Firm to close last shop after more than 115 years

A family-run clothing retailer is set to close its doors after more than 115 years trading in Leicestershire.

The Irish Clothing Company had initially planned to shut its shop in Loughborough in June 2025, but director Tom Brown said he had kept it open for longer to support nearby businesses.

The firm was set up by his grandfather Joseph Brown in Leicester in 1910, but a decision to close it was made with "great sadness and heavy hearts" last year.

The shop - the company's final store - will shut for the last time on Tuesday.

Tom said: "It's a sad time that's for sure, the family has run the shops in Leicester and Loughborough for many, many years.

"It's certainly a shame we're having to go, it's not for wanting to go."

He previously said various market forces and pressures had created "insurmountable odds" that the company could not overcome.

The company started life with a small shop in Silver Street in Leicester, which moved between various locations in the city over the years.

The firm's clothing shop, in High Street, Leicester, finally closed in 2018 and was converted into a coffee shop, but the firm continued to trade in Church Gate in Loughborough.

Irish's Leicester army and navy store in Silver Street, its last outlet in the city, closed in June 2025.

Tom said: "A family business is run on service, and service is what we gave. You can't run any business without good staff, they would have conversations with customers coming in, and a lot of it was personal service.

"We used to sell product that nobody else had. We were very unique in the early days, it rolled through the '50s when we started selling Levi's - my father took them on, we were number five account for Levi's in the UK.

"We rolled through the times, moved properties, from Humberstone Gate to Silver Arcade which was so well-liked, and then we progressed to the High Street shop, which is now Cafe Nero.

"We had the shop in Loughborough since the '70s, which is the last shop to go."

Tom said that while no tenant was lined up for the store, he was "hopeful" it would be let soon to "help other shop owners nearby".

Lisa Brown, Loughborough BID manager, said: "They'll be missed, they've been a good business to have in the town.

"We've got some lovely small businesses up in Church Gate, so we're hoping the premises will be taken up pretty quickly with another tenant."

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