Duffy’s Costcutters is a flagship development in Castlebar

By Tom Gillespie

A ONCE derelict site in Castlebar has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, flagship Costcutters supermarket and Texaco filling station.

The development at Turlough Road was undertaken by businessman Tom Duffy from Crossmolina.

Assisting him in the project are his son, Kevin, and daughter, Louise.

They have everything for their customers including an all-day deli and carvery, off-licence, ice-cream bar, Urban Sips coffee dock, full grocery offering and outdoor seating.

The new Costcutters store is fully Covid-19 compliant to serve their customers in Castlebar and beyond, and they also have ample parking.

Tom Duffy, who also set up Duffy’s Stainless Steel in Moneen Industrial Estate, explained how the development came about.

He said: “Going back in the 1990s there was a Shell filling station here on this site. At that time there were another three filling stations along this road - The Lone Star, Canning’s and Casey’s. This was the Dublin road back then which justified the number of filling stations at the time. Then the new road came and things got so quiet around here.

“Then came the building boom and all the housing developments around here created a new community. At this stage there was room for a filling station.

“I talked to several different shops and oil companies. I always had a liking for Texaco, it's a lovely brand and one which wasn’t in town.

“We found the support from Costcutters very good. They were very enthusiastic and they saw great potential in the site.

“From there we developed the derelict site to what it is now. The old canopy was there and the pumps and everything, but it was very dilapidated looking. Now everything on the site is new - new tanks, pumps and canopy, the floor was taken out and a brand new roof was erected.

“I wanted the site to be open and easily accessible. The fact that I had bought the adjacent Heritage Knitwear site gave us ample car parking space. It also makes it easy for the people from Pontoon Road to pop into the shop.”

Tom added: “When the old filling station was here, across the road was a farm with cattle grazing in the field. Now there are hundreds of houses the locality. It just shows how the place has changed from the ‘90s to now.

“What I found amazing was the support and goodwill we received from the people of the area. Everyone came in saying they were so happy to see the site developed.”

Louise Duffy, who worked in Today FM for many years, told me: “We have Texaco supplying the fuel. We have an all-day deli, and carvery with an amazing deli chef, Angelika.

“We also have a full off-licence and a lovely coffee dock where we have a very mild blend coffee called Urban Sips which is tailored for Irish tea drinkers.

“Sometimes coffee might be a little strong for the Irish pallet so this is a really nice, mild blend. We have ice cream offerings, an old fashioned cone machine and scoops and, of course, a newsagency.

“We carry a full range of groceries as we are so mindful of the many housing estates in the area, particularly in these times where people just want to nip in and out for their essentials. We have a lot to offer the people in our area, and we're delighted to do so.”

Louise worked in radio for a long time. Now she does podcasts from Castlebar while working with the Communications Clinic with Terry Prone and with Brown Thomas.

Louise added: “We are here all the time and between dad, Kevin and I we are getting to know the customers as they are coming in all the time and we recognise familiar faces after nine weeks.

“We have a staff of 20 between the deli and the shop floor. We have got lovely people working here, and there is a great atmosphere in-shop.

“It is lovely to be working together as a family. We have never worked together before.”

Kevin Duffy, who works with indeed.com and came back to Mayo because of Covid, added: “The shop itself has high ceilings. We have a top market street deli. This is Costcutters’ most recent flagship store. Everything in it is top of the range.

“We have an outdoor payments terminal and we have 24-hour diesel. Our shop hours are 7a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week and our deli is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.”

Louise stated: “I worked in Dublin too and the one chink of light is that the family is back together and working together here in Mayo as opposed to Dublin.

“We just opened after lockdown. August 20 we opened our doors. People needed to see something happening here rather than a derelict site.

“Now it is nice to see your area thriving.”