Independent businesses continue to be the lifeblood of Lisburn
By Julie-Ann Spence
Published 4th Oct 2024, 15:54 BST
Things have definitely changed in Lisburn over the years but luckily there are still some businesses in the city centre that have served local people for decades.
Businesses like Smyth Patterson, McCalls, Style and Value, Roy Ervine, Brogan’s Opticians, Jeffers Bakery, Greens, and Lowry Jewellers, have been the beating heart of Lisburn for generations.
Whilst many are sad to see some old favourites close there doors, businesses like these are keeping an independent mark on the high street.
Are there any businesses you like to support? Are there any that you miss seeing in the city centre? What are your memories of shopping in Lisburn in years gone by?
1. Independent businesses are still at the heart of Lisburn
Smyth Patterson is one of Lisburn's oldest family-run businesses Photo: Courtesy of Irish Linen and Lisburn Museum
2. Independent businesses are still at the heart of Lisburn
Smyth Patterson is one of Lisburn's most well known family-run businesses. Smyth Patterson Ltd was established by Adam Smyth Patterson (1898–1949). Adam’s first venture into the business world began in 1926. He bought and sold farm produce to the markets in Belfast. Adam opened his first shop at Smithfield in Lisburn, and Margaret McCann came to work for him. The shop sold all sorts of hardware items. In 1936, he moved his business to larger premises at 18 Market Square, Lisburn, where the shop is situated today. During the 1940s, his children Jean, Maureen, Harold and Hubert, and their cousin Day, started working in the company. They were joined by Wesley McCracken and Helen Alexander. Adam died in 1949 after a short illness. Harold and Hubert, in their late teens, were left with the responsibility of running the business. Today, the business is carried on by Colin Patterson, grandson of the founder, Adam Smyth Patterson. Smyth Patterson sells an extensive range of furniture, electrical appliances, gifts, toys, homewares and hardwares, and is now one of the leading retailers in Northern Ireland. Photo: Courtesy of Irish Linen and Lisburn Museum
3. Independent businesses are still at the heart of Lisburn
Greens Food Fare has been at the heart of Lisburn for generations. Greens Food Fare on Lisburn’s Bow Street was first established in 1923, but there is evidence of a grocery shop on the site as far back as 1886. Originally known, in 1886, as Robert McCartney; family grocer – purveyor of tea, wine, spirits and provisions. Agent for Lyle and Kinahan’s V.O. Whisky and Aerated Waters. In 1923 it became JT Green & sons and in 1970 it was acquired by the Black family. The late Griffith Horace Black was the initial driving force behind the business and Greens’ early expansion, including the purchase of neighbouring Bow Street properties Alexander Boyd & Co and Jack Cummins’ butcher shop. Photo: Courtesy of Irish Linen and Lisburn Museum
4. Independent businesses are still at the heart of Lisburn
McCalls of Lisburn was established in 1956 and has grown to become one of the UK's premier independent fashion retailers. The business now operates from two stores with over 12,000 square feet in the centre of Lisburn. Photo: McCalls
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