Dublin electronics store Peats, which was established in 1934, has gone into liquidation resulting in all 11 of its stores closing down immediately and 75 job losses.
Ben Peat, the chairman of Peats, told staff at its head office on Parnell Street in Dublin that the company couldn’t keep trading due to financial constraints.
He said the impacts of recession, high rent costs and online competitors affected high-street retailing, meaning the stores could not continue trading. He said 60pc of its annual sales came from November to January and that it could not continue through the summer months.
“It is evident in our experience that consumers have little discretionary spend at this time and sales volumes are up to 50pc down on peak 2007 spend, while in parallel it has not been possible to achieve appropriate rental adjustment to enable a profit margin to be achieved to sustain business viability,” said Peat.
“The sector in which we operate has been disproportionately affected by the downturn, if we don’t close now our capacity to settle our affairs to best effect will only further deteriorate.
“The company had a fine heritage for quality, decency and value, it became a popular name on the Dublin retail landscape and its departure from the high street will be a loss to the tradition of family retailing in Dublin,” he said.
Brigit and William Peat established Peats on Parnell Street, Dublin, in 1934. It initially sold wet cell batteries, bicycles, furniture and prams. It moved into electronics, beginning with selling radiograms and then offering three-in-one hi-fi systems before moving into a broader range of electronics.
All six of Brigit and William Peat’s children joined the business and their youngest son, Ben Peat, is now the chairman. The company had Peats stores across Dublin and operated a number of Sony Centre stores.
Peat said the company’s staff will be paid their entitlements and redundancy in full. All stores have closed and customers can call 01 902 3718 or email admin@peats.com with any enquiries.
