Two of Dublin's best-known and longest established cafés, Bewley's of Grafton Street and Westmoreland Street, are to close down before the end of the year. The shock announcement came last night following a board meeting of the Campbell Bewley Group, writes Joe Humphreys.
Group chairman Mr Patrick Campbell, who rescued the Bewley's business from collapse in 1986, said the decision to close the landmark cafés was "very emotional" and "wrenching".
However, he said it had reached the point where the company's other activities could no longer subsidise the cafes.
Both cafés are to cease trading after November 30th, pending negotiations with staff. A company spokesperson said closure was scheduled to take place before Christmas.
The decision marks the end of an era for Bewley's, which began as a coffee and tea importation business in the early 1800s, and opened its first Oriental Café at Georges Street 110 years ago.
The cafés, famous for their marble tables, wooden features and stain-glass windows, have been a haven for Dublin shoppers and city-dwellers for generations and a meeting point for people from around the country.
Their popularity stemmed at least as much from their cosy atmosphere - complemented by open fires at Christmas - as the quality of their hot food or famous sticky buns.
Some 234 staff, two-thirds of whom are foreign nationals, are to be made redundant by the closures. The company said it would make "every effort to minimise the personal impact" of the decision, which it said was partly in response to changed coffee consumption patterns.
Other factors were: "major increases in costs such as rent, rates and insurance, the development of competing food and beverage offerings by venues such as public houses and other coffee outlets, changes in dietary habits, generally difficult trading conditions in Dublin city centre and most recently, the smoking ban, which have combined to affect overall cost bases and revenues."