Kelly’s Londis
Supermarket Boyle
Celebrates 75
years in Business
1939-2014
Dick Kelly started business in Boyle in
1939 having “served his time” in Sligo and worked in Lowes (Boyle). The shop now “Boyle Sports” was originally a
bakery (Scotts). Dick Kelly had a very successful business. He operated a grocery, off licence and sold
animal foodstuffs to the local farming community.
He was one of the first men to have started
a hackney business in Boyle having purchased the “Bishop’s Car”. His common fares were to Mass and frequent
trips to Dublin and Rineanna (now Shannon Airport). During his lifetime he succeeded in trading
through tough times i.e., The War – The Big Snow- Hurricane Debbie etc., to
name but a few.
On passing the business to his daughter
Olive in 1975, she continued the business as a family grocery and off licence
along with her husband Dan (Kennedy). They continued to expand and diversify
the business. On vacating their family
home (upstairs over the Supermarket) they expanded into selling toys in
1982. Santa Claus been a traditional
visitor on 8th December annually.
After fifteen years at the toy business Olive and Dan decided to
concentrate on grocery ending the toy business.
They continued to expand and maintain the
family tradition very successfully until 1995, when their sons Richard and Neil,
the third generation of the Kelly/Kennedy family to continue the trade. In 2003 with growing demands they moved to
their present location on the corner of the Crescent and Termon Rd.
On speaking with Neil he remarks how
business can be tough and having traded through the recent recession he feels
optimistic that local family businesses have a future. He attributes this to the long established
family customer base and the personal attention that is part of their business. Together with his brother Richard, who runs
the meat department, they have plans for further expansion in 2015.
He also acknowledges his loyal staff and
mentions in particular Liz O’Connor (now retired) and Cecil Tiernan R.I.P. who between them had over a 100 years
service.
Neil feels that the 75th Milestone
should be celebrated and he has arranged a bumper weekend for all the customers. Lots of entertainment has been organized
including the “Cash Grabber ”game where competitors can win up to €1000 every
hour between 11am and 4pm on Friday 14th – On Saturday 15th
a Family day has been arranged with Face Painting, Cartoon Characters instore
and a Vegas Wheel of Fortune with numerous
prizes to be won.
Everyone welcome and looking forward to
meeting you all this weekend.
