AROUND 100 JOBS are to go as SuperValu closes stores in Carlow and Clonmel.
The company says that the closures are “due to difficult trading conditions over a sustained period”. Both will close on 22 January, leading to a combined 98 redundancies.
SuperValu managing director Martin Kelleher said the decision “had not been made lightly”, but both stores had been loss-making for almost a decade.
“It is important to note that this decision is by no means reflective of the quality of the work of our colleagues at SuperValu on Marketplace in Clonmel and SuperValu on Kennedy Avenue in Carlow and I would like to thank each of them sincerely for their support over many years. We will now enter a consultation period with colleagues and provide out-placement support to assist them in finding alternative employment.”
Unions Mandate and Siptu both said the staff were devastated.
Bill Kelly of Mandate said:
These jobs were comparatively good retail jobs that provided workers with decent work and secure incomes. Unfortunately there are very few alternatives at this moment in time, partly because the southeast of Ireland has become an unemployment black spot.
Siptu’s Derek Casserly said the timing of the announcement stung.
“Our members are particularly disappointed at the timing of this announcement three weeks from Christmas as it follows the announcement last week by analysts, Kantar, that Supervalu were the largest retail brand in Ireland.”
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