Published: Wednesday, 24th March, 2010 4:30pm

Burgess to get some RTE retail therapy

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Burgess Department Store in Athlone will feature on Feargal Quinn's Retail Therapy show on RTE One in the coming weeks.

The 170-year-old business, Ireland's oldest department store, is one of six independent shops working with retail mastermind Feargal Quinn as part of the series.

In the programme, retail mastermind, Feargal Quinn works with six independent shops to help them battle the downturn and remain relevant in a cut-throat and over-crowded market. As the founder of the Superquinn chain of supermarkets in the 1960s, Feargal built the business up into one of Ireland's most popular and respected brands.

Feargal knows how hard retail can be, but also knows how to make it work brilliantly. It's his life's passion. Feargal became a millionaire in Ireland's last deep recession during the 1980s. It is during these years that he really learnt his skills as a retail street fighter.

In the series he shares the knowledge he has gained from years of being at the cutting edge of Ireland's supermarket wars where the devil is truly in the detail Thirty years later, having built up Superquinn, one of Ireland's most successful home grown retail brands - Feargal is now rolling up his sleeves and going on a mission to give something back by helping struggling retail business' across the country survive and in some cases thrive

Senator Quinn told the Irish Times recently that one of the main problems he found was how the businesses in the series dealt with new customers: "What they didn't quite understand was that every person who came through the door could become a customer. Somebody who's just dropping in for a box of matches or something isn't a customer, but you could make them one, by making them feel welcome and finding out what they wanted."

Not everyone had this problem. "Ian Boles (of Burgess in Athlone) is a traditional gents' outfitter and I'd say nobody could walk past him without getting a greeting and also a 'gosh, would you like a tie to go with it?'"

According to RTE publicity department: "Rosie Boles and her father Ian are at the helm in Burgess department store in Athlone.

At 170 years, it is Ireland's oldest department store and Rosie is keen to carry on for another 170. However, Athlone changed hugely during the boom years and Rosie and her father must contend with the competition posed by the Athlone Town Centre which houses fashion chains from all over the world. Can Feargal help them transform their store into a landmark Athlone destination?"

Fergal Quinn's Retail Therapy will focus on Burgess on Tuesday, April 6, on RTE One, at 8.30pm.