One of the State's largest independent fashion retailers and distributors, Barry & Sons, is being sued by Irish Life for more than €119,000 over outstanding rent and service charges it claims it is owed relating to a store in Dublin's St Stephen's Green shopping centre.
The disagreement is understood to have initially arisen in 2003, when Barry & Sons, which has 13 stores trading as Japan, sought to sell on a long lease at the mall, which is co-owned by Irish Life and Pierse Moloney.
It is believed that Barry & Sons, which is controlled by the Dublin-based Bari family, had arranged to sell the lease to a high-profile tenant, but that Irish Life's agent instead agreed to exercise pre-emption rights and take back the lease.
As Barry & Sons would therefore not have received key money for the lease, an agreement is alleged to have been struck whereby the agent would forgo outstanding rent and services charges.
However, Irish Life later pursued Barry & Sons for more than €119,000, alleging that it still owed the money for rent arrears and service charges. Latest accounts for Barry & Sons carry a contingent liability for the disputed sum, but stress that the company has "good grounds for defence".
It is understood that Barry & Sons has significant written evidence to counter Irish Life's claim. Soaring rents at the St Stephen's Green site are thought to have forced Barry & Sons to reconsider its future there. Escalating high street rents elsewhere have also recently affected other fashion chains such as Sasha and A-Wear.
Latest accounts for the Barry & Sons Japan outlets show that the chain made a loss of €446,000 in the year to the end of January 2006. It was an improvement on the previous year, when it posted a loss of €1.8m. However, its parent firm showed a slight profit for the latest period. The number of stores operated by Barry & Sons has fallen in the past few years due to increased competition and higher costs. At one stage it had 50 stores, more than double the current number.
Barry & Sons also owns the Häagen-Dazs café franchise in Ireland, which has three stores. However, the company is known to be seeking a buyer for the franchise and the outlets. Häagen-Dazs's UK arm could be a potential bidder. Barry & Sons also owns two stores trading under the Angel franchise in Ireland and a further four in the UK.
It has Angel concessions at three House of Fraser stores, two in London and one in Glasgow, while it also operates an Angel showroom in London. The company has three stores that trade under the Barry & Sons name, all of them in Dublin. It previously owned a French Connection franchise in Cork.
