“IT’S AN honour and privilege when someone walks through my door, and you try and do the best you can for them. That’s my general philosophy.”
These are the wise words of Pat Smyth, owner of Pat Smyth Ladies & Gents Fashions in Gort.
Having worked behind the counter in men’s fashion for half a century, Pat knows a thing or two about the industry.
Today, along with his wife and business partner Mary, they are delighted to be passing on their knowledge and experience to the next generation of Smyths, their daughter Stephanie and son Patrick.
Mary founded the ladies fashion department in 2000, and has grown a steady customer base over the years. Mary’s keen eye for style and quality, along with her team, Helen Smith and Stephanie, are to be credited with the success of the ladies department.
Stephanie (33) and Patrick (30) along with their older sister Audrey, grew up helping out at weekends and holidays in the family business, which was established in 1996.
Having forged their own career paths, the siblings were drawn back to their roots in recent years and have since become fully integrated in Pat Smyths Fashions.
“We’re very fortunate, it would appear, that we’re one of the few independents in the country that we have people willing and wanting to do it,” Pat reflects, speaking about his children’s involvement in the business.
“They have their own personalities. Patrick is sharp- er and smarter and livelier than I am. Patrick is tuning into the young crowd, and even our mature punters are quite pleased with him.
“Stephanie is very well liked with all sections of age, she has a warm personality. The mature people like her, she’s friendly and somewhat like myself, very good with the meet and greet and smiling, most of the time.”
Pat is heading for 68 years old and admits that in his half century in the industry, he has stuck by two golden rules of business.
“I learned two great lessons in life. One was the meet & greet, regardless of the prospect of a sale. The other is to offer dignity and respect to every customer because it’s an honour and privilege when someone walks through my door.”
The Leitrim Loughrea based family run a small farm however there is a heritage of drapery in the family, Pat’s granduncle having had a tailor shop in Loughrea named Liam Smyths, now known as Weavers. The Smyth children are keen to nurture that tradition on Bridge Street in Gort.
Stephanie and Patrick not only admire their parents’ business nose, but also their foresight, customer service and eye for fashion.
“Mam and dad have such a wealth of knowledge, they have such a loyal customer base from Limerick to Athlone, we’re serving our time and meeting the customers, learning the trade, hopefully with the aim to keep it.
“It would be a shame to waste all of their experience and knowledge and not pass it onto the next generation when we have such an interest in it. We want to learn and keep the business going,” explains Stephanie, who adds that fellow employee Helen Smith also offers a wealth of knowledge.
Pat Smyth carries a range of styles to suit people of every walk of life and age demographic, from your best three-piece suit to a pair of wellingtons, while in the ladies department they specialise in everything from dresses and knitwear to jeans, coats and underwear. Along with mainstream brands such as Benetti and Walker & Hunt, they carry Irish labels such as Magee, Naya and Cocodoll.
GORT POTENTIAL
All the Smyths beam about Gort and its potential as a shopping destination. Gort is on the cusp of a Square redevelopment, a secondary school extension and the construction of new housing development. Community man Pat notes that it’s a town on a current upward trajectory.
“The overall town of Gort has improved immensely in the last three or four years, everybody has made an effort to tidy up their business both inside the door and outside the door, everybody is working hard to bring new people into the town.”
Patrick adds, “There are beautiful restaurants in Gort, coffee shops, hairdressers, chemists, supermarkets, there’s everything you’d need in Gort that you’d find in Galway without the hassle of parking, traffic. It’s all easily accessible here.”
PEOPLE OF CLARE
Patrick stresses that Dad Pat “loves the community of Gort and the surrounding areas, he forms a real relationship with customers”.
“He has a great grá for Clare people as well, they’ve been very good to us over the years and we have people who come to us all the way from West Clare.”
Pat adds, “Historically, the country people of Clare have been very good to us. It’s not about the pounds, shillings and cents, it’s about the characters you meet and the lovely people you meet. The sincerity of the people of south Galway, Gort, every jurisdiction around it is second to none. Their loyalty is something that can’t be taken for granted and we don’t take it for granted.”
