‘It’s always been the dream’: Cork woman excited to open children's lifestyle store 

Elaine Moran has been running a successful online shop for almost four years.

The mother-of-two launched Maypole Lane in May, 2021, selling quality, sustainable, and unique children’s toys, accessories and clothing.

Now she’s moving her shop into the physical world, and opening a location on Midleton’s Main Street this week.

“Everything has kind of been building to this moment really. It’s always been the dream,” she says. “With my background in events, I love bringing people together. The shop is an extension of that.

“I feel like I’m creating a space where people can come and see the products, feel the products, and have a chat with me.”

When she first had the idea for Maypole Lane, Elaine was pregnant with her first child. She remembers looking around for different, high-quality toys and was surprised by how difficult it was to find what she was looking for.

“Through my own research at that time, I found loads of lovely brands and I had the idea that I could share them with other families.”

And so the idea for her own business was born.

After several months of looking for the “right fit” for the shop, Moran settled on 70, Main Street in Midleton.

“Midleton is such a sought after town, but we found such a lovely space. We’re right next door to Lollipop Kids, a children’s shoe shop, so that’s very complementary.”

Elaine and her husband moved to the locality three years ago, but her connection to the goes back further than that.

“My mom’s family goes back four generations in Midleton. My great-grandmother actually lived on St Mary’s Road until she was 100. It was somewhere we always came as kids to visit family. It kind of feels a bit full circle now opening the shop here.”

The timing is right too for Elaine, whose son, now five, started school in September, while her three-year-old daughter started pre-school.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have had that time with them when they were young; I worked the online shop around my time with them. And now I’m ready to grow my business a little bit more.”

Her kids have only recently realised that their mother owns a toy shop.

“It’s only in the last year as they’ve gotten a bit older and have seen me at the markets, that they realised ‘Oh, my mommy has toys in her shop’. I can’t wait for them to see the physical shop and explore it. As the time comes closer to the opening, the excitement is definitely building, for them, and me!”

Elaine studied art and design at Crawford College of Art and Design, and says the shop is very much a creative outlet.

“Designing the shop, I try to create little stories with the products. I really enjoy that side of it, and I’m loving getting stuck into the shop, and choosing colours and all that. It’s been so enjoyable.”

With a bricks and mortar store, Elaine has plans to extend her product range and collections.

“We’re lucky with our brands, they’re really nice brands. We’ll bring a lot of those into the store, and I’m always on the look-out for new brands as well, but that takes time. When I’m sourcing products, my focus is always: Is it joyful? Is it useful? Is it going to last?”

That’s because Elaine’s goal is to offer an alternative to what customers can buy in most shops today, and sustainability is also high on her priority list.

“I’m looking for things that are made to last and things that can be repaired, that’s very important to me. Too many things these days end up in landfill when they break.”

Bestsellers in her shop include baby essentials, dress-up items, and classic toys like jigsaws.

“The dress up bits and the accessories are such a lovely quality. They are really beautifully made. They are definitely some of our core products. We love jigsaws in our house, and we stock a gorgeous range made in Barcelona, and they are just beautiful. We have a lovely glow-in-the-dark one at the moment.”

Elaine knows that opening a physical shop with just eight weeks to go until Christmas will be hectic.

“The Christmas sales period is quite short, so I’ve been trying to get the opening time right for sure. I’ll have about six or seven weeks for Christmas selling, so it’s really important to be able to open at this time of year.”

Elaine says she can’t wait to welcome people into the shop, adding: “We’d love people to come and celebrate the occasion with us!”

Maypole Lane will open Tuesday to Saturday each week, and Elaine says she will likely open a couple of Sundays in the direct run-up to Christmas too.