down from the 39.1% achieved in 2024. 

Shaw & Sons has been trading for over 160 years and remains a family business, still owned and run by the Shaw family. It now operates 16 stores across Ireland, with stores in Fermoy, Dun Laoghaire, Tralee, Dungarvan, Limerick, Waterford, Roscrea, Portlaoise, Wexford, Athy, Carlow, Athlone, Mullingar, Castlebar, Drogheda, and Ballina.

The company had net assets at the year end amounting to €47.8m. 

Shaws had an average 690 staff during the year, with 560 working in the company's retail operations, and a further 108 working in administration and management, with 22 workers in the company's warehousing and online fulfillment operations. 

The overall average staff numbers (690) was down slightly from 2024 (702). Nevertheless, wages and salaries grew from €16,025,861 to €17,324,769, with total payroll costs of €19,823,407.

Directors' renumeration amounted to €1.72m including pension contributions to defined contribution plans of €225,000.

The first Shaws store opened in 1864 by Henry and Annie Shaw in Mountmellick, Co. Laois, starting out as a drapery store. Over the years it expanded its presence and is one of the country's most established department stores. Several generations of the Shaw family continue to work in the business. 

Recent years have seen continued expansion. Last year, Shaws opened its latest store, at the Goldenisland Shopping Centre in Athlone, Co Westmeath, taking over a former Argos premises. In 2024, it also consolidated its Dungarvan, Co Waterford operations, closing its electrical store on Mary Street and bringing those operations into the company's larger store in the town, on Main Street, which was also revamped.

The original site of the first Shaws store on Parnell Street, in Mountmellick closed in 2021, with staff transferring to the Portlaoise store. Last month, that building went on the market and it was reported as sale agreed shortly before Christmas.