Living Over the Shop: Haddens – a mainstay of the town centre

THIS week, I spoke with Avril Hogan (née Hadden) about her family business, which has been synonymous with Carlow for generations.

Haddens of Tullow Street, Carlow is a place everyone who ever lived in or passed through the town over the past 100 years or so will know and remember fondly. An outfitter for men, women and children, a coffee shop, gift shop, nursery equipment supplier. You name it, Haddens sold it, providing employment and training to generations of people who served the public there.

The Hadden family business began in Wexford in 1848, when George Hadden and his wife Frances Jane opened a shop there. Sadly, after ten years in business, George died, leaving Frances Jane with four young children. Determined to keep the enterprise going until her sons were old enough to help with the business, Frances Jane ran it singlehandedly and duly handed it over to her sons William and George Jnr in 1875. From then on, the business became known as W & G Hadden.

After many successful years in business, the Hadden brothers decided to expanded to include a store in Dungarvan. Then, in 1909, they acquired 15 and 16 Tullow Street, Carlow, which was a drapery store known as Forde’s. Coincidentally, it had previously belonged to a Mr Henry Bankes, a brother of Frances Jane Hadden. At this stage, George’s son William managed the Carlow business.

Many readers will associate Haddens with Victor Hadden, who was William’s son. He, along with his brother David, who joined him in business in the 1950s, ran the Carlow store until David emigrated in 1973. By now, the premises extended from 14 to 18 Tullow Street and had been modernised several times. The fifth generation of Haddens, Colin, came home from London, where he had been working in Harrods, to assist with the business, but in 1976, with the death of Victor after some years of illness, it was decided to sell the shop to neighbouring Shaws, who own and run the premises to this day.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Haddens was a major employer in the town, running a popular apprenticeship programme. Parents would pay a fee to have their son or daughter trained in Haddens. In return, the young person got their bed and board over the shop, a small amount of pocket money, medical expenses and membership of the YMCA, where they could play badminton. There was a curfew and exams had to be passed to progress to the next stage. A staff handbook instructed trainees and employees on what was expected of them. Apprentices ‘agreed to be bound by the rules, i.e. to be of good behaviour, not indulge in alcohol, not let the company down with behaviour at dances and be a good living upstanding person’.

The emphasis in the staff handbook was on providing good customer service at all times. Under the heading of ‘When Greeting Our Customers’ came the instruction: ‘When serving our customers greet her by name if you can; if not, pass the time of day and, in either case, give her a smile. Our customer is our guest and yours, and we expect her to be welcomed; she will, as a rule, respond to a friendly approach which should not however be over familiar.’ Although Victor, David and Colin modernised the shop, the dedication to providing good service never waned, and many people will remember bringing goods home ‘on appro’ from Haddens over the years.

Haddens was always a place where new ideas were tried out. People of all generations will remember that the first escalator in Carlow was installed there in the ’70s. Prior to that, Carlow children were delighted with the introduction of the first gas balloons, which magically floated at the top of a string, as long as you didn’t let go! One of the first shops to introduce visits to Santa in the run-up to Christmas, this tradition began in Haddens, which was then replicated in many other shops. Victor Hadden had a way with words, and when the burglar alarm went off one Christmas season due to an electrical fault, Victor penned an article to The Nationalist stating that Santa had been doing his shopping there and that all the paper Santas had come to life, setting off the alarm. He also took the opportunity to remind customers that the new toy fair in the basement had ‘the largest display of toys and games ever seen in Carlow’.

Victor used his writing skills to keep the staff abreast of how the business was doing, as well as creating a sense of community within the firm, where good and bad news was shared, with his staff newsletter W and G’s Notes. New staff were introduced this way, and farewells were given to staff leaving or retiring. News of new developments in the business, apprentice exam results, as well as news about tax and the state of the economy were shared. A respected local historian, he had researched and written a book about local castles called Come Capture Castles prior to his untimely death, which was posthumously published by his family.

Countless staff worked in Haddens over the years in every department. Many will remember Miss Kelly, who did all the alterations on her Singer sewing machine upstairs. Tommy Alcock, who managed the shoe department, Alec Stenson in menswear, Michael O’Toole, Mrs McDonald, Harry Poole, Joe O’Brien, Betty Rothwell and so many more. Generations of families followed each other into employment there. From a time when there were coal stoves in the middle of the shop floor and tubes of money whizzing overhead to the modern Haddens Centre, the people of Carlow flocked to the shop, which was one of the mainstays of the town centre.

It was a sad day for the Hadden family when their premises was bought by Shaws, a fellow Methodist family, who had been their rivals in business for years, although personal friends. However, the name still lives on in Carlow and is proudly displayed in Tullow Street. The tragic fire which gutted the premises in 1984 left a gaping hole in the streetscape, but was rebuilt by the Shaw family, retaining the Hadden name. There are not many families who can boast five generations of business in any discipline, each playing their part in ensuring the motto, which graced Haddens receipts for generations, was upheld – ‘It’s a better buy at Haddens’.

This article and others in the series will feature in a book entitled ‘Remembering Carlow’ to be published before the end of the year. For further information contact mariaorourkewriter@gmail.com.