23 years after opening on Pearse Road, Keady’s continues to thrive with a loyal customer base

KEADY’S Dry Cleaners & Laundrette Service first opened their doors on Pearse Road, Sligo over 23 years ago in 2000. In that time Shane Keady has steadily built the business to provide over the counter services, a very popular pick up and delivery service and extensive commercial services for a range of hospitality, beauty, hair salons and restaurants. Speaking about the opening of the first store Shane says: “Setting up in Sligo was really about opportunity. I set up in the old video store on Pearse Road, the unit was empty and there was no dry cleaning service on that side of town so I felt it was the right place at the right time and I knew I’d have a good base around me. The location was also really about having vehicle access rather than foot access. Every store in Sligo had plenty of access for people walking, I wanted mine to be easily accessed by people in their cars.” As with any new business, growth for Keady’s was gradual and the customer base increased steadily,

“You never know how things are going to go at the start and there were challenges in the first year or two, but I could see slowly but surely that we were growing. I just had to stick with it knowing the numbers were moving in the right direction and it was probably the third year before things really pushed on for us as a business to get us to where we are today. It took a long time to get there. It was all worth it when you have a business still standing today.”

And as the business expanded Keady’s offered more services, cleaning team kits, offering wedding dress preservation and cleaning and sanitising soft fabric household items such as throws, rugs, duvets and curtains.

“We’ve responded to customer demands over the years and now clean a huge variety of items from rally suits and workwear to dance costumes. If it’s possible to provide a high quality service, we’ll do it. We’ve also introduced ATU student deals in response to customer demand like our €25 laundry deal where we wash and dry the laundry and pick up and deliver it to the students door. It’s about offering an affordable service and also convenience for the customer.” As an essential service, Keady’s was able to provide an important service to their many customers during Covid-19 with not all having access to both washing and drying facilities in their own homes and Shane said the appreciation of customers was very much felt during this time.

“Customers were very grateful because some of them would not have everything they need at home to do their washing and drying and it did make a difference. We could tell we were being recommended to new people as a lot of faces and names I’d never seen before started using our services and have remained with us ever since."

And Shane says the business success is built on two pillars, his staff and customers.

“I am fortunate to have a very dedicated team working here and I am very grateful for all the support our customers have shown us since 2000. In a town like Sligo you don’t just get to know a customer, you often get to know their family and we are open long enough to see next generations coming into us. We appreciate having that kind of support here, it says it all really. You can’t make someone shop, they have to come to you because they want you to and our customer base speaks for itself with the amount of regular customers we have and I want to thank each and every one of them.”

Keady’s Dry Cleaning and Laundrette Service, Pearse Road, Sligo, is open from 8.30am until 6pm from Monday to Friday and 9am to 6pm on Saturday.

Keady’s can be reached by calling 071 916 9791.