Eason & Son

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For other uses, see Eason.
Eason and Son Limited
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
Wholesale
Advertising
Founded1819
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
ProductsBooks
Stationery
Newspaper
Cards and gifts
Toys
€9.7m (2003)
Websitewww.easons.com

Eason & Son (/ˈiːsən/; also known as Eason, Easons or Eason's) is an Irish retail company primarily involved in the wholesale and distribution of books, newspapers, magazines, stationery and cards in Ireland It is currently the largest supplier of books, magazines and newspapers in Ireland.[1]

The company is headquartered in Dublin and it employs over 1,800 staff. The company is privately owned and it had a profit of €9.7 million in 2003 on a turnover of €372 million.

History[]

In 1886 Charles Eason, a manager of WHSmith wrote to the company asking if he could buy out the company.[2] WHSmith sold their Irish section to him that year and there would not be a branch of WHSmith on any part of Ireland until 2001.[3]

In 1913 James Larkin published a pamphlet warning the company not to stock the newspapers of William Martin Murphy during the 1913 lockout.[2]

Originally all stores were owned and operated by Eason, but the chain began franchising with a number of new retail units operating independently under the Eason brand from the mid-2000s; reaching a level of approximately 40% of all stores being franchised by 2018.[4] However, a major franchiser sold their stores back to the parent chain in 2019; only retaining their stores in railway stations [5]

Shareholders voted to approve a sale and leaseback of the companies primary owned stores in 2018[6]

Rival chain was acquired in 2020 [7]

Conor Whelan is Managing Director. The company's current slogan is "Whatever you're into, get into Eason", replacing the previous slogan "So many reasons to shop at Eason's".

The Company announced on 15 July that they would not reopen the 7 stores in Northern Ireland. The stores had been closed from 23 March due to the Covid-19 crisis.[8]

Divisions[]

A former Eason branch in Carryduff
  • Eason Retail Division - headquartered in an integrated book and stationery warehouse in St Margaret's, Swords, County Dublin since mid-2007.
  • Eason Wholesale Stationery Division, previously based in Crumlin, Dublin 12 but now moved to St Margaret's, distributes Stationery and associated products to retail outlets throughout Ireland. Eason is the official distributor in Ireland for Club Stationery.
  • Eason Wholesale Book Division - also moved to St Margaret's, north County Dublin. This division sells books in bulk to many shops.
  • Reads - These stores, acquired in 2005, are primarily discount stores selling stationery, books and greetings cards. The two original Reads stores were on Nassau Street in Dublin 2, and a branch on Patrick Street in Cork city (now closed). A former Eason store on Botanic Avenue in Belfast was converted to become a Reads outlet in 2006 (this closed in Mar 2008). The Reads store in Nassau Street has recently (Feb 08) expanded into the premises next door (formerly Blarney Woollen Mills), to create a new discount book store alongside its existing premises. The former Fred Hannas bookshop at the corner of Nassau Street and Dawson Street was also acquired by the company in 1999 but closed in early 2008, and merged with the Reads branch nearby.
  • Eason Electronic - two South African Companies selling phone top-ups and pre-paid electricity cards.

Former divisions[]

  • British Bookshops & Sussex Stationers outlets in south-east England. In May 2009, Eason sold this company to Endless PLC. Endless intend to keep the "British Bookshops" name.
  • Eason's Advertising Services Limited - a niche advertising agency which closed in 2010.[9]
  • Eason and Son (N.I.) Ltd - This division operated the chain of 15 stores in Northern Ireland (Including the ex-NPO stores).
  • Eason News Distribution Division (now merged into the EM News) - was based in Dublin and outside Cork City . Newsbrothers, a subsidiary company of Eason, was responsible for newspaper and magazine distribution in the Munster region.
  • Airport - in early 2010 Hughes & Hughes entered administration, with Eason acquiring their 7 airport stores,[10] however Eason lost the tender to operate these bookshops in 2013 [11]
  • N.P.O. UK Ltd. (now all rebranded Eason) - These stores are operated under Eason and Son (N.I.) Ltd. NPO UK specialised in stationery, however after the Eason takeover, these stores stock the same range of products as all Eason stores.
  • EM News Distribution - Eason merged its Irish newspaper and magazine wholesale distribution businesses with John Menzies creating EM News Distribution.[12] Menzies Distribution purchased Eason’s share in 2017.[13]

See also[]

  • List of Irish companies

Further reading[]

  • Cullen, L. M. Eason & Son: A History. (Dublin, 1989). 438pp, 16 plates.

References[]

  1. ^ "About Us".
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Lyons, Tom (22 August 2014). "Eason chief hopes the next chapter at iconic store will have a happy ending". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  3. ^ Cusack, Jim (21 February 2001). "WHSmith's first Irish outlet in 115 years to open at prime site". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Eason selling off iconic Shop street bookstore". 31 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Eason to take over six franchised stores as part of wider restructuring".
  6. ^ "Eason's restructuring depends on property market".
  7. ^ rte.ie/news/business/2020/0225/1117493-eason-dubray-deal/
  8. ^ "Coronavirus: Eason bookshop will not reopen any NI stores". BBC News. 15 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Ireland's oldest ad agency calls it a day".
  10. ^ rte.ie
  11. ^ "Eason loses Terminal 1 tender as WH Smith wins five-shop contract".
  12. ^ Kehoe, Ian (2007-01-14). "Eason and Menzies sign joint distribution deal". Sunday Business Post. Financial Times Information.
  13. ^ "Menzies Distribution snaps up Ireland's EM News Distribution". Motor Transport. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2021-04-03.

External links[]

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