Louis Copeland to open Cork store
He's tailored for movie stars, sports stars and presidents - now he's measuring up a new Cork store for fit-out.
Legendary tailor, Louis Copeland, who has suited celebrities from former Bond star, Pierce Brosnan to Irish rugby legend, Paul O’Connell, plans to open his company’s seventh shop over two floors in a former hair salon on Academy St, and which runs on to French Church St, in September.
And Mr Copeland said he feels like his family is coming full circle by opening on Leeside where his father worked with a legend of Irish retailing who later went on to found his own retail empire in the 1940s.
The Copeland clothing business has a rich history, dating back almost 120 years, when Lithuanian tailor, Hyman Coplan, travelled across Europe to settle in Ireland in the early 1900s.
He met and married Harriot McCarthy and changed his name to Copeland.
The couple had two children, Louis and Rachel, and opened the company’s first tailoring shop on Capel Street in Dublin.
Hyman’s son, Louis, followed in his father’s footsteps to become a tailor and he lived and worked in Cork in the early 1930s, where he worked alongside Ben Dunne Senior in the former Roches Stores.
Dunne later went on to establish Dunne's Stores on St Patrick’s St in the 1940s.
Louis moved back to Dublin a few years later to work in, and eventually take over the family's tailoring and clothing business on Capel Street.
He renamed it Louis Copeland & Sons and the brand has grown over the years to become one of Ireland’s best-known menswear and tailoring businesses, with six outlets across Dublin and Galway and an online store.
The business is run today by Louis’s son, Louis Snr, and one of his sons, Louis Jnr.
Mr Copeland Snr said they are delighted to be just weeks away from opening their company’s seventh store in the city where his father learned his trade.
“For us as a family and as a business, it feels like we are coming full circle,” he said.
My father had great memories of working and living in Cork and we are delighted to take up residence in the heart of the city.
“Cork city centre has a unique vibrance and culture - from fashion to food and arts - which is something that you simply cannot experience at a retail park or shopping centre.
“We are looking forward to becoming a part of this culture, getting to know our neighbours and welcoming customers old and new over the coming months.”
