Chai Brady
A prominent Irish Catholic book publisher will be closing three of its stores due to “trading difficulty” and is making moves to invest more on online sales.
Veritas announced its decision to shut outlets in Sligo, Monaghan and Naas today (November 30) with closure taking place by the end of January 2019.
Mr Aidan Chester, Director of Veritas, said: “Veritas has made the difficult decision to close three outlets which have found trading difficult in recent years.”
The decision will affect four full-time and nine part-time staff, with the company saying they are trying to minimise job losses.
“Redundancies at any time are difficult for all involved, but especially so in the lead up to Christmas. While the closures are regrettable, Veritas has done its best to keep job losses to a minimum and is working to relocate staff where possible,” Mr Chester said.
The move is in response to the “changing shopping behaviours” of customers, he said.
Veritas’ plan includes continued investment in their online business, which has increased by 52% this year according to the director.
“For the future, Veritas will continue to focus on opportunities to increase our online sales including click and collect and mobile enabled shopping alongside new opportunities in our remaining store network,” he added.
Veritas website say they publish over 40 books each year in the areas of theology, scripture, prayer, spirituality, parenting, counselling, children’s issues, social commentary and liturgical resource as well as religious education texts for primary and post-primary schools, which are in Ireland and Scotland.
They first branched out into retail in 1928 and opened a store on Lower Abbey Street in Dublin. Veritas are an agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and serve other agencies of the conference, dioceses and parishes. Its primary function is to “serve the needs of the Irish Church”.