Company: Ireland Calls
Owners: Lois Tubman and Kathleen Cabral
Location: Brick Market Place, Newport
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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Employees: 4
Year founded: 1985 in Seekonk, Mass.; in Newport for 10 years
Type of business: Irish imports
Annual revenues: WND
For every item for sale at Ireland Calls in Newport, there is a story.
“Ireland is steeped in symbolism,” said Kathleen Cabral, who co-owns the store with her mother, Lois Tubman.
And if you have the time, Tubman will share some of those stories with you, from St. Bridget to shillelaghs, which are not walking sticks, by the way – they’re weapons. Celtic knots are symbols of the holy trinity. Claddaugh rings’ hands, heart and crown represent friendship, love and faithfulness.
“There’s hardly anything you see that doesn’t have a story with it,” Tubman said. “Everything Irish is tradition. That’s what’s so wonderful about it.”
As intriguing is the story of the shop itself, which specializes in Irish imports and Irish-themed merchandise. Cabral said that 90 percent of the products in the store, which range from china and wall hangings to crystal and fragrances, are imported from Ireland.
Both the children of Irish immigrants, Tubman and her husband Robert decided to vacation in their parents’ homeland in the 1960s. While they were on a stop on a bus tour, Robert Tubman made an off-hand remark to their bus driver that he thought his mother’s family was from the area.
In a twist of fate daughter Cabral called “strange, but true,” the bus driver knew the family. The family connected with their cousins and the Tubmans returned for subsequent visits over the years, with Robert Tubman even giving away a distant cousin at her wedding.
Each time the family planned an Ireland trip, Cabral said, “people started saying ‘Bring us back this, bring us back that,’ and then we thought ‘There may be something to this.’”
So the family became “buyers” for their friends, inviting them to “Irish parties” – not unlike Tupperware parties, Tubman said – so they could see what the family had brought back and make a few purchases. A business was born.
Many of the store’s most popular items are wedding-related, Tubman said. The staff helps customers put the finishing touches – wedding rings, champagne flutes, toasts – on traditional Irish weddings not just in Rhode Island but throughout the Northeast. The store also serves as a reference source of sorts, Cabral said, with a lot of inquiries about where to find bagpipers or step dancers.
A good economy in Ireland, Tubman said, has increased the availability of goods for the store – things like beer tankards adorned with family crests, framed blessings and black thorn walking sticks. Right now, popular sellers include Irish music for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and clothing to wear to parties and parades.
Tubman said in selecting merchandise, she aims for a wide price range – something for everyone.
“But mostly it’s stuff we like,” Cabral said. “It’s easier to sell things you like.”
Cabral even designs some the items sold in the store, including be-shamrocked children’s wear, hats and shirts for adults proclaiming “Irish Papa,” “Irish Nana,” and so on.
While January and February tend to be slower, March picks up with Irish Heritage Month in Newport and, naturally, St. Patrick’s Day.
“I’d say that we’re busy 10 months out of the year,” said Cabral.
“The locals are very supportive of us,” said Tubman, who described the tourists who flock to the area as “a happy plus.” And while the business doesn’t depend on the time shares and passing cruise ships, Tubman said she’s been surprised at the number of repeat customers from other areas.
Both Tubman and Cabral said that meeting and helping their customers is their favorite part of running the business.
“Our customers are delightful,” Tubman said. “(Helping them) is a fulfilling part because they’re happy about what they got, and if they’re not, we try to fix that.”
The one – minor – note of family discord as it relates to the business is over the store’s e-commerce possibilities, the two said. The store’s name is registered as a Web address (Tubman’s doing), but so far there’s no Ireland Calls Web site (Cabral is not so excited about Internet sales).
“I might do that in my retirement,” said Tubman, who added that she is “threatening to retire” when she celebrates her seventy-fifth birthday in October. “I think that would be a great way to go out with a bang.”
