THORNTONS IS TO close up to 180 stores over the next three years with the chocolate maker not ruling out possible closures to its branches in Ireland today.

BBC News reports that 120 shops would shut with the possibility of an extra 60 closures to the total of 364 outlets directly owned and run by the company, three of which are in Dublin.

The company said it hoped to replace the outlets with franchised stores in most cases. Thorntons is hoping to refocus the business to move it away from being less dependant on seasonal events like Easter and Christmas and increase its online sales.

A spokesperson confirmed to TheJournal.ie that store closures could affect Ireland but added that at this point there was no information as to where the store closures would be.

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Thorntons chocolate shop closures could affect Ireland

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