1. 26 BUSINESS PROFILE November 15 2012
Cunniffe Electric - a household name for
top brands at best prices
BY MARTINA NEE
It may have changed immensely since
its early days, growing to become
Galway’s largest electrical retailer,
but Cunniffe Electric remains at its
heart a family business, always
striving to provide its loyal customers
with excellent customer service and
top brands at the best prices.
When you think of Galway bred
businesses there are only a handful of
names that have cemented a
reputation as fine as Cunniffe
Electric, which has over the past 38
years grown to become a top port of
call when it comes to purchasing
pretty much anything electrical, or as
Tony Cunniffe likes to put it,
“anything with plug”. Sitting in the
bright and spacious superstore at
Riverside Commercial Estate, Tuam
Road, it is easy to see where this little
phrase comes from. Customers are
greeted by a whole range of products
and well laid out displays as well as
friendly and knowledgeable staff. The
services on offer at the smaller
Galway Shopping Centre store are no
less impressive with the same
attention to detail being paid to
ensuring that the needs of customers
are met by providing them with
quality products and advice.
There have been many changes at
Cunniffe Electric since it was first
established in 1974 by two brothers
from Killimor, Co Galway. With great
entrepreneurial spirit Paddy and Noel
Cunniffe set up their fledgling
business at the Galway Shopping
Centre with only two staff. However
with hard work and dedication the
business grew and the store was
expanded in the early 1990s enabling
the addition of built-in displays and
integrated appliances. Increasing the
store space to twice its original size
also allowed the business to break
into the TV market.
“In 1974 the business was delivery
from a car and trailer. The guys
worked all day, six days a week,
evenings and weekends, and the
reputation was gradually built up
over time. It was certainly difficult
starting out. The business wouldn’t
have sold many dishwashers at the
time or built-in kitchens. The
industry was changing and growing.
In the early 90s the space was there,
and we took the chance to expand.
Galway Shopping Centre is a
destination centre, 40 years old now,
with plenty of parking. Footfall has
always been a major draw and
Cunniffes became associated with the
centre,” explains Tony Cunniffe, co-
director along with Eoin Cunniffe.
The next major milestone came in
2001 when Cunniffe Electric joined
with the Expert Electrical group,
Ireland’s largest electrical retailer
boasting 60 retail stores in Ireland
and 8,000 worldwide. This move gave
Cunniffe Electric, now a second
generation business, the buying
power it needed to keep up with
changes within the industry and to
retain the reputation it had built up.
“It allowed us to get better prices
through bulk buying and gave us
quicker access to stock. There had
been a lot of competition at the time,
there were multinationals, six or
seven electrical stores in Galway. We
felt that by joining with Expert
Electrical it guaranteed our future
and helped our customers in buying
appliances that were as good as
anyone else and at the best prices
because we were able to pass on the
discounts,” said Tony.
While many businesses were
starting to feel the first stings of the
recession Cunniffe Electric made a
brave move in 2008 by taking over the
unit at the Tuam Road and creating
the superstore that stands there
today. It was a decision based not only
on necessity but also foresight, to
bring the business forward and
realise its full potential without
forgetting the core values that made
it a household name in the first place.
As Tony explains: “We had very
limited display space at the Galway
Shopping Centre which meant a lot of
the time we were selling out of
brochures. This superstore gave us a
lot more space allowing us to create
dedicated displays for premium
brands such as Miele, Siemens,
Bosch, Neff, and Range Master. There
are a lot of working and plugged in
models which allows customers to get
a feel for it, touch and use the
product. We also drastically
expanded our TV displays, there is
everything now from 16” to 60” on
display with premium brands like
Panasonic, Sony, and Pioneer. We
opened the Tuam Road store at the
beginning of the downturn, when the
Celtic Tiger had its last roar. It was a
brave decision but we were looking at
expanding for a long time and it
helped cement us as Galway’s largest
electrical retailer.
“We have changed our thinking
slightly but we’ve always been known
for household appliances and TVs. In
2011, we completely revamped the
Galway Shopping Centre store which
now offers a range of digital products
with a large selection of laptops. The
TV display at the store has also been
increased as well as the smaller
appliances section which is now
larger and more colourful. This is also
a dedicated coffee machine area.
“We hold the largest appliances in
the west and 80 per cent of the
machines bought today are delivered
tomorrow, there is no waiting. We
offer full delivery and professional
installation on all our appliances.
We’ve never gone down the road of
budget appliances, everything we sell
we stand over. Everybody here has
been with us a long time so there is a
lot of experience in the business. If
customers come back the following
year they will see the same staff. This
is still a family business at the heart
of it, built on the same guiding
principles of customer service,
stocking the best brands at the best
prices, and having experienced staff
on hand. We’re a destination for
anything with a plug, the best brands,
staff, stock, and without a doubt the
best prices.”
Cunniffe Electric stocks a large
range of home entertainment, top
brands in the kitchen and home
section from freezers, dishwashers,
ovens to dryers. There are also
laptops, DVD and Blu-Ray players,
and much more. Full recycling
service is also provided on request.
For full details log onto
www.cunniffeelectric.ie or phone the
Galway Shopping Centre store on 091
561971, the Tuam Road store on 091
706504, or email
info@cunniffeelectric.com. The
Galway Shopping Centre store is open
seven days a week while the Tuam
Road store is open six days a week.
Tony Cunniffe with his team Sean, Richard, Neil and Bernadette at Cunniffe Electric Expert, Tuam Road, Galway.
Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy
Cunniffe Electric Expert, Tuam Road, Galway. Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy
in association with the
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