ONE of Donegal’s best known hostelries is finalising plans to start an online shop in the coming days.
Under normal circumstances Nancy’s Seafood Bar in Ardara would be winding down from a busy Easter, a very busy Cup of Tae weekend and rallying the troops in preparation for a hectic summer. Covid-19 has changed all that.
The business is currently in the safe hands of the seventh and eighth generations of the McHugh family and at the moment all seven members of the eighth generation are at home. They now plan to start an online shop while the business is closed.
“Some things that have become clear to us during the closure of the pub is that we really miss our daily interactions with our customers, we miss working together and we miss looking after people – making sure they leave our premises feeling satisfied and content, and hopefully with the wish to return,” Jenny McHugh said.
In an effort to ensure that the family will have a business to get back to when the worry of coronavirus has passed, Alan – the youngest member of the McHughs – has been putting together the plans to start an online shop.
“We have sourced some of the best Donegal products available to us from companies which we already work with like Sliabh Liag distillery, Donegal Rapeseed oil, Filligans preserves, Kinnegar brewery, Gallagher’s bakery and Shines Tuna to name a few.
“We initially intend to create hampers which will contain items from each of these companies, and also our own produce, which we will sell online and courier to anywhere in the country. We’ve even got Leonard Breslin to create a wooden cheeseboard with Nancy’s written on it like you would see from the gable of the house,” she said.
“As a bar, we won’t be able to re-open until August 10 – depending on how things are going in the country – and this is something to do to keep us both sane and, hopefully, relevant in the meantime.
“We’ll start with the hampers but we do intend to open an online shop where we can serve individual items,” she said.
Alan came home from Australia while his sister Brianna recently arrived home on a two-week holiday from Mexico only to find that she was unable to fly back out.
“This is Alan’s brainchild and he’s enlisting the help of all his siblings, his parents and his niece in this new venture. He’s given us all jobs,” Jenny said.
Alongside the hampers they plan to sell many other items which they know and love and are sure their customers will enjoy. The website is nancysbarardara.com
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