20100307_BOY055_e1_NWSNorth 26/02/2010 10:48 Page 55 Shop front EARGAL Quinn may be 73 years of age, but he is still the undisputed king of Irish retail. Now he is set to bestow a half a century of experience on six shops around the country for RTE's latest home-grown entertainment show. The tough-talking businessman pulls no punches with shop owners as he tries to get them to change their ways to make a go of their businesses. Just like Gordon Ramsay in Kitchen Nightmares, Quinn tells the shop owners of Ireland what they are doing wrong and how they can change their livelihoods and at times it isn't pretty. "I had to play the tough guy because some of them seemed completely set in their ways," the Senator tells SWM this week. "It's hard for anybody to hear that the things they have been doing are wrong, but if they want to get out of the recession they have to listen to my advice. "I genuinely want them to succeed, and I want viewers to take my advice on board. I am passionate about retail in Ireland, so if I can get the message across then this show will be justified." For Feargal Quinn's Retail Therapy, the former Superquinn boss travelled to six different types of shops around the country to give them the kind of once-over that made the Dubliner one of Ireland most successful entrepreneurs of all time. "Some of the problems with the shops would be obvious to anyone, while other aspects of the businesses were only seen when I got my hands dirty. "There's a florist, a tourist gift shop, a supermarket and a department store - a good variety. But I applied the same business principles to them all. "Take the Green Stores in Claremorris, Co. Mayo. The stock was outdated and the owner, Florence, prided herself on knowing all her customers. But in there lies the problem as she wasn't focussed on getting new customers," says Feargal. "I've always applied the Boomerang effect to my businesses; the goal is to make customers want to come back to you. F THE SHOP OWNERS WERE SO STUCK IN THEIR WAYS - SO I HAD TO PLAY THE TOP TEAM: Feargal with the staff of BMC in Cobh , Co. Cork TOUGH GUY ADVICE: Feargal at X-IT Store, Dublin with Derek and Fionnuala Law Retail king Feargal Quinn comes to shops' rescue for new RTE show Daragh KEANY And if you are good at what you do, the customer will also tell friends and family. Word-ofmouth is far more effective than spending money on advertising." Despite his best efforts, Feargal was met with confrontation from some of the people he was trying to help: "I spent time trying to get people to change the habits of a lifetime. It wasn't easy, and I didn't succeed in some aspects," he says. "The biggest issues were trying to get shop owners to invest money in the changes "I also struggled to convince Rosie and Ian of The Burgess Department Store in Athlone to open on Sundays to compete with the other stores in the town. Their store is 170-years-old, which must make it one of the oldest in Ireland. That's a huge selling point." So how have the stores fared since Feargal's dramatic changes were put into effect last summer? "I know that five of the six have turned around their fortunes. One still has a lot to do, but I hope the exposure of this show will get their heads above water. "I've visited them all in recent weeks to see how they're doing. I consider them my friends, and feel responsible for how they do from now on," the multi-millionaire says. Feargal Quinn's Retail Therapy is on RTE One every Tuesday at 8.30pm for six weeks. Feargal Quinn was born in Dublin on November 27, 1936 He is married to Denise and has five children. He is a first cousin of Ruairi Quinn TD and of Lochlann Quinn, former chairman of Allied Irish Banks (AIB). Feargal set up his first supermarket, Quinn's Supermarket, in Dundalk in 1960. He was made the Chairman of An Post from 1979 - 89. He wrote his first book, Crowning The Customer, in 1990 1993: Became Senator Quinn. August 25, 2005: Superquinn was sold and Quinn became a nonexecutive President of the group. He was made a Professor of marketing in NUIG in 2006. January 2009: the new owners announced that the original site in Dundalk was to be closed. CV for success The mag 55