Holy Thursday marked the 60th anniversary of Packy Holmes’ opening of his first shop in Mullingar.
To mark this auspicious date, Packy open the doors on a new business, Holmes Emporium.
Packy started in business in Mullingar in 1952, with a sweet shop, Holmes Sweet Holmes, before establishing a successful antiques shop on Bishopsgate Street, the location of the new Holmes Emporium, an Aladdin’s cave of treats and treasures presided over by Dermot Holmes.
The antiques shop, in a somewhat reduced form, is still in place, and it has been joined by 10 other businesses offering everything from glistening costume jewellery to locally produced crafts, handmade soap and heraldry, from woodcrafts to fabric crafts, and from holistics to fine food, including homebaked goods, French pastries, and the best Sicilian coffee in Mullingar. Unique in design, the emporium is a relaxing space to browse and shop, with seating for lunch or coffee.
Holmes Emporium is a unique business model, one born, phoenix-like, out of recession. It unites a group of entrepreneurs who would struggle to afford individual shop space in the centre of Mullingar but, together, can share the burdens of running a retail outlet.
The Holmes Emporium launch also kicks off a year-long partnership with well-known local cancer-care charity LARCC. Now based in Multyfarnham, the charity is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Holmes Emporium will be supporting LARCC with its coffee mornings, collection days, and other events throughout the year, and donation boxes for LARCC are located in the emporium.
