It’s the end of an era in Monasterevin this weekend as the landmark Kelly’s Newsagents pull down the shutters for the final time after almost 50 years in business.
Noel and Josie Kelly opened their shop in November 1975, the same week that the infamous Herrema kidnapping came to an end just a couple of hundred yards away in St Evin’s Park.
They had brought the premises and some adjoining land and started out in the thatched roof building as a newsagent and general grocer. Noel was a building contractor by trade and in the years that followed he built a new shopping centre, one that housed six units in total, including Kelly’s Newsagents and, through a separate entrance, a supermarket.
For almost 30 years that was their base, until SuperValu, under the late Emmet McConville, developed a new outlet in the mid 2000s.
The newsagents carried on at the entrance to SuperValu for the best part of the next 20 years with Noel and Josie’s daughter Sonia joining the business in recent years.
But tomorrow (Saturday), they will serve customers for the last time. SuperValu have bought the business though it won’t continue in the same guise.
Over the years they established a reputation as a high quality newsagents – stocking essentially every paper, local and national, in the country as well as well as an excellent range of magazines and books.
They were also renowned for their selection and choice of cards for all occasions and in recent times were a go-to destination for balloons. Being a Lotto agent was a big thing at one time too but as more outlets came on board it diminished its status and value over time.
Noel was a founding member and three-time president of the Irish Retail Newsagents Association, a breakaway group from its UK counterpart.
Over the years they’ve endured numerous break-ins, including an armed robbery some years ago that left Noel badly shaken.
But the family leave with an amount of good memories too – of the countless customers that have come through the doors, and of the many local people who have worked with them.
“Some times I can’t wait for Saturday to come and other times I don’t know what I’m going to do when it’s closed.
“We will miss it of course but it’s going to be very difficult for small, independent, retail outlets going forward that don’t have the support of a big back office.”
“Many grandparents, parents and children have passed through the doors of the three different locations Kelly’s has occupied since November 1975.
“We are of Monasterevin and are proud to have played a part in the life of the town to date. We are overwhelmed by all the nice things people are saying.
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