''It wasn’t demanded, it wasn’t for praise, and it wasn’t for religion, it was just what you did. '' - Feargal Quinn
I snapped this pic at Artisan Coffee in London. It reminded me of the Superquinn retail business and Feargal Quinn. I was working in the Irish retail industry - in the final days of the Celtic Tiger - and Mr Quinn was known for his hands on approach to business, regularly touring his shops to meet customers and encourage his hard working staff.
He also introduced a ‘change bowl’ in stores. This would be a ‘floating’ kitty between customers, to help with rounding off. If a customer was short a few cents, the communal pot would help fund the gap to avoid breaking large notes for a few cents. Conversely, if customers didn’t want to carry small change, they would ‘pay it forward’ by leaving it in the bowl.
During his time as a member of the Seanad, between 1993 and 2016, Mr Quinn sponsored legislations ranging from organ donation to regulating construction contracts.
Mr Quinn was the son of a grocery business owner and founded Superquinn in 1960, which he ran for 45 years. (Fun fact: Margaret Thatcher also came from a family of Grocers)
Superquinn was built into one of Ireland’s most successful supermarket chains, Mr Quinns share was sold for a reported €420 million in 2015.
Eamonn Quinn remembered his father as a man who 'did things differently,' and that life was 'never boring with Dad'.
Eamonn recalled a lovely Christmas act of kindness his father performed: 'I remember after working a 90-hour week on Christmas week, the busiest week of the year for the supermarket business, he turned around and grabbed his ten-year-old son, which was me at the time, and we went out to Sean McDermott Street to give away food hampers.
'It wasn’t demanded, it wasn’t for praise, and it wasn’t for religion, it was just what you did. That later became the Mansion House dinner on Christmas day!’’
Comments