Our story began in 1986 when our Dad (Dom) set up his first Sweater Shop in Wicklow Street in Dublin, together with our aunt Breege. With 3 young children at home, he decided to set up his own company and put his knitwear knowledge to good use. 10 years prior to this, he had worked for Gaeltarra knitwear - An Irish Wholesaler who specialised in selling Irish Sweaters to the American Market. His job entailed travelling back and forth to the States selling Irish Aran Sweaters to American customers. Dom noticed that there were quite a few speciality shops in America and at the time, Ireland had none. He decided to open up a store specialising in Irish Sweaters with a big focus on Irish Aran Sweaters. The first store was a big hit with locals and tourists and gained media attention for the quality and prices of the sweaters sold.
Dom, Breege and our mum (Joan) worked in the shop on Wicklow Street and learnt what customers were interested in - they saw a growing demand for cable knit Irish sweaters so worked together to develop a range of authentic Irish sweaters that would suit both local and tourists visiting the shop. They soon decided to open up more stores throughout the country. Keeping the business in the family, they set up two stores in Galway in the early 1990s and our cousin Alva, runs these to this day.
The Sweater Shop continued to expand - with 5 shops around Ireland and a busy website - and now the second generation - Doms daughter Laura, Daughter in law Kate and son Paul have taken over the daily running of the stores and the managing of the website, while Dom still over sees the business.
We all worked in the store on summer breaks in school and then in college so needless to say, we grew up living and breathing aran sweaters! We have a group of amazing staff, some who have been with us since the beginning and are like extended family. We pride ourselves in being experts in Irish Aran Sweaters and all things Cable knit! If you are in and around Dublin, Galway or Kilkenny, make sure to pop in and we will be sure to give you advice on what to do in the city and show you our range of Aran Sweaters!
Last year, we celebrated our 30 years in Business milestone. We are incredibly proud that the business has come this far and look forward to another 30 years as an Irish family run business!
Go raibh mile maith agat,
The Sweater Shop Family