Amid austerity, Dunnes was born, here in Cork city, 80 years ago today

THERE are currently 142 Dunnes Stores outlets across Ireland, the UK and Spain. But the source of this retail success story can be traced all the way back to Leeside 80 years ago.

On March 31, 1944, the first Dunnes Stores shop was opened in Patrick Street, by Bernard ‘Ben’ Dunne Snr and co-founder Dan Barrett.

Dunne was working as a menswear buyer for Roches Stores at the time, and the story goes that he was asked to take over another department as well as his own.

After asking for a raise in his salary, he was told it would not be possible as he would then be earning more than the directors, to which he replied: “Am I not worth it?”

Dunne planned to open a new store on Grand Parade, but instead took over 105, Patrick Street. The new store had the slogan ‘Better Value’.

The fanciest items on sale were drapery, and fruit - at a time when most of Europe was at war - was an expensive luxury.

To give an insight into the global woes of the age, just two weeks before the store opened, a U.S air force Marauder on wartime manoeuvres made a forced landing in Skibbereen.

That same month, Britain banned all travel to and from the island of Ireland in an effort to prevent German spies from learning of impending Allied plans to invade France.

Into this harsh economic climate, Dunne and Barrett set about launching a business...

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Ben Dunne snr was born in 1908 in Rostrevor, Co. Down, and initially targeted a life of prosperity in the U.S, but a family friend, Edward Whittaker, persuaded him he could make his fortune in Ireland.

Dunne toiled as an apprentice draper in Anderson’s, Drogheda, where he also honed his business skills. He moved to Cork and worked for Roches Stores, selling “Blarney socks at six pence a pair”, and his self-belief grew.

When he was asked to oversee their entire drapery section, the resulting confrontation led him to pursue his own dream of a business empire.

Dunne snr implemented his vision for ‘Better Value’ in that first Dunnes Stores, located across from his previous place of employment and would-be competitors on Patrick Street.

In the ensuing years, it has become synonymous with the Irish retail trade.

Initially, just 12 people worked in the Patrick Street store. Dunnes now employs 15,000 people and delivers goods to 116 countries.

Ben Dunne made his produce available at pre-war prices, an attractive proposition for hard-up shoppers. Word of such value in harsh economic times spread like wildfire across Cork city and county and from day one there were hordes of frantic prospective buyers surrounding the store. Photogs taken of the store on its opening day underline this.

At one stage in those early days, the situation became so manic that a store window caved in! The authorities were summoned to bring order, but the marketing value must have been priceless.

Dunne also cannily kept one eye on the markets in the U.S and gleaned valuable nuggets of business information to ensure his company would thrive in adverse times.

In 1956, his company launched its own brand, St. Bernard, while in 1966, Dunnes opened in its first out-of-town shopping centre, a signal that it was not afraid to move with the times.

Dunne snr, his wife Nora, whom he had met during his time in Roches Stores, and later his children, Ben Jnr, Margaret, Therese and Frank, all contributed to the enduring appeal of the brand.

Dunne Snr sought further business development too, once famously stating: “There is nothing to be afraid of in this world, only to be understood.”

In 1957, the first store in Dublin was opened on Henry Street, and three years later, the South Great George’s Street branch was added to the chain, with the latter fitted with a food section.

The introduction of food sales had further ramifications for Dunnes competitors on Leeside, as the company’s popularity was beginning to overshadow small- and medium-sized businesses.

Unperturbed, Dunnes located and developed more premises in Bishopstown in March, 1976.

It bought the previously-known Cork Iron and Hardware building on North Main Street for just under £350,000 in May 1980, opened in Ballyvolane in November, 1980, and also that year expanded into the Spanish market.

The Merchant’s Quay Dunne’s outlet opened in October 1989. By then, Dunne Snr had died of a heart attack and the baton had passed on to other family members.

There have been others introduced to Cork, but the branch on Patrick Street will forever be regarded as the primary seed with which Dunne Snr grew a dynasty.

The ultimate tribute came when Cork singer/songwriter John Spillane had a hit with The Dunnes Stores Girl.