Dressing up an old shop

It's always good to see a 'dead' shop coming back to life, writes Brian Byrne, more especially in the times that are in it. And the latest one is 'The Dresser Shop', opposite Bardons pub.

Operated by Brendan and Mairead Talbot, the opening of the shop is a story for the times, reflecting a return to traditional tastes and values. As its name suggests, Brendan and Mairead sell kitchen dressers.

Better again, they are Brendan's own work, made in his joinery at Kilmead near Athy.



"I'm the third generation of cabinet makers in my family," he told the Diary. "I think that Ireland went all ultra modern during the Boom, went for crazy straight lines. Now though, just like the knitting and the baking has come back, so is the interest in traditional style furniture."

Brendan says the old dressers 'went extinct' for a while. But his father in Sallins used to make them, and they sold off the side of the road.

He's tapping into a perceptible shift, where people are now putting their money into improving their existing homes instead of trading up, as was the case at the height of the rampaging Celtic Tiger.

"For instance, anyone selling paint will tell you that business is doing fairly well at the moment," he says. 

He and Mairead picked Kilcullen to showcase their products because they like it. "It's a decent little town, and we have a good window here on a good street, so it's worth giving it a shot."

If nothing else, the 'Dresser Shop' name has excited curiosity as Brendan and Mairead have been doing it up over recent weeks. They hope that same curiosity will encourage local people to have a look when they open on Friday.