EuroGiant stores across Cork have emptied of stock and permanently closed their doors after the chain entered liquidation earlier this year.
The well-known discount retailor operated 77 stores across Ireland – including a number of shops in Co. Cork – and employed more than 640 people. Now a notice on the door of the once-popular store on Oliver Plunkett Street in the city centre explains that “returns, refunds and repairs of any goods purchased” are no longer possible, with the shelves cleared of stock.
The High Court appointed liquidators to the retailer on Wednesday, February 4. The chain’s first-ever store opened its doors in 1990 on Moore Street in Dublin, and over nearly 40 years it grew to open stores across the capital, as well over 20 other counties.
EuroGeneral Limited and Bushgrove Limited, which operated the EuroGiant chain, blamed “rising costs” for the decision. Mark Degnan and Brendan O’Reilly of Interpath were appointed to carry out the liquidation process on what EuroGiant founder Charlie O’Loughlin called a “very hard day”.
The notice on the Oliver Plunkett Street store(Image: CorkBeo)
EuroGiant operated four stories across central Cork city – at Blackpool Shopping Centre, Douglas Village Shopping Centre, Oliver Plunkett Street and North Main Street – with the latter two now listed as ‘Permanently Closed’ on Google Maps. A store in Ballincollig is also listed as closed, while the EuroGiant website is now out of action.
Found Charlie O’Loughlin said: “I founded this business over 30 years ago and I never imagined it would end like this.” In a statement, a EuroGiant spokesperson added: “Rent and day-to-day operating expenses, along with increased competition in the retail sector, mean the business is no longer viable in its current form.”
Elsewhere, other discount stores have been struggling in the changing retail environment, with Dealz also facing mounting challenges Dealz, as stores have been closed in Cork and elsewhere amid drastic cost-cutting.