POUNDLAND is to place five of its 33 stores in the north into temporary ‘hibernation’ from Sunday with most staff likely to be furloughed.
The budget chain said while it can legally trade as an essential retailer, footfall at some shopping centres and high streets was down by around 80 per cent due to the latest stringent Covid-19 restrictions.
The stores affected in Northern Ireland include four based inside shopping centres: Castlecourt (Belfast), Erneside (Enniskillen), Buttercrane and The Quays (both Newry). The fifth store is based on Ferryquay Street in Derry.
Poundland said where appropriate, staff in the five stores would be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The company said furloughed staff would retain their benefits and employment status.
The retailer, which has more than 800 stores across the UK, said a total of 44 would go into hibernation. Poundland took similar steps last March for around 120 stores, which later reopened from late May.
In a statement, the company said: “As before, the move protects the business in the short-term, and helps ensure it’s well positioned once the UK emerges from the pandemic.”
Poundland said ‘hibernation’ allows it to focus staff in a smaller number of stores, with an alternative store available in most cases.
However, that is not the case for Newry or Enniskillen.
Austin Cooke, Poundland’s retail director said: “We learned valuable lessons during the lockdown in March about how buying patterns change as people stick to government advice to stay at home.
“Putting a small number of stores into hibernation helps protect them for the long term and focus our attention on the majority of stores that remain open to serve their neighbourhoods.
“We hope this lockdown is short and we can re-open our hibernating stores as quickly as possible and we remain grateful for the vital support schemes available to us that help protect jobs.”
Data released by the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium this week revealed that footfall in December was down 47 per cent on the same period in 2019.
