A LONG-STANDING family business has closed in Crookstown after more than five decades of operation.

McSwiney’s Quik Pick, run by Michael McSwiney, closed its doors for the last time on Friday, May 15th as the proprietor is retiring.

Michael has been working in the shop for 55 years. His father bought it when his health declined as he felt it would be easier to manage than running a farm.

Unfortunately, he died within 12 months of purchasing the business and so, Michael’s mother and the five children were left to run the shop.

Michael took over the running of the business after he had attended university and qualified as a teacher.

Quik Pick has seen some major changes since 1970.

‘When I started…people relied on the local village shops for their weekly shopping,’ Michael recalled.

‘Their diets were different. At that time, it was wholesome food, it was bacon and cabbage and potatoes, whereas now it is pizzas, processed foods and ready-to-go foods. It has completely changed.’

He didn’t want to be left behind, so the store always did its best to catch up to the increasingly changing world.

‘We just had to change with it. We bought an oven and did some baking, I became a baker myself when I was an old age pensioner!’

Michael also recalled the days of customers holding accounts in a big book, charging their groceries to the account, and then paying up every week or month.

‘Technology, the credit card has kind of done away with that…you just have to accept that. I had to get a credit card machine and move on then.’

However, a few longstanding accounts remained with the shop, the last of which was closed on Friday.

‘It was a bit nostalgic in a way because they’re an old family in the village,’ said Michael.

As far as plans for retirement go, Michael said he will ‘take it easy.’

‘I’m still not retired because I’m tidying up and getting ready for the new owner…I probably will relish having less responsibility and having more time to work in the garden or read more.’

Even still, the sale of the shop will be a great loss to the family’s life: ‘I surely will miss it, the social contact and the many friends that I made through the business.’

‘It was so nice to see so many showing up. People whose fathers and mothers worked here before my time even. They came to have a last look at where their parents worked.’

After 55 years in the shop, emotions were running high during Quik Picks’ final day.

‘At closing time in the evening there was a large crowd gathered cheering, and during the day there were a lot of tears shed,’ said Michael.

‘In fact, my daughter said ‘This is more like a funeral than a closing!’ It’s been part of the village for two hundred years.’

The retiree seems confident that the shop is in good hands, and assured patrons that the premises has been sold, and will reopen as a grocery store in a number of weeks.

‘The new owner of the premises is a West Cork man, and he’s going to try his best to keep the facility there for the local people and for the people of West Cork,’ said Michael.

‘We had a lot of loyal customers from Castletownbere to Bantry. All along it was a one-stop shop before you go to Cork.’

Michael fondly remembers when the community rallied around the McSwiney family following a house fire at their home over 20 years ago: ‘It was a traumatic experience, but thanks to all the people that rallied around us, they got us back up and running again. I’d have to thank all our customers down through the years for that.’