RANGE REVIEW: HARDWARE
items, such as hi-vis jackets, hanging from ceiling hooks to maximise space and ensure everything can be clearly viewed by the customer. Irish wholesaler Topline keeps Mary’s well stocked and patrons can shop a host of goods, including screws and nails, adhesives, tape, paint brushes, paint and primer, and even PPE, such as safety goggles, gloves, dust masks and hi-vis vests – complemented by branded Mary’s Bar & Shop t-shirts, should customers fancy some new workwear.
But don’t be fooled into thinking that the shop element is just a fun quirk, leaving stock sitting gathering dust on the shelves. Mary’s, which has been trading for almost four years now, does an important job serving its local DIYers and trade professionals. “If I get asked ‘do we actually sell this stuff’ one more time, I might take a bit of rope that we sell and use it on myself,” jokes Mr Butler.
Whilst he admits the majority of people come in for the bar, Mary’s has a very varied customer mix and sells hardware to anyone from local DIYers to professional carpenters and plumbers, or even passing tradesmen, such as shopfitters working in the area. Some people call ahead to see if the items they want are in stock but others know Mary’s and pop in on the off chance; grabbing a drink whilst they’re there. “We have a sort of passing trade, with a lot of shopfitters and tradesmen who work around the city centre in Dublin,” explains Mr Butler. “We stock a lot of consumable stock like Grip Fill and tapes, WD40, methylated spirits, batteries and dust masks and high vis vests – all that sort of stuff that they might not be keeping an eye on in the back of their van and don’t realise that they are running low on. They know we have stocked that and they pop in.” He continues: “Sometimes their boss might send them down to pick
Bar manager Ronan Butler with the weekly Hardware Special board
up a box of screws or something like that and they might sit and have a sneaky pint before they head back. There’s a big Victoria’s Secret store being done on Grafton Street and there are four English guys who are doing the electrics in the building. I’ve been working for the past four days and every day they come in at lunchtime. They buy a toasted sandwich and a pint and they also pick up whatever else they need for the job. I think screws and tape are the main things that they’ve been buying.”
Late-night shopping
The shop itself has a colourful past – something it proudly talks about on its website. Located on Wicklow Street, it occupies the site of the former Wicklow Hotel – a building as famous as many of the guests who frequented it, including Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins and his associates. There have even been a couple of notorious murders there over the years!
The building has changed hands and been revamped several times since the hotel closed, before getting its most recent makeover to become Mary’s. It is owned by Press Up Entertainment Group,
which operates a number of other bars, restaurants, hotels and retail ventures in Ireland, including Japanese home and furniture brand Muji, Tower Records, and The Union in Dublin. Directors Patrick McKillen and Matthew Ryan head up the company but the day-to-day running of Mary’s is taken care of by a small friendly team of individuals, like Mr Butler, who works in the bar during the week and is in charge of hardware during that time. When it comes to best-selling lines, he is quick to respond that utility and consumables are both strong categories for the shop.
And, of
course, being a bar, it benefits from later opening hours than traditional shops, giving Mary’s another great point of difference. “We are the only hardware store in the city centre that does these products seven days a week and the only place you can buy hardware after 5pm on a Sunday night in Dublin.” He continues, listing the top sellers: “We do hardware like hinges, bolts, light fittings, switches, locks, padlocks, and that sort of stuff. And we also do equipment like drill bits, shower rails, fuses, and so on. But the biggest-selling stuff is the consumables – things like Grip Fill and WD40.”
He explains that the bar and shop
reaches “the full spectrum” when it comes to describing an average customer but adds; “I would say that we get a lot of workmen in their gear – we get more of them in than the average city centre pub.” Most come in with an idea of what they need to buy and are usually tradesmen or serious DIYers, who make up about 85-90% of customers on the shop side of the business. “Our offer is quite broad but we don’t have a huge amount of stock,” says Mr Butler. “The people know what we have and, generally when they come in, they know what they want.” These patrons “know more than I do,” says Mr Butler, and don’t need any advice, but, occasionally, the staff do have their DIY knowledge put to the test. “Every now and then you get somebody in who needs help. Last week I had a young lady come in and she wanted some hinges for a pressed door. I knew the one she’d selected probably weren’t the right ones for the job, so I managed to get her onto another set.”
Service with a smile Whilst Mary’s is clearly frequented by some die-hard DIYers (and drinkers, of course), it does still cater for those customers who are just interested in the novelty of the shop. “Pretty much every woman called Mary that passes the place comes in. There’s not one that’s walked by,” laughs Mr Butler. “We have paper bags with Mary’s Bar & Shop written on and also some little tags, so we’ve started giving those out to them.” Putting a smile on a customer’s face seems to be a priority at Mary’s – whether that is having the right product in stock, serving them something cold in a pint glass or sharing a joke (often hardware related). As well creating what is no doubt a fun in-shop experience; the business works hard to engage with existing and potential new
www.diyweek.net
10 NOVEMBER 2017 DIY WEEK 21
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