Retailer Land of Leather is latest casualty of downturn

FURNITURE RETAILER Land of Leather became the latest casualty of the economic downturn yesterday, going into administration after its sales slumped and it failed to secure new financing.

Accountancy firm Deloitte has been appointed as administrators to the UK chain, putting at risk the 850 jobs at its 109 stores across the UK and Ireland.

Deloitte said 29 full-time jobs were at risk in Northern Ireland and 67 in the Republic.

The retailer has outlets in Belfast, Newtownabbey, Coleraine, Newry, Derry, Swords, Limerick, Cork, Leopardstown, Athlone, Sligo, Tralee, Bray, Kilkenny, Galway and Drogheda, as well as a warehouse in Dublin.

The administrators, Lee Manning and Nick Edwards of Deloitte, said Land of Leather stores would continue to trade as normal while they continued to seek a buyer for the business as a going concern.

Land of Leather’s Irish website was taken down yesterday morning, but was back up yesterday evening.

Deloitte said it was working with the company’s management to protect the interests of 20,000 customers who have paid deposits on furniture orders.

It said all customers who have either paid a deposit by credit card or Visa debit card are fully protected, as are those who have paid by any means since December 26th.

Any customers who paid a deposit by cash or by a non-Visa debit card before December 26th would be offered a discount on other stock if their original order cannot be fulfilled.

The hotline number for concerned customers is 44 800 496 0868 and the administrators can also be contacted via e-mail at lol@deloitte.co.uk

Concerned customers were urged to use the hotline and e-mail address rather than to visit the stores.

“Where customers have been given a scheduled delivery date or have been advised that goods are awaiting payment of the balance before delivery can be made, these deliveries and orders will all be fulfilled,” Mr Manning said.

Trading in Land of Leather shares was suspended in London yesterday morning as the credit crunch prevented the struggling retailer from securing the funds it needed to continue in business.

After it recorded a 47 per cent plummet in sales in the three months to November, the company sought a buyer but it ended takeover talks before Christmas. However, results of its January clearance sale had been “very disappointing”, it said yesterday.

During Ireland’s housing boom leather sofas were the couch of choice for bachelor pad-buyers, parents looking for child-proof upholstery and investors searching for furniture that will attract minimal wear and tear from tenants.

However, as the number of new homes being built in Ireland more than halved, consumers’ interior design shopping lists have shrunk in sympathy.

In the 12 months to October 2008, sales of furniture and lighting fell 24 per cent, according to the most recent figure from the Central Statistics Office.

Furniture retailers in the Republic have also been hit by cross-Border shoppers hiring vans to kit out their homes in cheap and contemporary designs from the Belfast store of Swedish giant Ikea.