In recent years, Galway has become something of a foodies' paradise, with the likes of Aniar and Kai Cafe helping to put the city firmly on the map. One establishment that was a haven for food lovers long before the recent renaissance is McCambridge's, which recently celebrated its 90th birthday.
Founded by George McCambridge in 1925, this food hall, deli and restaurant is still located at 38 Shop Street and is run by the original owner’s grandchildren. Situated next door to McDonalds, the two are, as one loyal customer once jokingly put it, “the ying and yang of food in Galway”.
As George’s grandson Eoin, now the store’s managing director sees it, he and his sisters Natalie and Norma may never get rich but it does provides them with an income and they don’t have to answer to anyone else.
“We’re certainly not in this for the profit because the food business isn’t an easy one to be in, but I don’t think any of us could work for someone else. This is our business and we can do our own thing without anyone hassling us,” he said.
Eoin joined the business 30 years ago after deciding a career as an accountant wasn't to his liking. His sister Natalie, who established the store's popular hamper business, works as its marketing manager, while Norma was project manager until emigrating to Australia this year.
Inherited
The siblings inherited the business from their father, Pat, who had left school at 15 and started working in the shop in the 1940s. He stayed there until passing over the running to his children about 10 years ago.
“My dad is 80 now and most days he’ll still pop in to see how things are going, but while some families can experience difficulties because people are reluctant to relinquish control of the business, he has always been very hands-off and just allows us to get on with it,” said Eoin. “Both my dad and grandfather had the philosophy that you had to reinvest and reimagine the business every few years and that’s what we still continue to do. I think that’s the reason why we’ve stayed afloat so long. We’ve made mistakes along the way, but most of the changes we’ve made have turned out to be the right ones,” he added.
The store's founder was originally from Cushendall in Co Antrim, but ended up in the west of Ireland after having to skip town following an altercation with a member of the Black and Tans. He arrived in Galway in 1922 and got a job at a nearby shop before going into partnership with a man named Frank Brennan and setting up McCambridge, Brennan & Co as a "high class grocery, provision, wine & spirit establishment" in 1925.
In the early 1930s, when the store operated more like a supermarket in that it “sold a bit of everything”, George bought out his business partner and younger brother Malcolm joined, staying until the mid-1940s, when he moved to Dublin to set-up his own retail business, also called McCambridges. The business became a successful commercial bakery and is still well-known for its brown bread.
Over the years, the business has been through many changes. Having started out as a general provisions store, it began to specialise, becoming the first shop locally to import wine directly and focusing on niche food that couldn’t be obtained easily elsewhere.
“We started selling what you’d now call deli-style items – things you’d take for granted now but were difficult to source at the time. Then as time went on we moved into fresh food and opened up a deli counter and sandwich bar, as well as setting up the hamper business,” said Eoin.
“With the centre of Galway changing so much over time due to pedestrianisation, we had to adapt to stay in business. We couldn’t continue simply as a shop so it made sense to set up a sandwich bar in the store because people always want coffee,” he added. The move into providing fresh food has developed over time and the family now offers a catering service and in 2012 established a restaurant above the store.
Property
“We were lucky that we never made enough money to go about buying up property during the boom so emerged relatively unscathed ... What we did have though was what our accountant used to jokingly refer to as the most expensive stockroom in Galway city, which was the premises upstairs.
“We had 1,200sq ft upstairs which we had renovated in 1998 and which was used for our hamper business for a while before we moved that to alternative premises. About three years ago, we looked about and saw that a lot of businesses in places like the English Market in Cork were opening up premises that would allow you to eat goods found in their retail outlets and decided to do the same,” said Eoin.
“It took two years to find our feet and make it work ... but it’s all going great now and is a fantastic addition to the shop.”
Eoin and his sisters are hopeful the business will stay around but he insists that neither he nor his siblings want to pressurise their children.
“We’d obviously love it if the business continues for another generation but it is up to the kids to decide if it’s something they want to do,” he said.
