A household name across Armagh city centre, family-run TG Hawthorne are celebrating a momentous milestone of 70 years on the high street!
Started by the late Thomas ‘Tom’ George Hawthorne, seven decades on and the family-run business remains a prominent long-standing business in Armagh.
On Tuesday, May 22, 1956, Tom opened the doors to his first premises – a dream that he never would have imagined would still be operating under the family name 70 years later.
Before going out on his own, he was working at William Orr’s Hardware store on Thomas Street – previously Pat Quinn’s fashion store. After working here for many years and building up the lay of the land in the hardware world, Tom began the Hawthorne journey after acquiring 2 Thomas Street for £1,200 [a great deal of money back then!] and turning it into a ‘general hardware business’.
With the hardware store nailed, and running out of room for stock, it was when a Scotch Street premises came up for sale that Tom decided to make his mark in the city once more. TG Hawthorne furniture and carpet shop opened in 1980, still standing strong to this day!
In 1994, Armagh was blessed yet again with another Hawthorne venture – after Tom purchased the premises directly opposite the Hardware store – a dedicated shop for nursery and baby goods. In recent years, this store closed with the baby goods relocating to the back of the furniture store after an expansion.
1956 proved to be a very busy year for Tom, not only opening his store but also marrying his late wife Jean. Shortly after, the Hawthorne tribe grew and Tom and Jean were blessed with three boys and two girls!
Fast forwarding to the present, the Hawthorne name is proudly still standing strong and family run on both Thomas Street and Scotch Street.
The three boys are continuing on their father’s legacy – Neil and Philip run T G Hawthorne Furniture store located on Scotch street, while Geoffrey runs the Hardware store in the original Thomas Street premises alongside his son, Simon.
Neil joined the family business in 1988 after finishing college, with Philip joining his big brother soon after in 1993.
Conveniently leading on to our next question – how do you find working with your brother?
With a grin on his face, Neil jokes: “It’s not easy – it’s real stressful at times! But in all seriousness, we do get on the best. There is only three years between us so even growing up we always got along well. Now we definitely have our moments like all siblings do, but as a rule we get through it.”
Laughing, Philip continues: “It has its moments like working with any family members, but generally we get on well. I think our relationship is what has helped the business last so long too, that we do get on with each other and manage to work without to many bumps and bruises.”
Philip continues: “We just feel proud coming in every day and getting to open those doors knowing that our father started the business and we are fit to continue on.
“The support that we get from the local community is incredible; without every single person who has came through our doors we wouldn’t still be standing here 70 years later. We are proud to be one of the longest reigning stores in Armagh and we like to think we are more of a community in here than a business, where people can come in, feel comfortable and have the craic with our staff.”
Neil continues: “We love seeing all the different characters come through the door and we have built great relationships with our customers over the years.
“It took the community to get our Dad started 70 years ago and they have stuck by us all these years. We have received generations of support; it started off with grandparents supporting our Dad, and to this day their children and then their children continue to support us.”
With 70 years down and still no signs of stopping, the boys’ hope is that the Hawthorne name will continue on for generations to come.
Philip said: “The third generation is already involved [Geoffrey’s son Simon] working in the hardware shop for a numbers of years, and now we have the fourth generation already involved in the business, [Simon’s son Ben] working part-time in the hardware store.”
Laughing, he continues: “It’ll not be me here in 70 years time that’s for sure but hopefully the Hawthorne name is still in town.”
Neil continues: “We’re always trying to improve the business, and a big step into the future for us was bringing in Wright’s Interiors a few years back, which has really helped our business and we continue to innovate where we can.”
Offering quality, choice and value across both locations, the Hawthorne brothers and their staff devote their time to providing a friendly and helpful service to all their customers.
Employing just shy of 20 members of staff, there is one member of staff who is part of the fixture and fittings – a familiar face to all shoppers – Kenny Boyd, who is their longest reigning member of staff with 35 years of service!
TG Hawthorne would like to say a huge thank-you to past and present staff, and to every single customer who has walked through the doors of their stores in the last 70 years.
To celebrate 70 years in business, TG Hawthorne furniture store have a massive celebratory sale with up to 70% off EVERYTHING in store, starting tomorrow (May 1) and running throughout the month of May.
Special, extra discounts will also be available each week across different product ranges throughout the month. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for more information.
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