STOCK GOES UP IN SMOKE
‘Hundreds of thousands of euro’ of stock is ruined in Town & Country blaze HUNDREDS of thousands of euros in stock was destroyed due to smoke damage at a New Ross business.
The stock was removed from Town & Country Mercantile on the quay in New Ross yesterday (Monday).
The damage was caused after a motorcycle was set on fire behind the business, and smoke entered the building through vents. Town & Country owner William Ryan said: ‘ This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
‘ You’re talking hundreds of thousands of euro worth of stock. The florists next door has also lost a lot of stock.’
THE SETTING on fire of a motorcylce at the back of a premises in New Ross has led to all of the stock at Town & Country Mercantile luxury goods store having to be dumped.
On Sunday, November 13, a stolen motorcycle was dumped and set on fire at around 5.15 a.m. at Dunbrody car park just off New Ross quay.
CCTV footage shows a man attempting to hotwire the motorcycle outside St Michael’s Theatre and then pushing it to try to get it started at 5 a.m.
The man hopped on the motorcycle and tried to get it started going down Sugarhouse Lane. He pushed the bike against the back of InWater florists and set fire to it. Smoke from the fire entered the Town & Country Mercantile, which sells luxury goods over three floors, through vents at the rear of the premises.
The smoke alarm at Town & Country Mercantile was activated and gardaí and members of New Ross Fire Service arrived within a matter of minutes. Gardaí preserved the scene and carried out a forensic examination.
Seven people’s jobs have been temporarily affected by the fire.
Town & Country owner William Ryan said: ‘ This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. The ground floor got the worst of it. The big problem is that even though there is nothing wrong with a lot of the stock, the items have to be dumped as they are from highly reputable companies and can’t be tarnished by anything or go out to the public. We are licensed stockists.’
Mr Ryan and his staff were informed by their insurance company late on Friday afternoon that all stock has to be removed from the shop.
‘You’re talking hundreds of thousands of euros worth of stock. The florists next door has also lost a lot of stock and she is in limbo. The fire could have spread and destroyed both buildings.
‘We have to go through a process of cleaning and redecorating and we hope to reopen in early December. We have a lot of loyal customers. It’s hard enough to build up customers and for this to happen at the busiest time of the year when we’re selling gift vouchers, is shattering.’
Mr Ryan praised the guards and firemen who arrived within four minutes of getting the call.
‘We’re hoping for swift justice. The guards were really on the ball and the response time of the firemen getting here at four minutes was amazing.’
Mr Ryan said he and his staff are busy trying to source stock for the business, which is open six years.
‘It has been tough being closed and losing the stock but with product libaility we can’t let the stock go into the market place. We will live to fight another day,’ he said.