CORK’S oldest bicycle centre has decided to pump the brakes after enjoying a long history of trading in the city centre, but the shop’s owner insists that the cycle trade has a bright future ahead.
Barry Kilgrew, of Kilgrews Cycles, this week launched a retirement sale, having decided now is the right time to bow out of business.
“It’s not a bad day, it’s a good day,” he told The Echo. I’m 39 years doing this — since September 1984 — and it’s a good move for me.
“I’m just retiring. That’s what I’ve decided to do.
“I’ve always known I didn’t want to be doing this until I had no quality time left for me.
“I’m healthy and I’m fit and now is the time to go for me,” Barry continued, adding that he expects Kilgrews will shut its doors for good around the middle of November.
Barry Kilgrew, owner, Kilgrews Cycles, Kyle St., Cork, who will be retiring from the business. Picture Denis Minihane.
The current business, which sells bicycles, parts, and accessories and also carries out repairs, is located on Kyle St, but Kilgrews has been trading since the 1930s.
“My father would have been on North Main St from about ’55 to ’88, and before that there would have been my grandfather, he would have been there from the ’30s until about the 1970s — he was on Merchant’s Quay,” Barry explained.
Speaking to this publication back in 2012, Barry told of how Kilgrews was the first business to bring Rudge bikes to Cork.
Barry Kilgrew, owner, Kilgrews Cycles, Kyle St., Cork, who will be retiring from the business. Picture Denis Minihane.
“His store was also a toy shop,” Barry said of his grandfather’s shop.
“My father then set up business on North Main St, selling Raleigh bikes and toys.”
Working with his father until he retired, Barry decided to establish his own business to carry on the family tradition and opened Kilgrews on Kyle St in 1984.
It is an area he has loved working in, and he praised the people of the Coal Quay.
Barry Kilgrew, owner, Kilgrews Cycles, Kyle St., Cork, who will be retiring from the business. Picture Denis Minihane.
“There’s a real feeling of community,” he said. “I live in the country, and this is very similar, the people here actually look out for each other. It’s a lovely place to work. This area is gorgeous.”
Over the years, Barry said he has witnessed an increase in the popularity of cycling — a growth trajectory he expects will continue.
“It’s only going to get stronger,” he said.
“It’s the new e-bikes which have come out in the last few years — they’re going to be huge. There’s a great future in cycling.”
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