Grealy’s stores celebrates silver jubilee

There will be a special day of celebration in Maree this Friday as John and Sally Grealy of Grealy’s stores celebrate 25 years in business in the community.

The Grealy always intended to mark the landmark anniversary with some kind of event, and as Sally explains, the designation of 2013 as the year of The Gathering gave the family the perfect ‘hook’ on which to hang the celebration.

“This is the year of The Gathering, and lots of groups are holding events to mark the year, so we decided to have a ‘gathering’ of our own to celebrate 25 years in business, and also to thank the local community for its support over those 25 years,” Sally said.

“We have been very fortunate to be in business in Maree for so long, and that would not have been possible without the great support of the people here, so this is just our way of giving something back and acknowledging that support,” she said.

When John, who is originally from Maree, and his wife Sally – who hails from Ballyloughane in Galway City – opened their doors for the first time 25 years ago, the business was two petrol pumps and a small shop.

It has remained a family-run business, and has expanded in the intervening 25 years to include animal feed (bag & bulk) supply, farm supplies, hardware supplies, solid fuels (coal, briquettes, logs), and garden centre, as well as the recently-upgraded tyre centre with state-of-the-art wheel alignment, car wash, garden care, loose sand, gravel, bark mulch and building supplies.

“It was obviously very different back then. On the first day, we couldn’t figure out how to work the cash register so I had to ask my nephew, Jimmy Smith, to come out and give us a hand! But that is an example of why, I think, we have been able to stay in business – we have a great family around us, and we all get along, and when you work alongside one another in business, that is absolutely crucial,” Sally says.

John and Sally still work in the business, as do sons Brian, Michael, John junior and John’s wife Nessa. They also provide local employment, with Rebecca Greally and Aoife Fogarty employed in the shop, Mike Cormican in the tyre centre, and Jack Greally in the car wash.

“When we first opened, we got up in the morning, got the children ready for school, drove into Galway City to collect the newspapers, and had to be back out to open the shop at 8am. The traffic was much lighter then, so it wasn’t too bad.

“We were lucky in one way that our children were school-going age, so we could manage that bit easier, but I think it is harder on the likes of John and Nessa, they have two young children, so that makes running a business that bit more difficult, but we all support each other and it’s working so far,” she jokes.

To mark the store’s silver anniversary, a day of celebration is being planned for this Friday which will feature a BBQ, face painting, Mr Tayto, a car tyre changing competition, a Hankook drift car and many more events.

There will also be vouchers and hampers to win in in-store competitions, while John and Sally will also be making a €1,000 donation to both Maree Nation School and Maree Community Centre, which are both located opposite the store.

“It’s just a way of saying ‘thanks’ to everyone for their support. The school and the Community Development Association have been a great support for us, we are all clustered together, and it is just nice to be able to say thanks and give something back,” Sally says.