Business

Shoe retailer Clarks confirms closure of Omagh and Bangor stores

Clarks has cut its store count in the north from 12 to 10.
Clarks has cut its store count in the north from 12 to 10. Clarks has cut its store count in the north from 12 to 10.

SHOE retailer Clarks has confirmed its town centre store in Omagh has closed with the loss of seven jobs.

The footwear chain, rescued in a £100 million cash injection from a Hong Kong investor in November, has also closed its Bangor store since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the loss of six jobs.

A spokesperson said a Clarks franchise store in Newry’s Buttercrane shopping centre, which closed on February 5, was not part of the group.

But the company confirmed stores in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin and Newbridge, Co Kildare have gone.

The closures are part of an ongoing Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) within the chain, which is a form of administration that typically sees troubled retailers seek rent cuts from landlords and carrying out a small number of closures.

In a statement, the retailer said: “At Clarks, we regularly review our store portfolio to ensure each of our stores meets our customers’ needs as well as our business requirements. After careful consideration, we can confirm that our store in Omagh, has closed. We have a strong duty of care to our employees and they have been fully supported through this process.”