Brendan parsons will tell you if the shoe fits
At the age of 16 Brendan Parsons embarked on a career selling shoes in his native Castlebar. Now, 47 years on, the business, Parsons’ Shoes, at the top of Main Street, is still going strong and his daughter, Sinead, is the third generation in the business, writes Tom Gillespie.
Brendan’s father Martin, a native of Carracastle, who was born in 1899, did his apprenticeship in the shoe business in Ballaghaderreen and after he qualified travelled all over Ireland, eventually ending up in Castlebar in 1927. He opened a shoe shop in Condon’s on the bridge and when the building burned down he moved to the top of the street.
Brendan takes up the story: “The corner half of this premises was Brady’s. This was originally two premises - Clarke’s and Brady’s. There were steps up to both of them. My father bought Clarke’s in 1935.
“When he came up here Clarke’s must have been on the market and a kind bank manager gave him the money to purchase it, which bankers could do in those days. In 1959, when Brady’s next door came up for sale, he bought that too. It was around 1959/’60 when the steps disappeared from outside.
“Up until the time Brady’s was bought he was only involved in shoes. When he bought Brady’s he added menswear and and my mother, Bessy, ran the household goods. It was a department store like what Cleary’s was. It was a mini-Cleary’s in the heart of Castlebar, which also had a basement.”
When Brendan joined the firm the other employees were Jim Courell from Spencer Street, John Feeney, John Hegarty, Michael Corcoran, Tony Walsh, Willie Fahy, bookkeeper Nancy Corley, Brendan’s father, and his brothers Michael and John.
In the ladies department were Joan Courell and Carmel Brennan.
Brendan added: “When I came in Michael was running the drapery and I went to the shoes. The hiring out of dress suits was part of the menswear. In those days they had to be ordered in specially from Limerick. There were only a few companies in Ireland who specialised in them. You would be praying that they would send the right sizes.
“I came in in 1968. I was just coming on 16 years. I had an early start. It was a hard training. They were hard taskmasters in those days. You were told what was right and what was wrong.
“One thing you had to be was totally honest with your customer. You had to be right by them. Through that we built up a good customer base. That was why my father got on so well in the business. He was always very customer orientated.
“Competition from the big stores is one of the major changes now, as well as online trading. But people are still people and the vast majority, like in the older days, are totally honest and I still find the same thing today. It is a rare thing that you would get caught now.
“I have a thing when people come in for slippers for somebody in hospital or in one of the nursing homes and they don’t know the size. I tell them to bring down a few pairs and try them on and I have yet to be caught. We are still very customer based and personal. That is what is lacking in the bigger department stores, where you are just a number.”
As well as his daughter Sinead, Ciara Kelly and Angela Quinn work in the shop. “Angela is with me for over 25 years,” Brendan recalled. “And before Sinead came in I could hand Angela the keys and she would take over if I was going away of a week. She is fantastic.
“Summertime is usually the busiest time for us and the busiest few days would be around Christmas. But the busiest times is when we have a nice summer when people are out and about a lot more.
“In my day it was nearly all Irish shoe companies we dealt with as well as a few English ones. But yet going back in my father’s invoice book he was buying stuff from Belgium when he started business in 1928. Irish shoe manufacturing is gone. It is now all supplied by agents for foreign companies.”
Brendan believes there is a future for the independent retailer in the shoe business because shoes are a thing that have to be fitted and tried on. He continued: “If a person has a shoe problem they like to go in and get a bit of advice. We are as good a feet specialists at times. You get to know what the problem is and what shoe will suit that. A good shoe was always expensive but middle of the road brands are much cheaper than they used to be. You are now getting better quality and choice for your money.”
Brendan feels there is still great potential for Castlebar’s Main Street. “I have always felt that the Main Street is a vibrant street. I never get negative about it because there were always good shops on the Main Street.
“Some of the businesses got into trouble because of the Celtic Tiger. And because of the Celtic Tiger the street is looking a little bit shook for a few years. It is great to see that some of the buildings in question are now being released for sale.
“There are people dying to get into the Main Street. There are two that are on the market - McEllin’s and Gussie Wynne’s - that have generated great interest. And, of course, The Connaught Telegraph has just moved in across the street from us. It is great to see the light in the building on that corner again. It will make such a difference to the street.
“My big love of the business is meeting people. I intensely dislike the bookwork and the work that goes with it. I love meeting people. That is what keeps me going. That is what keeps me in it.”