Flairline has eyes on Richard Alan shops

One of Dublin's oldest family retail businesses is about to change hands - Flairline Fashions Ltd is taking over the Richard Alan shops. The original outlet at 58 Grafton Street was set up by the late Jack Clarke, who used it as a stockist for the clothing produced in his factory in South William Street. There are now two Richard Alan shops (in Dublin and Cork respectively), as well as a Betty Barclay shop in the Blackrock Shopping Centre, Co Dublin, and Galway's Corrib Shopping Centre.

The Grafton Street shop occupies a prime position. The Cork shop is located along a busy stretch of Oliver Plunkett Street

What makes this arrangement unusual is that the transaction involves one Irish company buying another and not the intervention of an English retailer which has become the norm in recent years. Mr Barron says the Richard Alan name (and that of Betty Barclay) will continue to be used and the stock carried by these outlets will remain much the same.

"Nothing will change," he insists. "We want to improve things if that's possible." All existing staff are to be retained. Thanks, at least in part, to its longevity, Richard Alan has a very strong brand identity and loyal clientele.

Jack Clarke, who died 25 years ago this month, started the business after he had set up a clothing manufacturing company, J N Clarke Ltd, in 1932. From 1944, the line of garments he produced was sold under the name Country Wear; these enjoyed wide sales not just in Ireland but also in the US where Clarke was one of the first Irish clothing producers to show his work on a regular basis.

In 1952, after Country Wear's French-Canadian designer Gaston Mallet had left the company, Jack Clarke gave Sybil Connolly - until then manager of the Grafton Street shop - an opportunity to design her first collection. She remained associated with Clarke's company until 1957 and much of her early success was due to the support she received from Clarke.

He continued to produce clothes until 1972 when rising manufacturing costs obliged him to close down this side of the business. However, Richard Alan - named after his two sons Richard and Alan Clarke - remained in existence although its stock thereafter has been bought in from overseas companies.

Sean Barron says he has no intention of changing the character of the business and acknowledges that "buying is the most important thing here". He started Flairline in 1972 and it has since grown to have nine retail outlets in the Dublin area: two under the name of Pamela Scott (including the flagship store at 84 Grafton Street); six Ashley Reeves shops; and one called Lisa Perkins.

He plans to open another Pamela Scott in the new Swords shopping centre next October and has also just bought the the lease of the Richards shop in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre from the Arcadia Group for a reputed £359,000; this will be turned into an Ashley Reeves outlet and the existing Flairline premises in the centre will be given another name.

In addition, Mr Barron says he has plans for perhaps two more Dublin sites within the next year or two - one of these in the Dundrum Shopping Centre - and then expects to expand into the rest of the country. His four sons, John, Richard, Robert and Scott are all involved in the company, even though as yet none of them has had a shop given their name.

It is believed that one reason Richard and Alan Clarke sold their company to Flairline is because their own children do not work with Richard Alan and therefore no direct line of succession was apparent. Flairline's purchase means the company will continue to be Irish-owned. As Sean Barron says, "this is one Irish family selling to another Irish family".