Clarke Decorate - 55 Years In Business
The Armagh City Centre Store Celebrates An Incredible Milestone
On Friday 21st February 2025, Clarke Decorate will have been trading on Scotch Street for a staggering 55 years.
The family-run business is proud to be one of the oldest operating in Armagh City Centre today.
Down through the years the business has truly been a family affair - starting out with George Clarke and his wife Nancy in 1970.
Their son Jimmy and subsequently his wife Georgina then came to work in the store - and in 2010 their son Richard joined the company, becoming the third generation in the business.
Clarke Decorate has reached an incredible milestone of 55 years in trade, and Jimmy Clarke genuinely remains humble about such a noteworthy anniversary
“It has gone by in a flash if I am honest - but the support that Armagh people have shown us over the years has been fantastic - and really appreciated.”
The Early Days
“My father had a painting contracting business with maybe half a dozen men working for him, painting chapels and churches and schools, that sort of thing. Then he decided to go into the retail side, so he would have dropped his men off at work and then come on into the shop.”
From it’s beginnings in 1970, the business flourished until a bomb on Scotch Street towards the end of 1978 reduced the store and a large part of Scotch Street to rubble.
“It left the place flattened completely, which led to us having to move to temporary premises on Barrack Street - we ended up being there for two or three years while the shop was rebuilt again from the ground up. That was an easy fix because the diggers just came in and gathered the place up and threw it away, it was unfortunate but sure we all lived through those days.”
Casting his mind back, Jimmy remembers calling into the Barrack Street store in the afternoons while he was still at school, though he wouldn’t start working in the shop until they moved back to Scotch Street.
As soon as they were able to operate again, the business went from strength to strength.
Jimmy thinks that over the years, between bombs and a more recent car accident at the shop, they have had to “put the place back together maybe five times.”
“I left school and began working part time in the shop, just to get involved - I was also working on a farm at that stage too, so I came in just to give a hand - and I never got back out the door. The shop was rebuilt in 1981/82 - but there was another bomb across the street and we lost the whole shop front again in 1984”.
“I can remember the craic I had with Dad over the years, one example was when I decided to bring a credit card machine in - this was the end of the world to him. Even moving away from an old ledger that you would put your invoices into, to move to computers - that was another battle from hell.”
Jimmy’s Thoughts On Success
“Obviously, you try to keep your prices competitive when you are up against the likes of B&Q and so on, but I always believe a small family business run right is always going to have the upper hand, it’s about the service - you don’t go in and just pick a tin of paint of the shelf yourself, there’s more to it, people want to come in and talk about colours, get advice, I do think independents will survive because some people do want that experience. Paint is actually a very personal thing, unfortunately people do make mistakes with it - but we are always there to help, and of coursr could some stories down the years.”
The Next Generation
Fast forward a few years and an opportunity to expand…
“There used to be a restaurant above us which we rented out but when Richard, my son, went to England to study interior design it became available, so we decided instead of renting it out again, we would try to incorporate into what we are doing here - to sort of get something set up in case Richard ever came back. It really did work out well, because he did come back and started to buy in fabrics, ready-made bedding and curtain poles, etc. - so the soft furnishing and interiors side of the business is upstairs and that is what Richard does.”
Today
“Over recent years we have expanded in to online retailing and have integrated more and more technology into the business. The key is moving with the times and embracing the change.”
Clarke Decorate
Address: 37 Scotch St, Armagh BT61 7BY
What3Words: ///polices.sectors.regulate
Phone: 028 3752 3732
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Clarke Decorate are stockists of the leading brands in Fabrics, Wallpapers, Paints, Primers, Tools and Accessories - including NEXT, Laura Ashley, Joules, Graham & Brown, Crown, Dulux, Sandtex, SuperDec and more.
The business has also grown online to include buypaintsonline.co.uk, rcinteriorsni.co.uk and of course clarkedecorate.com - helping customers and businesses across the UK and Ireland with their interior and exterior needs.
So before you go anywhere else, make sure you give Clarke Decorate a call or pop in to the shop. They won't be beaten on price. Guaranteed!
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