The Veritas shop in Letterkenny is to close.
The publisher and religious goods retailer said it is to close all its stores across Ireland wind down of the business in a controlled and orderly manner.
Veritas is headquartered on Abbey Street in Dublin and it employs more than 80 people across publishing, retail and education.
It also operates seven stores around the country with locations in Dublin city centre, Blanchardstown, Tallaght, Cork city centre, Derry, Letterkenny, Limerick as well as a warehouse facility based in Blanchardstown.
Its Letterkenny store only opened at its new location on the town’s Main Street in 2022 and was opened by Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ, Bishop of Raphoe.
The company said its decision to wind down follows a comprehensive strategic review of the business which determined that the alternative of a restructuring process would not mitigate the challenges that exist or sufficiently improve the commercial prospects of the business.
It said it had seen “a significant and sustained business downturn” in recent years, mainly as a result of an ever-changing market, societal dynamics, and evolving shopper habits.
“The cumulative effect of significantly reduced trading income and higher costs mean that the business will not be able to generate sufficient revenues to continue operating into the future,” the company said.
“This is a highly unfortunate situation which we are acutely aware will impact our employees, customers, and the communities we have served for close to 100 years,” Chris Queenan, Chairperson of Veritas, said.
“We are committed to an orderly wind down process where our focus will be on supporting our colleagues during this challenging time,” the chairman added.
Veritas expects to close all seven remaining retail locations including Letterkenny by the end of 2024 and said it will operate on a business-as-usual basis in the meantime.
The company said it still in the process of determining options for the continued publication of certain high demand titles, such as its “Grow in Love” series which forms a critical part of the syllabus for many primary schools across Ireland.
Veritas is owned by the Irish Episcopal Conference. It is a registered charity but does not receive State funding.
In a statement responding to the announcement of the closure, the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference said, “Veritas Communications CLG has served the publishing and catechetical needs of the Irish Episcopal Conference very well for many years and the decision to begin the wind down and closure of its business operations, including its remaining retail stores, represents a great loss to the Church in Ireland.
“We understand that Veritas has made this very difficult decision following a number of years of challenging trading conditions, but today’s announcement brings especially sad news for Veritas employees as well as the many customers and friends of Veritas throughout the country and beyond. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are directly impacted by today’s announcement.”
