25 years ago, a passion for fashion saw Charisma Fashions take flight
CHARISMA Fashions in Charleville and Kanturk is celebrating 25 years in business this year – and for a business that has become a household name in North Cork and Limerick it’s been an amazing journey,
25 years ago Maria Connolly had a good, safe job with an enticing career opening up nicely ahead of her ... and she decided to give it all up. Maria had a passion, a passion for fashion, and that passion drove her to take a chance and open a shop dedicated to offering people the very best of clothing, with a focus on style exclusive labels and affordability.
“At the time I had a very good job working in in Australia, and everything was going very well for me. But, meanwhile, I was completely involved in fashion and clothing and style and quality, and putting all that together,” Maria explains.
In fact, Maria admits to being something of a ‘shopaholic’ and while she did have a good job already it did happen to be several thousand miles from home, in Australia.
“I had taken a period of time off and, against the advice of many, I decided to take a chance and open up my own shop,” says Maria.
Maria set up Charisma Fashions on Main St in Charleville in 1994, a store dedicated to offering top quality clothing while keeping the most up to date fashions at an affordable price. Coupled with her enduring passion, it’s been a winning formula – so much so that Charisma Fashions is now part of the streetscape of not only Charleville but also Kanturk, where Maria opened her second outlet.
Not only that, Maria has also embraced the online world and today is able to offer her fashion sense to people throughout the world. And while the Charisma Fashions website is now a key element of her business, Maria also finds that online social networks, particularly Facebook, offer new opportunities to grow and extend Charisma Fashions.
However, Maria is quick to point out that it’s local people who have become great customers over the years that are at the root of the success of her business.