CELTIC announced on Thursday they would be closing the Celtic store in Dublin after 22 years!

The store has served the people of Dublin well over two decades and has allowed fans in Ireland to get their Hoops merchandise without having to make a trip to Glasgow.

Sadly, its closure is down to online sales being so strong and Celtic believing they can now serve the people of Dublin better from their website than the store.

It’s a sign of the times, many retailers are cutting their cloth and moving to a more online model.

We wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Celtic stores in and around Glasgow suffered a similar fate over the next 12-24 months.

‘Here is the statement from the Celtic Website: After twenty-two years, The Celtic Store in the Jervis Centre Dublin has come to the end of its lease.

‘With the huge shift to our increasingly popular online store over the last few years, it is with regret that Celtic has opted not to renew the lease on the store at the end of October as the Club’s retail operation, like many other organisations, focuses on the growth of its online channel.

‘We would like to sincerely thank our colleagues for all their efforts on behalf of the club and our many fans who have used the store, for such fantastic support over the last two decades.’

Celtic’s online base is in Glasgow, so for the people of Dublin and Ireland, it’s unlikely they’ll get their merchandise through the post as promptly.

The club obviously feels it’s a more cost-effective way to go about their business.

The club recorded record merchandise sales in the past 12 months due to the Adidas deal, I doubt we would ever get the kind of pertinent information on this – but I wonder how many of those sales were online as opposed to in person.

Given the lockdown, it could skew figures in favour of online purchases.