Hi, my name is Seán and I run a Toyshop

So here’s a brief history of my family and our shop called McGillicuddy’s Toyshop. Let’s start at the begining. My great-grandfather, PJ Corbett, began trading in Listowel in 1900, at the time he sold and fixed bikes and motorbikes and made tin. The name over the door at 26 William St from then on was Corbetts. This evolved throughout the ages passing from him to his sons, then his daughter Sarah (Sal) , then to my Uncle Owen who I never knew as he passed away before my time, then to my father Jackie who expanded and bought 22 William St from Paddy Fitzgibbon (and Fitzgibbons remained over that door from the late 1970s until well, 2016). Then, enter Seán. That’s me.

In 2017 when my father got sick my mother was trying to keep the shop going from behind the scenes so I said I’d jump on board and help her out. I had always thought my brother Owen would be the one to run the shop so it was never really on my radar. But tragically he passed away young and I guess after that I never really thought much about what would happen to the shops after my fathers time. Little did I know what was in store for me, that I was destined for a life of toy retail in my home town. Sure my father was still maintaining at age 86 that he was coming back to run his shops, twould all be grand.

The first thing I had to do however was streamline the names over the doors which had now turned into “McGillicuddy’s Corbett & Fitzgibbon”. Seeing as we weren’t a legal practice, that had to go, much to the grievance of my father. It was about time it was streamlined to “McGillicuddy’s”, Jackie would understand, eventually, I thought!

As I said, it wasn’t really on my radar to get into the family business. At the time I remember thinking, well we have two staff and if I can keep this going at least they will still have a job and I might even be able to pay my rent. I was off doing my own thing, mainly living and acting in Dublin at the time which is both expensive and not a great way to make money it turns out! But it was great craic. Every actor needs a side hustle so I decided to work remotely from Dublin and keep the shop going. I’d travel to Listowel on a Sunday night and then back to Dublin on Wednesday night. I got more and more into the work of the running of the shop and putting my own touches on it and my mother moved more and more away from it to write books and the likes.

In 2017 we renovated the shop and made it into as much of a traditional toyshop as I could. I didn’t tell my father I was doing that seeing as he never got over the name change over the door, he’d love the changes when he saw them, I thought again! I took trips to Germany and visited old and new toyshops there because the Germans know toys! I got some inspiration there and we closed for two weeks in the run up to the Listowel Races in 2017 and were ready for Christmas. Then in 2020 I relocated back to Kerry and started running the shop full time. And then we had to close. Covid.

We went through Covid and I began to think, if I can get the business through this, maybe this life is an option? I did grow up above the shop so maybe I do know how to do this? We got through.

Then in 2021, Jackie passed away, there was no going back then. Even though he hadn’t had much to do with the shop in his final years, and surprisingly we didn’t speak much about the shop, barring asking for all the towns people and how they are getting on and what they are at now, when he passed I felt the loss of his presence around the shop and I felt a bit out at sea. But a drive also came over me. After over 120 years things weren’t going to end now. Not on my watch.

One of the major things that keeps me plugging away is the community here in Listowel. At testing times the people have always been there for my family and I like to think my family have been there for them. Meeting the people in the shop and having the chats which can be as everyday as talking about the weather or things a bit more meaningful as talking about old times or lost loved ones. Small independent shops are not so common anymore, but where you have family businesses and small towns, you have a place to meet your friends, a place to come for a chat, a place to get your shopping and a place where you are welcomed. Having things like our century old tradition of “The Club” really maintains a community spirit. The Club is where people can pay a small deposit on items and we hold them until they have the money to pay them off. So, they pop in weekly or biweekly, pay a bit off and we can really get to know our customers that way, and it can be particularly handy for customers around Christmas time when expenses are high!

We had to roll with the times too. We joined Facebook, Instagram, started this website, got a cool and funky new logo which we printed on our bags, got a spot on a national documentary for RTE called The Toyshop, and more unconventionally, re-opened Corbetts in late 2023 as a hobby shop where people come and play trading cards, make models and play board games. So now Corbetts’s has “McGillicuddy’s” and “The Hobby Space” over the door…I’m going to have to streamline that one.