Harvey Norman managed to stem the losses at its Irish stores last year
The Australian retailer is planning to open two new stores next year.
AUSTRALIAN HOME AND lifestyle retail chain Harvey Norman has managed to shrink losses at its Irish business.
According to newly filed accounts, the outfit reported a loss of more than €200,000 for the year to the end of June 2017, compared to a loss of over €1.2 million during the previous 12-month period.
The company’s directors said they were “satisfied” with this reduction, forecasting that an ongoing restructure of the group’s Northern Ireland business will further curtail its losses.
By the end of June last year, Harvey Norman’s Irish wing was sitting on an accumulated loss of more than €120 million.
In a report accompanying the group’s accounts, the directors said they were “confident that the group will return to overall profitability in the near-term”.
Sales growth
The retailer – which operates 13 stores in the Republic and two outlets in the North – recorded its sixth-consecutive year of overall sales growth with turnover increasing by €1.6 million to over €182 million.
The group recorded strong growth in its furniture and bedding departments which “helped offset a currency-led softening in the technology and appliances categories”.
Harvey Norman’s Irish chief, Blaine Callard, recently dubbed the common narrative that e-commerce is destroying bricks and mortar stores as “fake news” that doesn’t accurately portray modern retailing.
Blaine Callard of Harvey Norman Ireland
According to the group’s 2017 accounts, the company considers online shopping as both an “opportunity and threat” that has “necessitated investment and strengthening of the digital capabilities of the Irish business”.
“Strong investment in digital content on the Irish site has aided both the online and offline businesses”, the directors’ report stated, adding that Harvey Norman is considered a “dominant multichannel retailer” in Ireland.
One of the “cornerstones” of Harvey Norman’s growth strategy is the opening of new stores that “deliver a modern, fresh and truly experiential shopping experience” for customers.
During the most recent financial year, the retailer opened a new outlet in Airton Retail Park in Tallaght, its fifth in Dublin, which includes a standalone café.
Through a statement, Harvey Norman Ireland CEO Blaine Callard told Fora that the business is “now stable, viable and in expansion mode”.
“Our new Tallaght flagship store opened last August and we are planning two more stores in 2019. Building a great and trusted brand has been at the heart of our Irish turnaround.”
The Sydney-headquartered outfit employed an average 880 people at its Irish stores, roughly 20 more than the year before, with salaries worth about €30,250 per person.
Note: This article was updated to include comment from Harvey Norman Ireland CEO Blaine Callard.
