Opening their doors for the first time in May 1959, Coppingers of Moylough have been serving customers for half a century and are still going strong.
“The years have flown by and it’s hard to believe the business is 50 years old. It’s a great achievement but we owe a lot of our success to our loyal band of customers. Some families have been coming here for over 40 years and now it’s a case of children’s children trading here,” said Mike Dolan of Coppingers of Moylough.
Along with generations of customers the family themselves have played a huge role in the success story of Coppingers.
William and Mary Ellen Coppinger opened their shop door for business in the late 1950s.
“In those days the main activity was bar and drapery. Times, like today, were challenging but both William and Mary Ellen met that challenge successfully as they expanded the business, concentrating on the drapery end, and also began the furniture and carpet enterprise in the ’70s,” added Michael.
The family later began to concentrate solely on furniture, discontinuing the drapery sector in 1992. In fact William Coppinger was a pioneer in the importation of Dutch furniture in the ’70s.
Despite all the changes, the family ethos has remained prominent in the business throughout. William and Mary Ellen’s son Martin was involved with the business before he emigrated to Australia in 1990 where he set up a successful company of his own while their daughter, Mary, and her husband Michael Doran joined the family business in the 1980s. It was during this period that W Coppinger and Co Ltd was set up.
Sadly William passed away in 1986 but the Coppingers have continued to strive for success and have welcomed a third generation to the business with Mary and Michael’s two sons Padraic and Chris joining the business in the past two years.
Coppingers has not only faced economic challenges but also survived extensive storm damage in the late ’90s.
“The premises was renovated in 1999 after suffering severe storm damage and this renovation has continued over the years due largely to both modernisation and an eye to consumer well-being,” said Michael
Today Coppingers provides furnishings for the whole home along with many other services including their own instore carpet fitter, and free measuring service for all floor coverings, as well as curtains and blinds and a free delivery service.
The Coppingers plan to celebrate their anniversary with a wide range of offers this weekend.
“The continued expansion of our business could not be possible without our customers and to show our appreciation we are launching a loyalty card which will give our customers an immediate 10 per cent discount. We also begin a celebration sale this weekend and we look forward to serving new and old customers. You can get full details on our new website www.coppingersfurniture.com,” concluded Michael.
