Irish Bookseller Waterstone’s To Close Flagship Stores on Sunday

One of the most familiar landmarks in Dawson Street Dublin is Waterstone’s bookshop, a mainstay of the busy thoroughfare for many years. However, the company this morning announced the closure of the Dawson Street branch, as well as its Jervis Street branch and nine other branches in the UK (Colchester, Worcester, Guildford, Stafford, Hemel Hempstead, Coventry, Tiverton, Luton and Chelmsford).

The closure of the two Irish branches will result in the loss of 46 jobs with a spokesperson for the company confirming that every effort will be made to ‘redeploy’ staff if possible. The news follows the announcement earlier this month of Waterstone’s parent company, HMV, when it reported a 13.6% fall in sales in UK and Ireland in the five weeks to January 1st. The company has recently been struggling to meet the terms of a bank loan.

In an unusual situation, Waterstone’s also own Hodges Figgis, a large single-shop bookseller located directly across the street from its Dawson Street branch. Hoggis Figgis, operating under its own brand, will be unaffected by the latest closures.

The company has 300 branches across the UK, Ireland and Europe, including branches in Cork, Drogheda, Ballymena, Belfast, Coleraine and Newry. It is understood these stores will not be affected by the current round of closures, however, the company has plans to close up to 50 branches across the entire group over the coming year.

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