‘I worked really hard for my business – this nearly killed it’
BOUTIQUE owner Kay Mulcair feared she could lose her life’s work as a result of the ruthless Eastern European ram-raid gang.
The Limerick businesswoman lost an astonishing €240,000 in revenue as a result of the raid Aurimas Petraska (32) helped facilitate in June last year.
“I started out over 20 years ago with my first boutique in Rathkeale,” Ms Mulcair said.
“I built the business up to the point where I now operate three boutiques.
“But I work seven days a week to keep the business going.
“I have to work really, really hard to make sure the operation is successful. It hasn’t been easy in Ireland over the past 10 years.”
She operates two K Boutiques in Rathkeale and Adare as well as the Isobel outlet in Adare.
Ms Mulcair employs a total of five staff and her businesses are typical of the small-medium family run operations that are the life-blood of rural Irish towns.
“The robbery was bad enough, but I think what was even worse was knowing that they had actually been in the shop, checking out the security systems and
looking for the kind of things they wanted to steal,” she said.
She was also left shaken when she learned from gardaí that one of those associated with the gang had a Rathkeale address – not far from her own base.
“I really didn’t know where this raid was going to leave us. This put us under really severe pressure,” Ms Mulcair said.
“They are stealing to the point where they could actually put someone out of business.”