Pat Quinn (businessman)
| Pat Quinn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 1, 1935 Cloone, County Leitrim, Ireland |
| Died |
November 23, 2009 (aged 74) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Founder of Quinnsworth |
| Spouse(s) | Anne |
| Children | Bernard, Patrick, Lisa, Gavin, Paul, Tanya, Barry-John |
Pat Quinn (1 July 1935 – 23 November 2009) was an Irish publican, hotelier, music promoter, storyteller,[1] former millionaire and founder of the Quinnsworth supermarket chain, which was Ireland's first supermarket chain.[2] He invented the term "yellow pack". According to The Irish Times, he was "one of the country's best-known business figures in the 1960s and 1970s", "the whizz kid of the Irish grocery business" and "a well-known figure in the Irish-Canadian community" at his death.[3] He worked, honeymooned and eventually settled with his family in Toronto. The Toronto Sun described him as "County Leitrim's favourite son".[4]
Early life
Quinn was born on 1 July 1935 and grew up in Cloone, County Leitrim.[1][5] His mother ran McNamee's, a nearby public house and grocery store, and his father was a local member of the Garda Síochána.[2][6] The family were undertakers as well.[2] His brothers Fersey, Fintan and Kevin, and sister Annette Maher survived him, though another sister, Mary Lynch, died before him.[3] Quinn boarded at St. Mel's College, County Longford as a boarder before beginning work as a stockboy at Woolworths in Limerick, being promoted to the position of store manager by the age of 22.[2] In 1958, himself and uncle Peter Quinn opened Quinn Co on Longford's Main Street.[2]
Promoter of music events
Quinn was known as a promoter of music events during the 1960s in Ireland.[5] He hosted events at Quinn County, featuring pop stars such as Joe Dolan, The Drifters and the Royal Showband.[2] He encountered his future wife, Anne, at one of these performances in 1960.[2]
Quinn advanced his learning of the grocery and music business in Canada,[3] and promoted artists such as The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, The Dave Clark Five, The Dubliners, Roy Orbison and The Supremes.[2][4] He introduced the Rolling Stones to North America in 1965, with Canadian police being called to a riot at the band's debut concert in London, Ontario.[4]
Quinnsworth
Quinn returned to his homeland in 1965 at which point he was hired as general manager of the H Williams supermarket group.[1][3] He asked them to open a branch of their group in Stillorgan's shopping centre.[1] When they refused Quinn established his first Quinnsworth branch in Dublin's Stillorgan Shopping Centre in December of the following year, inspired by the Woolworths brand.[3] He worked alongside his wife to clean up in the evenings after the store had shut.[1] Quinn had set up six stores and made £6 million within five years.[3]
Upon learning that the fee to hire George Best to open one of his stores was £1,000 he donated the money to charity, believing he had a high enough profile to perform the ceremony on his own.[1]
Rival stores
Quinn rivalled other Irish stores such as Dunnes and Superquinn,[3] the latter of which had to change its name to avoid confusion with Quinnsworth.[6]
Selling
Quinn sold his Quinnsworth chain to Galen Weston's Associated British Foods in the early 1970s,[5] becoming a millionaire at the age of 36.[6] By the time he sold Quinnsworth he had stores in Ballymun, Dundrum, Rathfarnham, Douglas, Wilton, Galway and Shannon.[2]
Polo necks
He is noted for participating in his own advertising,[3] wearing a white polo neck jumper in "the fashion and retailing statement of the late 1960s", as Sam Smyth dubbed it in the Irish Independent after his death.[6] His love for polo necks led him to arrive at one funeral dressed in a pink polo neck.[6]
Personal life
He purchased a house in Killiney, a silver Rolls Royce which had a telephone and a second car, a Mercedes for the family.[1]
He owned three racehorses, one which was called Leitrim.[1]
Quinn and his wife, Anne, had their honeymoon in Toronto, a place where they were to spend much of their life from then onwards.[2] They had seven children Bernard, Patrick, Lisa, Gavin, Paul, Tanya and Barry-John.[2] Two became orthodontists, one works in the medical profession and the other four succeeded Quinn in his Canadian pub business.[6]
Ownerships
Quinn then purchased several pubs, such as the Dead Man's Inn in Palmerstown (closed in 1975) and Mooneys (which went into receivership).[1]
He went on to set up a hotel and sports complex in Kilternan, County Dublin.[3] His intention had been to create a similar outlet to that seen in The Shining, however the 1973 oil crisis disrupted this plan.[6]
The Pat Quinn Club, for which, upon its announcement, Quinn chartered a plane to Bristol, UK especially for a group of journalists to show them a similar club, would later be called “one of the most spectacular [Irish] business failures on record”.[1]
He opened three pool halls, initially above Rathmines Stella cinema and later in Bray and Drogheda and also set up an “executive coach service” for businessmen travelling around Ireland.[1]
There were also discount stores in Ballymun and Finglas, Ringsend's Pierrot snooker and gaming club and the Shoparound Centre on Dublin's South Great George's Street.[1]
The last venture shut in early 1986 following below average Christmas trading in 1985.[1] Quinn moved to Toronto in 1986, emigrating to escape the recession which gripped Ireland at this time.[3][5]
Later years
Quinn initially sold books and crisps in Canada.[6] He set up his first bar there in 2001.[2] His family are known in Canada for their Toronto restaurants and pubs, which include the Irish Embassy and PJ O'Briens, as well as one Montreal bar.[3] He appeared in the Toronto Star's business section to demonstrate his prowess in the Canadian business industry.[2] Quinn also continued his music promotion after his return to Canada.[3]
Death
He died aged 74 in Canada on 23 November 2009 when he succumbed to renal failure.[4] Senator Feargal Quinn, the founder of rival Superquinn, remarked upon the death of his namesake: "He certainly changed retailing in Ireland [...] He was always on the microphone in the shop giving away cars and houses".[6] Louis Copeland, the tailor responsible for the suits he wore in his advertisements, commented: "I remember going to his house in Killiney and the phone never stopped, calls from people down the country looking for jobs. And Pat tried to fix something for all of them."[6] Quinn's funeral at a full St. Michael's Cathedral on 28 November 2009 was attended by more than 800 people, including the mayor of Toronto.[4] Tenor Colm Wilkinson sang the hymn "Amazing Grace".[4] Irish ambassador to Canada, Declan Kelly, described Quinn and his wife as "the embodiment of Ireland".[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Chain store founder who coined term 'yellow pack'". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Saddess as supermarket founder passes away in Toronto — Longford mourns death of Pat Quinn". Longford Leader. 2009-11-27. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Death of Pat Quinn, founder of Quinnsworth". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Warmington, Joe (2009-11-28). "Farewell to the Mighty Quinn". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- 1 2 3 4 "Quinnsworth founder dies at 74". RTÉ News (Raidió Teilifís Éireann). 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Smyth, Sam (2009-11-25). "Quinnsworth pioneer Pat helped change the face of retail industry". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 2009-11-27.