Homeware store set to close

The store, one of three Captain Cooks in Northern Ireland, will cease trading at the end of January, along with their two other outlets in Portadown and Ballymena.

The holding company, Ulster Stores of Coleraine, also own Moore’s department store in Coleraine and the White House in Portrush.

Managing Director Neville Moore said that the leases of the three Captain Cooks shops were up, and they would not be renewing them.

It seems the chain of cook shops, which has traded successfully in town centre locations for some fifteen years, has fallen victim to the effects of recession coupled with the negative impact on footfall of out of town shopping developments.

Mr Moore paid tribute to the ‘commitment, loyalty and hard work of the staff who have been the backbone of Captain Cooks’.

He said, “Our staff have shown not only considerable professional expertise, but also tremendous dedication over the years. Sadly the combination of rising overheads, changes in shopping patterns and the recession means that the stores are no longer commercially viable and we are being forced to close these outlets.”