The provisional liquidators of the Irish company behind the Harvey Nichols store in Dundrum have said they are not currently able to redeem gift cards or fulfil online sales issued by the retailer before they were appointed on August 13th.
John Boland and Nicholas O’Dwyer of Grant Thornton were appointed as joint provisional liquidators last week after the High Court heard the Irish business was insolvent with net liabilities of €28.2 million by the end of the 2026 financial year.
This followed the sale of its UK parent to Mike Ashley’s Frasers group through what is known as a prepack administration process in the UK.
Frasers supplied support for the Dundrum store to reopen on Saturday and to continue trading for now, while the liquidators seek to sell the business.
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However, in a notice posted on the Irish store’s website, Harvey Nichols said it was “currently unavailable online” and that any “orders placed and gift cards purchased prior to August 13th, 2026, fall under the ownership structure preceding this transition”.
“Refunds relating to these orders cannot be processed by Harvey Nichols directly; customers with an outstanding refund from this period are asked to contact, HNCustomers@fticonsulting.com.”
In a statement to The Irish Times in relation to gift cards and online orders, the liquidators said they had “entered into an arrangement” that enabled the Dundrum store to open again for trading from August 15th.
“The arrangement allows the business to continue trading and receive stock while the JPLs [joint provisional liquidators] assess the options available to the company,” they added.
“Continued trading helps preserve value in the business, maintain employment and provides an opportunity to determine whether a sale or other transaction can be achieved in the interests of the company stakeholders. At this time, there can be no certainty as to the outcome of that process.
The liquidators said they were “continuing to assess the position in relation to gift cards and advise that they cannot currently be accepted in store”.
“Customers who hold gift cards are advised to retain them while that review is ongoing. A further update will be provided once the position has been determined. The situation regarding online orders is also still under review.”
In its statement to the London Stock Exchange last week on the Harvey Nichols deal, Frasers said “certain assets located at the Dublin store including stock and store fixtures have been acquired as part of the transaction. Discussions in relation to the business are ongoing and Frasers continues to support the trading operations of the Dublin store.”
The Dundrum store was closed last Friday but reopened on Saturday. It has 33 staff and pays annual rent of just more than €1 million for the Dundrum outlet, which first opened in 2005.
One employee working at the outlet on Monday told The Irish Times that although staff “did know the store was up for sale”, learning that it was deemed insolvent and unable to pay its debts “was a surprise”.
There appeared to be an equal number of staff and customers in the store around lunchtime on Monday.
“It’s very sad,” one shopper said, wondering about the future employment of the workers inside. “But the issue is there’s never anyone in there,” she said. “I hardly ever come here to use it […] it’s so off the beaten track.”
