Tenacious Ray to continue trade

The owner of a music store, located in the Douglas Village shopping Centre, says he intends to find a way to keep trading despite his store being forced to close.

Ray O’Brien, owner of Music Zone, is unsure of the extent of the damage, if any, done to his store. Safety concerns mean he is unable to enter the building to check the store or retrieve valuable stock.

Mr O’Brien said: “I have no access to the unit, so I have no access to stock. So I’m just trying to find a way forward, to keep trading. I don’t know will it be this year, hopefully it will. They don’t really know, the damage is severe, it’s just not safe at the moment.”

Without access to his store, Mr O’Brien hopes to remain in business by making deliveries of stock requested by customers.

He had initially considered temporarily selling stock from the boot of his car as a means to keep the business running but has decided against this after Falvey’s Pharmacy, who had initially offered to accept Music Zone’s deliveries, has since been forced to close for health and safety reasons.

Despite the setbacks, Mr O’Brien is determined to find a way to continue trading and keep his loyal customers.

“I’ve had it before with the (2012) flood. If I sit on my hands I’m a goner in a couple of months. So, I have to try and get back up and go. I hope maybe in ten days’ time I’ll have a little pop-up. That would be the hope, because I need to get back trading, I’ll be goosed otherwise.”

Having arranged a second temporary delivery arrangement with a store in Douglas Court, Mr O’Brien has been overwhelmed with the level of support he has received since the fire.

He said: “There have been offers of units, believe it or not. Coughlans music venue offered me their space for free.

An incredibly kind gesture, it just needs to be right for me. I just have to make my mind up what’s the right thing to do,” he concluded.

 

John Barry

news@corkindependent.com