38. Clíona Standún: Managing Director at Standún

Clíona Standun talks about how, with her sister Laragh, they run Standún in the heart of Connemara. Included in the conversation is how their grandparents met, the first shop, a long cycle, the Connemara bus, selling sweaters and bicycles etc., 700 knitters around the country, sending sweaters to Nordstrom, assembling the different parts of the sweaters, being the first company to export the Aran sweater, dealing with mail orders, when they first started selling online, working as a teenager in the shop, November and December being the busiest months, the shop being a great environment to grow up in, getting a buzz out of working there, getting off the grid, the rising costs of small businesses, rates, a message to policy makers, how it’s increasingly difficult to run a business in Ireland, championing the indigenous arts, the appeal of Irish made products, the cost of labour and the availability of people, the costs of running a business in Ireland, how customers want to support Irish businesses and Irish manufacturing vs the right price point, how Standún does their best to support Irish made products, the heartbreaking sight of villages with boarded up shops, the supermarket factor, the challenges of being a business in Spiddal, how tourists love Connemara, the foresighted skills of Donal Standún, how he built it into a strong business as a tourist destination, the education provided by being on the shop floor, the best place to buy an Aran sweater according to the Wall Street Journal, customer service being in the Standún DNA, and how Donal prioritised that, the percentage of sales being online, the future of retail, how the business has grown every year since 2015, how Galway city is quite competitive, how Standún is a destination store, the future plans, Merino wool, early wetsuits, lanolin, hand knitting vs machine knitting, the 1950s and 1960s, their aunt Dearbhaill Standún, caring for Aran sweaters, woolite, employing about 22 staff, being full-on busy right up until 5pm Christmas Eve, as well as other topics.