FeargalQuinnRetailTherapy

Ask anyone to think of a famous name in retail in Ireland and Feargal Quinn’s name comes to mind. He started in a small shop in Dundalk in 1960 and went on to create the Superquinn empire which, over a period of 45 years, grew to 21 shops and 5,000 employees. The Quinn family sold out of the business in 2005 in a deal worth €420m.

The retail maestro is the star of a new RTE programme beginning on Wednesday, March 8th at 8.30 pm on RTE1.

In this 6 part series, Feargal will work with “independent shops to help them battle the downtown and remain relevant in a cut throat and over-crowded market.”

“Feargal will be sharing knowledge he has gained from years of being at the cutting edge of Ireland’s supermarket wars where the devil is truly in the detail.  Almost fifty years after building up Superquinn, one of Ireland’s most successful home grown retail brands – Feargal is now rolling up his sleeves and going on a mission to give something back by helping struggling retail businesses across the country survive and in some cases thrive.”

The six businesses featured are :

Green Stores, Claremorris, Co Mayo

Run by Florence Higgins, Green Stores is a department store in Co. Mayo.  In the family for more than three generations, times have never been tougher for Green’s and Florence is feeling the heat.  Feargal is worried by the shops old-fashioned stock and image and works with Florence to bring new customers to the store and give it a 21st century feel without compromising on their traditional values.

X-IT Department Store, Finglas Main Centre, Dublin

Husband and wife team, Derek & Fionnuala Law, have been running their small discount store in the rundown Finglas Main Centre for 18 years.  The business is almost on its knees and Feargal is horrified by its poor standards and the general lack of attention to housekeeping.  Can he convince Derek & Fionnuala to clean up their act?  And can Feargal encourage the locals to support their local retailers to prevent the Finglas Main Centre from becoming even more dilapidated and abandoned?

BMC, Cobh

Denis Murphy has been carrying on the family tradition passed down from his father and grandfather all his working life at the helm of BMC convenience store in Cobh.  With a long working week and increased competition from multi-national and German discount stores, survival is a constant battle for Denis.  Feargal travels to Cobh to find a shop in disarray with a poor deli and gone-off produce.  He has three short months to transform BMC and help Denis compete with the big boys.

Liberty Florist, The Coombe, Dublin 8

Kim Buckley has been running Liberty Florist for 18 years.  In the heart of the Liberties, Kim has been working flat out to continue the legacy of her Great-grandmother Biddy McGrail, who was a well-known Dublin flower seller.  However, times are extremely tough and many surrounding businesses in the Liberties have had to shut up shop.  Feargal discovers that Kim has no corporate contacts and needs to work very hard on her confidence to ensure the survival of her shop.

Burgess Department Store, Athlone

Rosie Boles and her father Ian are at the helm in Burgess department store in Athlone.  At 170 years, it is Ireland’s oldest department store and Rosie is keen to carry on for another 170.  However, Athlone changed hugely during the boom years and Rosie and her father must contend with the competition posed by the Athlone Town Centre which houses fashion chains from all over the world.  Can Feargal help them transform their store into a landmark Athlone destination?

JC’s Supermarket, Swords

JC’s supermarket in Swords is one of Ireland’s last remaining independent supermarkets.  Owner JC is a legend in the area and has been putting it up to the multinationals for years.  JC is the first to admit that while other shops might do everything by the book, in JC’s there is no book!  But with shops like Tesco dropping their prices and the German discounters becoming ever more popular, JC needs to keep ahead of the game and ensure his shop survives into the next generation.  Feargal works with JC and his three sons to help them improve their standards and give his sons more responsibility.

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