‘Forever cherish the memories’
Tuesday last fortnight marked the end of an era for Liam and Marie O’Connell as they said goodbye to their customers at Centra on the Main Street.
Having retailed collectively for over 50 years, Marie for 33 and Liam for 21, they recently decided to call it a day and sold the business to Fergal Dunne from Ballinasloe. They left the following message for all their loyal customers and friends.
“During our time we have met many fantastic people, people whom we call friends. To us, it was more than just a job, it was our career, our life and our belief.
“Throughout the years, we’ve witnessed a new millennium, a global pandemic, swine flu, foot and mouth, property busts, Brexit, major terror attacks, World Cups and Olympic joys. More locally - dissolution of the town council, pay parking, coupled with massive changes in technology of online shopping, card tapping, self-service tills, compostable bags, wars, rising prices. And every time our loyal customers continued to shop with us, and for that, we are so grateful.
“You’ve endured our extensions and building works, moving stock to different areas and trying new ideas. We have always tried to improve the store and make it a better place for you to shop, and always wanted it to be a safe and enjoyable place to come to. The shop has grown from small beginnings over the last 30 years to what it is now, and we are extremely proud of it.
“But it was through you, our loyal customers, that we were able to achieve this and for that we thank you. Community has always been at the core of our business, and we believed that as local retailers, we needed to support the community, to give back and we have always strived to do that. And as a result, we have been privileged to be a part of special events, community happenings, festivals, fun days, sporting successes, and indeed some losses unfortunately too, but that’s all part and parcel of being involved with the community. We have customers who come long distances to shop with us and some who can walk down the road, and we always endeavoured to cater for everyone’s needs, treat everyone equally and respectfully.
“All of this, of course, wouldn’t have been possible without our staff. We have always been proud of our record of how long our staff have worked with us, some for over 20 years. Our staff were always chosen for their ability to work, but more importantly for their friendliness, compassion and good humour. Over the years, we have seen our staff numbers increase to over 30, and all of them have been from the locality or living in the area. We have seen children of staff come to work for us, seen our part-time staff go off to college and onwards to great careers while seeing them mature into brilliant upstanding young men and women, who have always returned for a chat with us over the years. Unfortunately, we have also lost some dear friends from the roster during our journey, and we will always remember them.
“We will miss the daily hustle and bustle of the business, and all the different personalities who come through our doors every day of the year, for the friendly chats and getting to know our customers by name and about their lives. We have seen little children grow up, go to the local schools, and become parents themselves, and continue the cycle over. Whilst we have made some brilliant friends, we have also lost some of them over the years too, sadly. We got to know our customers' preferences, habits and pet hates, and we also got to learn from them, as we believed in listening to our customers, because they knew our shop as well as we did.
“Thank you again for all your support over the years. We hope you continue to support the shop, and the new man, Fergal Dunne. All the friendly faces of our staff will still be there to greet and help you out, though the name will change over the door. It will be an emotional time for us, but it has been helped and eased by all the messages and kind words given to us from you, over the last few weeks. We have enjoyed our time in our shop, and will forever cherish the memories.
“Go raibh mile maith agaibh uilig, go bhfanfaidh sibh sláintúil, agus buailfimid le chéile arís.”