Another iconic business to close in Sligo as Seamus Collery retires
Seamus Collery has announced that he will soon retire after 42 years working in a family business that was founded by his father. He told Michael Daly that above all else he loved meeting people during his time on Grattan Street.
SEAMUS Collery, known to all as Seamie, is calling time shortly on a 42-year career at the Grattan Street premises which bears the family name, a Sligo landmark which first opened its doors 70 years ago. Collery’s, set up by his father James and his mother Marion in 1952, grew in popularity and became famous for selling suits, shirts, and trousers in the 1950s.
This continued right through to the 1980s when Seamie, after the death of his father, took the business on a different path, focussing more on casual wear – in particular surf and street clothes which grew in popularity.
But it’s much more than a clothes shop, it’s a salute to another way of doing things and is a meeting house as much as a retail outlet where everything from the fortunes of Sligo Rovers to the price of a litre of diesel is on the menu.
“I love people, always have. That’s what kept me going through the years. It is probably the biggest reason why I loved this job – it never felt like a job and that’s because every day you had so many people coming through the door and everyone has a story, an opinion and I love that. God, I will miss that,” he admits openly.
He has loads of callers who just come in and just want to say hello. “There are a lot of people living out there on their own and I might be the only one they talk to that day, there is a bit of that, and I love to see them.” He said he wanted to thank all the people who came here and kept him in business for this long. “It is the end of an era and I have made so many friends. The last few days have been amazing and at times a wee bit emotional. I am very thankful for the good wishes and for the support we as a family have received over seven decades, it is very special.”
While Seamie may be retiring, bear in mind this is the man who marked his 60th birthday by jumping out of a plane with his daughter Emma from 15,000 feet – and he’d love to do it again. When he’s not jumping out of planes, Seamie is a bit old school in some respects. He was forced to buy his stock online during the pandemic, but he’s not a fan of online buying/ selecting and has been back to the stock rooms in the UK to see and much more importantly “feel” the clothes he wants to sell to his customers.
He has had one rule in his 42 years selling to the public – a rule his father James handed down to him: “Never
James, Seamus’ father, who opened the shop in 1952. sell anything to someone you should not have sold to them”. He explains: “If you sell a shirt, a suit, anything to someone knowing that it doesn’t suit them, doesn’t look right on them, doesn’t fit them, you will have that sale from them, but you will never have another.
“They will never come back.” Seamie’s dad, a tailor, opened the business in 1952. The family, with roots in Coolaney and Tubbercurry, moved in and Seamie and his three siblings lived over the business on what was then one of the busiest streets in Sligo.
Seamus, Martina, Damien, and Deirdre shared their street with dozens of other youngsters from it and nearby Harmony Hill and other streets in the heart of the town.
“It was so different. We had neighbours all along Grattan Street, from the corner you had Harry Slowey, Moodys, Kellys, Mrs Bree next door, O’Connors and the DiLucia’s and Cafolla’s Cafe. Harmony Hill, High Street, John Street had loads of families and that’s the difference.
“We raced go-karts down Harmony Hill – you come here now on a Sunday morning, and you won’t hear a sound or see a sinner. People don’t live here anymore.”
He recalls the early days: “Dad was a tailor and there were two or three other tailors working with him at the back of the shop and he had seven machinists.
“I came in at 18 and my father died when I was 21, so it was a short apprenticeship.
There’s a hint of sadness as he looks back: “Grattan Street and Harmony Hill are so different now. You come down the town now on a Sunday morning and you won’t see a sinner. We grew up here, we used to be coming down Harmony Hill here on go-karts. The whole centre of the town was buzzing.
“I don’t know what they are doing with the town now. Someone has gone
Seamus Collery outside his Grattan Street premises.
mad with these wide footpaths and the only living tree in the middle of the town, they cut it down.
“There are a lot of decisions I would question. I always felt they should close the traffic down from Castle Street to John Street, from Wine Street to Stephen Street. I would like to see that area pedestrianised and street furniture placed on the streets. You see it elsewhere and it works so well. “I don’t want to fall out with anyone, it’s just an observation, but you want
to see the town progressing, getting better and I think it has in an awful lot of ways, the development down by the river is phenomenal and a case in point,” he adds.
Asked what he saw as the most important development for Sligo in his time in business he immediately responded: “The Wild Atlantic Way, a massive game changer in terms of the number and the type of tourists it brings here and brings in my door.” A huge Sligo Rovers fan – a lifelong season ticket holder he just loves the Bit O’Red. He loves all sports. His late father James was one of the founder members of the St Mary’s GAA Club. “Dad loved sport and I would watch any sport, but I am in the same seat for Sligo Rovers for 30 years,” he adds. He acknowledges that the business, while having its challenges, gave him all he needed: “I made a very good living here. There was no such thing as a 39-hour week. I worked six days a week for most of my life. I did the books and all that, so it was busy. I took two weeks off in the summer and that was it, so now I think after 42 years it is time to wrap it up and enjoy retirement.
“My wife Caroline retired from teaching after 35 years in education. A teacher in Colàiste Iascaigh and Ballinode Community College here in Sligo, once she retired, I made the decision I would also retire.”
Caroline and Seamus are wished every happiness for their retirement, and they and their children Robyn and Emma will enjoy some great times together – and there could be more skydiving on the menu – with Seamus you never know!