H Williams (supermarket)

In 1959, it opened the first supermarket in Ireland, in Dublin's Henry Street.^[3] Although publicly listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange for many years, the Quinn-McArdle family controlled its board and provided most of its senior management. In the early 1980s, it was sold to its managing director, John Quinn, and property developer Finbarr Holland.^[4] In 1986 Tesco sold their Irish operation to H Williams for £17 million.^[5]

H Williams collapsed in 1987, following a price war that led to the 1987 amendment to the Groceries Order in an effort to protect the market from further concentration.^[6] The former H Williams supermarkets were sold to other supermarket chains.^[7]