On March 26 1969 Gerry and Bridie McGuire opened the doors of their new premises on Tone Street in Ballina. They were setting out to bring something different to the area and they more than achieved this because 40 years later Gerry McGuire Shoes is now the west of Ireland’s most famous and much loved ladies shoe boutique.
Gerry McGuire’s was then and is now a family run business, with their son Brendan taking over in the mid 90s. The company has an ever growing customer base with people travelling across the country to get the perfect accessories for that special occasion. In April 2002 Gerry McGuire’s opened a second store on Ellison Street in Castlebar, which seven years on has proved very popular with both locals who were familiar with the name and visitors alike.
In September 2008 Gerry McGuire’s moved from Tone Street to its flagship store on O'Rahilly Street in Ballina. This, along with the store in Castlebar, is a little bit of Milan in Mayo and carries some of the world's best known designers such as DKNY, Guess, Cavalli, Luciano Padovan (as worn by Penelope Cruz ), UGGs, Juicy Couture, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Orla Kiely.
In those 40 years Gerry has seen many fashion trends on his shelves, from the patent wet look of Twiggy’s boots in the 60s, to Farrah Fawcett’s towering platforms of the 70s, low pump made fashionable by Princess Diana in the 1980s, the 90s brought an indescribable mix from platforms to stilettos, and now in 2009 you see on display in McGuire’s that the 60s and 80s have been revived with the added must have of the designer handbag. A rainbow palette of colour hits you on entering this store, from your trendy summer wedges to your elegant Italian peep-toes, style knows no bounds when walking through these doors.
Coinciding with this anniversary Gerry McGuire’s is excited to announce the launch of its website www.mcguireshoes.com This will now give you regular updates as to what’s new in store, with photos, information on upcoming labels, and promotional items.
To mark this special 40th anniversary Gerry McGuire’s will be having a week-long celebration, starting on Monday April 6 in both Ballina and Castlebar. Next week’s advertisement will outline all the special promotions and giveaways they will be running for that week.
“You can never have enough friends or pairs of shoes," ... this is the slogan used in-store and I'm sure you agree it rings very true!
