Schuh, a shoe retailer with stores across Ireland owned by New York Stock Exchange-listed wholesaler Genesco, has said it is to open a new distribution centre in Ireland to help it reduce post-Brexit costs.
n a recent earnings call with analysts, Genesco chief executive Mimi Vaughn said the new distribution centre was part of a strategy it implemented before the pandemic.
“At Schuh, we are opening a new distribution centre in Ireland to better support omnichannel sales there,” she said. “With this new centre, we will also increase the efficiency of our Irish operations while reducing costs resulting from new duties imposed post-Brexit.”
A spokeswoman for Schuh, which is based in the UK, said the company was unable to share further information on the Irish distribution centre.
In 2019, Genesco’s Vaughn, who was then the chief operating officer of Genesco, told investors during a conference call that Schuh had examined the option of setting up a distribution centre in Ireland.
At the time, she said Schuh’s Irish stores were supplied from distribution centres in the UK. She added that a new centre in Ireland would allow Schuh to supply its Irish stores and meet growing e-commerce demand directly.
During the 2019 call, Vaughn said Schuh could implement the plan in “a matter of weeks, if necessary”.
According to Schuh’s Irish subsidiary’s accounts for the 12 months to February 1, 2020, the company had a turnover of nearly €26.9m in Ireland. The company recorded a profit of €369,000 after tax.
Schuh’s Irish accounts also show the company employed a monthly average of 308 staff here during the period.
Genesco’s results show Schuh had around 123 stores across the UK and Ireland, employing approximately 3,000 staff.
Its results showed Genesco had net sales of $2.4bn for its 2022 financial year, of which the Schuh brand represented 18pc.
