Some families obviously have retailing in their blood. That would appear to be the case with the Galvin siblings, since four of them run three clothes shops, two in Tullamore and one in Mullingar. Of these outlets, the best-known is Galvin for Men, a feature of Tullamore's William Street since 1950. The business was established across the road from its present site by 21-year old John Galvin who, according to his son Paul, "had already served time in a local general store".
While the original shop was much smaller than its present incarnation - "I'd say no more than 15 feet by 15," Paul Galvin believes - it always focused on men's clothing and footwear. Expansion followed sufficiently fast for a move to the other side of William Street to become necessary in 1969 and eight years later, at the age of 17, Paul Galvin began work in the shop. A decade later, he bought out his father and has been in charge of the business since.
While Galvin was already widely appreciated in the area for the quality of its merchandise, only during the 1990s has the shop begun to stock a wide range of international labels. "Before that we were more middle-of-the-road and nothing else," says Paul Galvin. Today, among the names on sale are Hugo Boss, Gant, YSL, Marlboro, Lacoste, Tricot Marine, Remus and Baumler. The first two of these sell particularly well, not least because there are few other stockists in the midlands.
In order to attract as wide a constituency as possible, younger customers are offered brands such as Sonnetti and Firetrap. All buying in Dublin, London and Cologne is done by Paul Galvin and one of his staff, both of whom have sufficient experience of the shop's clientele to know what will sell. "I think if we brought in anything too high fashion such as Dolce & Gabbana, it would be very difficult," Paul Galvin explains. "We have to be realistic; this is a country town, so we're never going to be Grafton Street. Our middle-of-the-road market is always going to be important to us."
Of his stock he says: "to be honest, if you're running a shop in a place like Tullamore, you have to cover a pretty broad spectrum. We don't have a typical customer; they run from well-to-do businessmen to the younger market that wants jeans and Sonnetti tops." Thanks to the shop's careful buying policy, it now attracts customers from a 50-mile radius, with loyal supporters coming to Tullamore from as far afield as Roscrea, Kildare and Athlone.
"The better the product, the further they'll travel," is its owner's explanation for the enduring success of Galvin for Men. Competition in the immediate vicinity is not too much of a problem. "Thankfully, at the expensive end, there's no one else," but even in Tullamore the amount of rival retail space has grown of late, much of it taken by overseas chains.
"In the past 15 years, the amount of old established names here which have gone is amazing," Paul Galvin accepts. Only by responding to the changing demands of customers can the shop hope to maintain its position. Recognising how much disposable income will be available for clothing is also important.
While Midlands Man is "definitely prepared to spend more in the last three years" than used to be the case, price resistance cannot be ignored. "If someone is spending on more expensive goods," Paul Galvin explains, "then he's going to be looking for a broader range of products. That's why we have to take more brands on board and cover them in more depth."
So, over the months ahead, Galvin will be expanding from its current 5,000 to 7,500 square feet. "If we were confined, space-wise, then we'd have even more trouble."
It has been almost 15 years since the shop increased its size, and nine since the last refit. When work is finished, the interior of Galvin will show more and better, with an dress-suit hire section located at a second entrance onto Market Square. "Obviously, I think there's the business to justify this expansion. The space is there, directly behind the present shop. I'll increase the stock lines and show it all better." Does he expect the distance people will travel to increase proportionately? "Well, I have dreams about things like that, but I don't know if it will ever be a reality."