The Irish Store
Company typeLimited Company
IndustryOnline Retail (E-commerce)
FoundedMay 12, 2011 (2011-05-12) in Dublin, Ireland
FounderLulu O'Sullivan
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Lulu O’Sullivan, Fiona O’Carroll, Cathy Lawlor, Orla Matthews, Max Pronko
ProductsIrish clothing, Jewellery and Homeware.
WebsiteThe Irish Store

TheIrishStore.com is an online retailer best known for introducing Irish manufacturers and suppliers to overseas markets by distributing Irish goods all around the world mostly to the Irish diaspora who number about 80 million.[1]


History

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TheIrishStore.com was founded in 2011 by CEO Lulu O’Sullivan.[2] It was originally known as Siopa.com. The idea for TheIrishStore.com came to O’Sullivan during the downturn of the Irish economy post 2008 when she felt the need to expand to other markets outside of Ireland. O’Sullivan opened her first company – Inter Teddy in 1987 selling personalised teddy bears over the phone. [3][4]The company later changed its name to GiftsDirect.com and focused more on a wide variety of gifts rather than just teddy bears. The IrishStore launched a shopping channel in March 2015.[5]

Services

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TheIrishStore.com is an e-commerce company distributing native Irish products worldwide. The products include men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and traditional Irish knitwear, jewellery, food and homeware.

Awards

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  • Best e-Commerce Exporter website award in the Retail Ireland Excellence Awards 2011.[6]
  • Best Use of Social Media by an SME (new) – Sponsored by Bord Gais Energy.[7]
  • Net Visionary Award - Internet Entrepreneur [8]
  • Irish Echo Business Excellence Award 2015.

References

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  1. ^ "Taoiseach launches online portal for famous Irish goods".TheJournal.ie. Retrieved May 12 2011
  2. ^ "Lulu O'Sullivan - Founder of GiftsDirect.com".Irish Independant. Retrieved March 6 2010
  3. ^ "How I Made It: Lulu O'Sullivan".Sandra O’Connell, Sunday Times. Retrieved October 17 2010
  4. ^ "Irish online gift company succeeds in delivering the goods".Sean Gallagher, Irish Independant. Retrieved March 24 2013
  5. ^ "Irish retailer launches international home shopping channel".Irish Independant. Retrieved March 19 2015
  6. ^ http://iapi.ie/blog/2011/11/retail-excellence-ireland-award-winners-2011/
  7. ^ http://socialmediaawards.com/
  8. ^ http://www.iia.ie/news/item/871/net-visionary-award-winners-announced/