 Annie Shaw (Morgan) |
The Shaw Group of companies is a family owned business, which can
trace its origins back to the middle of the 19th century.
Mr. Henry Shaw founded Shaws in 1864. He is the great grandfather
of the current managing Director Mr Jonathan Shaw.
Records going back over a hundred years show that Henry Shaw established
his first shop - a small drapery store - in Mountmellick
in the 1864. His son Sam Shaw succeeded him. He in turn handed the
business to William, Trevor and Mervyn Shaw.
In 1890 we opened our first store in Portlaoise
known as "the boot mart" specialising in footwear. The current store
was acquired circa 1904 from Edghill & Smith and was formerly four
thatched houses. The company became specialist in hand tailored
clothes and secured the services of a master tailor from Scotland,
a Mr. Dallas.
Development in the Group continued with the opening of the Athy
branch in 1915. In 1929 the firm consisted of drapery stores in
Athy, Mountmellick
and Portlaoise and a hardware
store in Athy. In 1934 due to
the continuing growth of the business Mr Sam Shaw made the decision
to register Shaws as a private limited company.
The Waterford branch was
acquired from Messrs. Robertson Ledlie Ferguson in 1941. The original
name can still be seen as part of the façade in the Waterford store.
 Sam Shaw |
Shaws Carlow was opened in
June 1949 but was destroyed by fire in November 1950 and completely
rebuilt in 1951 and quickly developed into the thriving general
drapery and footwear business, as it is well known today. In 1954
the company purchased a well-established hardware firm Gaze & Jessop
Limited. This business transferred from Church Street, Portlaoise
to Centrepoint shopping
centre in 1973, it was one of the first such centres in the country.
In 1990 the hardware end of the business was leased to Messrs. Gings
DIY.
1960’s
The Shaw Group moved into the wholesale business in 1960 with the
establishment of a subsidiary company, Shaws Wholesale Limited.
From here on expansion became very rapid with an extension of Athy
in 1964 and a new branch opening in Roscrea
the same year. In 1969 Athy
and Waterford were further
extended and 1971 saw another new store in Fermoy.
1970’s
In 1973 the Company opened our Limerick
store in the Crescent Shopping Centre. 1976 saw the Shaw group acquired
a thriving business, Haddens limited with stores in Carlow,
Dungarvan and Wexford.
1980’s
In 1981 Shaws moved into Dun
Laoghaire. In 1984 Haddens Carlow
was completely destroyed by fire and was reopened as the Haddens
Centre, a modern shopping mall in the town centre from which the
company trades from a number of units.
1990’s
In 1997 Shaws expanded further into the southwest with the opening
of a store in Tralee and the
same year the premises in Dungarvan
was demolished and completely rebuilt.
 Shaws new Carlow store |
2000’s
In 2003 Shaws of Wexford
was completely rebuilt into a 4-story 5,200 sq metre modern department
store after an 18 month building project .
In 2005 the Group opened a new Head Office in Portlaoise.
This initiative by the business centralised all administration,
buying and management functions for the Company under one roof
Continuing with the company's philosophy of store refurbishment and redevelopment, the Carlow store was rebuilt to the same size and specification of the Wexford store. The Carlow redevelopment works took 18 months and the store opened on the 3rd August, 2006. Castlebar was opened only two months later. This development was followed by the opening of Drogheda in October, 2007, and Ballina in August 2008. This brings the total number of branches to 16.
