The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Phone outlets escape the axe
KERRY’S Carphone Warhouse outlets have been spared the axe.
Dixons Carphone Warehouse – which has three outlets in Tralee and Killarney – has confirmed that none of its 80-plus stores in the Republic of Ireland will be impacted by planned closures announced by the company.
Shares in Dixons were down over 18per cent in afternoon trading on the London Stock Exchange after the company said that it expected its gross margins for 2018-19 to be down.
Nearly 100 Carphone Warehouse stores are to close this year as the retailer’s new boss pledged to “take action” to tackle challenges in the mobile phone market.
Dixons Carphone said that it will shut 92 Carphone Warehouse standalone stores this year as it grapples with changing consumer habits.
None of the stores in the Republic of Ireland earmarked for closure as part of the announcement, the company confirmed.
Carphone Warehouse has over 80 stores throughout the Republic of Ireland including its three Kerry branches.
Hard-pressed consumers are holding on to older devices for longer and going “Sim-only”, which have dented the group’s performance.
Most recent accounts for Carphone Warehouse in Ireland showed it lost €12m in 2016 and that it had accumulated losses of €50m, reflecting “an ongoing competitive market place”.
Many of the rents on the chains retail units were negotiated over 10 years ago and are (significantly) higher than the current market average.
“Carphone Warehouse Ireland is currently in talks with certain landlords to discuss these rental agreements. We moved out of four stores in 2016 and one in 2017 following negotiations with our landlords. This is standard business practice, and these conversations are confidential due to commercial sensitivities,” said a statement from the company.