12/02/2025
When Stephen Condon of Condon Construction was doing a bit of renovation on Desota House B&B in Galway recently, he noticed this little 'treasure' stuffed into the heart of a cavity block.
Long before hash-tags and online marketing campaigns, Galway City Council and the Galway Chamber of Commerce ran a marketing campaign in the early 80's called 'The Heart of Galway' and most businesses in the city used the tag-line 'There's a world of shopping in the heart of Galway' in their own advertising.
Rafterys shop 'aka' John Raftery and Sons Ltd., like most small businesses regularly placed adverts in the Galway Advertiser, the Connacht Tribune and other print media using just that tag-line. And yes, when they placed a print order for thousands of handy, though near indestructible plastic shopping bags, they also incorporated the catchy catch-phrase on their iconic red on white plastic shopping bags.
Some forty years later, the print on their plastic shopping tote has faded just a tad, though the business itself, 'Rafterys Shop' on Mainguard Street , has long disappeared, replaced by the unstoppable, all-conquering marketing power of the likes of Currys and Harvey Normans.
One wonders in another forty years will we be finding their plastic bags tucked into cavity blocks during home renovations, or will the promise of biodegradable plastic finally prove true?
One thing is sure, those multi-national companies will never replace the friendly staff, the low key sales pitch, and the helpful after-sales service that was the epitome of the shopping experience we all expected and received back in the day.
There certainly was a world of shopping in the heart of Galway!
Thanks for unearthing this little gem Stephen Condon. Hopefully there's loads more plastic bags hidden in attics and garages around Galway and our wonderful followers will send photos in to us here via Facebook Messenger at Galway Memories.
