A Cork-based online menswear store that launched last April, www.tom-murphy.ie, has already had orders from overseas, including from Bolivia.
Its founder Tom Murphy said the site specialises in selling men’s suits, shirts, ties and shoes online and believes there is no other site like it in Ireland.
“We also offer an online made-to-measure service, where people have to wait eight weeks for a wedding suit of their dreams to be produced,” he said.
“It is early days yet but we have already made quite a few sales. We have sold suits to customers around Ireland and we have had sales overseas, as well. We sent an order for a couple of suits to Bolivia. We also have recently done a made-to-measure suit for a customer in the US.
Massive international potential
“We feel there is massive potential for an Irish menswear store to reach into other international markets, and the Irish-American segment is particularly interesting. We try to give a unique online service based on what the independents do best — service and atmosphere.”
The online store aims to achieve this by offering a product that is backed up by blogging and social networking.
“We are showing how a small business can look to the international market. Perhaps with the declining domestic market it is no longer a choice to do this, but a necessity,” said Murphy.
Tom Murphy Formal & Menswear was once the Lord Mayor of Cork’s residence before Tom Murphy Senior bought it in the 1930s. It naturally evolved when his son Michael developed the tailoring side of the business and, in his time, it became firmly established as one of Cork’s leading suit business.
Article courtesy of Bizstartup.ie
