For nigh on a-century-and-a-half, D Lynch & Sons has been an integral part of the building trade in Portumna, providing locals with unrivalled products, materials and service levels. We caught up with All-Ireland winning hurler and company director Eoin Lynch to find out more about the outstanding family-fronted operation which is deeply embedded into the everyday lives of the local community.
Located on St Patrick’s Street, D Lynch & Sons has been serving the people of Portumna for almost 150 years, stocking a vast selection of products, from general hardware and building materials to DIY and soft furnishings.
A member of the influential Homevalue Hardware network, they pride themselves on their three core values of service, price and advice. Whether a customer is building a new home, redecorating an existing one or simply engaging in a spot of DIY, D Lynch & Sons are sure to have everything they need.
A wide range of building materials is stocked, including – but by no means limited to – cement, plaster and plaster slabs, construction timber (imported and native), sheet material, radon barrier, roofing materials, slates, roof windows, septic tanks, sewer pipe and fittings – essentially all the materials required for any construction project, large or small.
From their well-stocked heating and plumbing department, meanwhile, D Lynch & Sons also supply the most up to date and efficient methods of heating homes including condensing oil boilers, wood pellet boilers, solar panels and solar tubes, oil tanks, cylinders and pumps. They supply a wide variety of boiler and non-boiler stoves and can also tailor an underfloor heating package to suit any project as well as stocking a comprehensive selection of Kudox radiators and towel rads.
Other departments at D Lynch & Sons include: paint and accessories; tools and hardware; appliances; bathrooms; doors and floors; fuels; and garden & outdoors, while ‘The Loft at Lynchs’ first floor showroom contains beds and bedroom furniture along with quality bedding and mattresses in all sizes, timber doors and floors, bathroom suites and showers, heating and fireside accessories, giftware, clocks and lanterns, pictures and frames, rugs and mats, etc.
D Lynch & Sons Ltd. has been part of the Homevalue Hardware network since its inception, Homevalue Hardware & DIY is a 100% Irish-owned co-operative comprising over 65 independently-owned stores nationwide. Its reputation in the hardware industry has been built on providing the best products at the lowest price and both professional tradesmen and DIY enthusiasts alike will readily testify that Homevalue means real value and real expertise.
Homevalue has been serving Irish tradesman and the Irish construction industry for over half a century, forging a strong reputation for stocking the best brands and providing top service levels.
For well over a century, D Lynch & Sons have also catered for the farmers of East Galway and North Tipperary, stocking a comprehensive range of agricultural products including fertilizers, animal feeds, galvanised gates, fencing, electric fencers, feeders, cattle crushes, water troughs, silage covers, bale wrap, bale netting, etc.
A veritable hive of activity, D Lynch & Sons Ltd. is a fundamental part of everyday life in Portumna and surrounding areas, sourcing and supplying top quality products and materials since 1870. Over four generations, they have established themselves as a vibrant and reliable component of the community fabric, through good times and bad.
The genesis of the business dates back to 147 years ago when founder Daniel Lynch relocated from Charleville, County Cork to Portumna, County Galway and established a company that he would front for almost 50 years, When Daniel passed away in 1919, his son Eamon took over and continued to build the business up in conjunction with his wife, Mary.
Eamon and Mary’s son, Dan, joined the thriving family enterprise in 1976, and oversaw a major revamp of the store in 1994. Like his father before him, Dan is heavily involved in both the local business and sporting communities, particularly Portumna GAA club, whom he served as chairman for seven years. Today, Dan and his wife Kathleen are both actively involved in the business.
The fourth generation of the Lynch family has also become involved in D Lynch & Sons, with Dan and Kathleen’s son Eoin joining full-time in 2005. While a lot may have changed over the years and decades, much has remained the same, including the core values of the business and the determination of D Lynch & Sons to be the best hardware retailer they can be through offering a vast range of extremely competitive products, coupled with unrivalled customer service and the best advice available.
With the worst of the recession now behind us, Eoin is pleased to report that things are picking up again at D Lynch & Sons – a business which is of course indelibly linked to the construction industry: “Last year and this year have been the first ones in a while where things have started to move in the right direction again,” he notes. “We had a few tough years and at one stage we saw our turnover halved within an 18-month period, but thankfully things are improving again and the signs are encouraging for a period of growth going forward. We’re certainly on sure footing now compared to where we were eight years ago.”
Regarding the make-up of the daily trade, Eoin continues: “Traditionally, it would have been 80:20 heavy build:DIY but that went to about 60:40 during the recession. At the moment, we’re doing around 65:35 heavy:light. We also have a very important agri element to the company and we relied on that when there weren’t as many builders and tradesmen on the ground.”
In keeping with their location, a comprehensive, all-inclusive selection of products and materials is offered: “In a rural area, you have to cover all the departments and you also need to have a specialist knowledge of all those departments,” says Eoin.
“Service, price and advice are our three core values and we feel we are very strong on all three. We compete well on price and service but it’s the advice that gives us a major advantage over the bigger sheds and gets a lot of customers coming back to us over and over again. We listen to our customers and help them out in every way possible.
“It’s worth stressing that we are very, very competitive when it comes to price. There’s a perception out there that local hardware stores aren’t as competitive as bigger stores on price but invariably we are and then we also deliver on service and the advice, so our customers are getting the best of everything.”
Trading under the Homevalue Hardware banner is critical when it comes to gaining a competitive edge. “My father was involved with AHL and the Homevalue brand from the beginning, and I currently sit on the board as of this year, so there’s some continuity there,” says Eoin.
“The buying power of the Homevalue brand has been very important to small buyers in builder’s providers like ourselves and has given us a competitive advantage that’s really standing to us. The Homevalue brand is getting stronger and is synonymous with value and quality.”
In terms of growth, Eoin points out that homewares and DIY are key growth areas at present, while building materials are also on the up, albeit coming from a very low base… “We’re not getting back to 2005/06 levels but the one-off housing market and home renovations are very important markets at the moment,” he states.
“We can offer everything from the foundation to the front door and everything in between. We always endeavour to get everything the customer needs. We carry a significant amount of stock and also offer a Just In Time delivery method from our suppliers, ensuring direct delivery of all building materials to site as and when they are required. We go out of our way to ensure that the builder’s needs are met and exceeded at all times.”
Direct, gainful employment is generated from a team of twelve and D Lynch & Sons Ltd. is very much a local, community-based family business. The Lynch’s are synonymous with the local Portumna hurling, rugby and golf clubs, in keeping with a rich sporting tradition that runs in the family. In many ways, their successes in business and in sport mirror one another.
Eoin Lynch played underage international rugby for Ireland and represented Portumna and Galway at all levels in hurling, including a six-year stint with the Tribesmen seniors between 2006 and 2012. With Portumna, he featured on one of the GAA’s greatest-ever club hurling teams, collecting six Galway SHC titles and four All-Ireland Club medals, with brother Eamon sharing in three of those national successes.
Alongside the Lynch’s, the Cannings, Hayes and Smith brothers also played leading roles in those astonishing Portumna triumphs, epitomising the close family ties, camaraderie and strong sense of community spirit that exists in the area. “With the business, we tend to keep it at a local level and the vast majority of our business is carried out within a 30-mile radius,” Eoin reveals.
Looking to the future, the outlook for D Lynch & Sons is positive and Eoin says it’s very much a case of onwards and upwards: “We’re definitely on surer footing now than we have been at any time in the last eight or nine years, so our aim is to develop and grow the business in line with – or above – the market,” he concludes. “We’ve had a few tough years but it’s time now to look to the future with a positive mentality. We’re hoping to continue to grow by serving our customers to the best of our ability, focusing on our three core values coupled with a strong work ethic.”
D Lynch & Sons Ltd.
St Patricks Street,
Portumna,
County Galway.
Tel: 09097 41014
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.dlynch.ie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dlynch.ie
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, January 2018, Vol 4 No 1
