RANGE REVIEW: HARDWARE


SETTING THE BAR FOR HARDWARE


Turn the clocks back several decades in Dublin and you might have found a store just like Mary’s Bar & Hardware Shop – a pub-cum-retailer that finds a quirky way to sell hardware and DIY products. Fiona Garcia reports.


At a glance Mary’s Bar & Shop


8 Wicklow St, Dublin 2, Ireland (353) 0167 08629 contact@marysbar.ie www.marysbar.ie


Established: 2014


Product offer: Hardware, decorating, electrical, consumables, PPE Branches: 1 Staff: 15


Social media: www.facebook.com/marysbardublin www.instagram.com/marysbardublin www.twitter.com/marysbardublin


M


aking hardware purchases with a pint of Guinness or beer in hand is not a typical experience many


customers might have had but that’s exactly what Mary’s Bar & Shop in Dublin offers – not to mention the chance to sample the store’s famous toasted sandwiches if hunger strikes whilst the customer is still browsing.


The concept of selling hardware and DIY items – from screws, nails and hinges, to PPE and workwear – within a bar environment might seem completely alien to many but Mary’s Bar & Shop is actually styled on a number of local general stores still found across parts of rural Ireland.


“Mary’s is a real throwback to when the store in a village or town had to do a bit of everything,” explains bar manager Ronan Butler.


20 DIY WEEK 10 NOVEMBER 2017


“They were the sort of general store that operates as a bar but also as the main parts and pieces store for the local area. They would also sell confectionary for kids.” This type of store may still exist dotted around Ireland, with a couple of other well-known examples being Foxy Johns and Dick Macks in Dingle, County Kerry, however, Mary’s USP is that such a shop hasn’t been seen in a big city centre like Dublin for a very long time. Naturally, this makes it a popular destination for local DIYers and tradesmen, as well as the hordes of tourists that visit the city throughout the year. Mr Butler clarifies: “Around Ireland you can still find places like this, although maybe in more rural places now in the south and southwest of Ireland. Mary’s is unique because these stores wouldn’t have existed in Dublin city centre for a couple of hundred years, I would imagine.”


The aesthetic of the shop is really striking and creates a great setting that one can’t help but poke around in - but it’s not just for novelty value. The owners have worked hard to recreate the local general store, doing their research and building an offer and collection of items to display that are a true match to what customers could expect to find years ago in Dublin or if they travelled out to a more rural location.


“They would have gone down and visited a couple of the places down the country, had a look at what unique little curiosities and bits make these sorts of places what they are, and then they transferred that back up and installed it in the city centre here in Dublin,” explains Mr Butler.


The accuracy of the shop’s


presentation is often remarked upon, both in comments online and when people come into the shop.


“It’s a really good, authentic match to what these places would have looked like.” says Mr Butler. An assortment of interesting items like old stoneware jugs, copper kettles, antique clocks, weighing scales and wooden crates lines the shelves through the rest of the bar. And, with the vintage wallpaper, wood panelling and odd decorative plate here and there, it conjures up images of the old-school hardware shops people used to run from their front rooms. The effect is an inviting one that makes you feel at ease – exactly as Mary’s designed it.


An impressive offer Mary’s front window is another attention grabber and will often stop people in their tracks to admire the strange assortment of goods. “Our window gets a lot of attention,” says Mr Butler. “There’s a lot of curious stuff in there – a bottle of whisky will be next to a hammer, and then there’ll be some clothes pegs alongside some crisps”. In fact, it’s so popular, just a quick search on social media will throw up numerous images of people posing outside the shop with its famous signage.


The shop showcases its hardware and DIY offer on vintage-style shelving near the main bar, with other


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