‘The Only Ones for me are The Mad Ones’ – this was certainly true to form as a ten-strong party from The Mad Ones Community finally boarded a bus after a spot of good old fashioned ‘thumbing’ was deemed to be simply not working.
Their dream on that Thursday morning was to get to the famed Killarney Races from headquarters in Castleisland’s Latin Quarter.
It was a fulfilling moment for the business proprietors, Kate, Noreen and Tara as the group, dressed in outfits from their own store, met many more at the races who were wearing ‘The Mad Ones’ with pride.
Number One Aim
“Just four months into our journey we have achieved our number one aim, that was to create a sense of community stemming from the shop itself,” said Kate McSweeney.
“We have made new friends with customers and the shop tends to act as a social meeting place as well as just somewhere you come when you need an item of clothing.
“Regularly, you will find complete strangers sitting on the couch waiting to see what another person (who they’ve never met) tries on and helping them make the ultimate decision as to what they take home with them.
“An outfit can act as the topic for discussion with people throwing in their tuppence worth as to whether its getting their blessing our otherwise.
“It’s lovely to see people investigate their own style and find themselves trying out pieces they would not normally go for, often finding a whole new avenue of style to explore for themselves.
Learning Process
“We are only a few months in and it has been, and will continue to be a learning process. For example it has taken us a while to get the balance right, sometimes there have been very few ‘going out’ tops in stock so we place an order, by the time that comes in we’re out of skirts…..disaster!! “We have got better at predicting what ratio of different items we will need when placing various orders.
“We’ve moved the shop around a zillion times until we found a flow that works for the customers and for us. It’s all fun and games really.
“In terms of our partnership it’s been kind of dream team-ish with Tara ‘Rock of Sense’ Walmsley often balancing out Noreen Cronin and Kate’s wilder notions.
“All three, although, have proved quite capable of creating notable moments of madness in their own right.
“Together we have devised so many plans for the future that we will take on one-by-one. It’s very exciting and we look forward to seeing where it takes us,” said Kate.
To find out more about The Mad Ones just click on the link here: www.facebook.com/themadones1/?fref=ts
Email Your News Items to…
Anyone in The Maine Valley Post catchment area who would like to send us news and captioned photographs for inclusion can send them to: jreidy@mainevalleypost.com
Queries about advertising and any other matters regarding The Maine Valley Post can also be sent to that address or just ring: 087 23 59 467
