Double celebrations at Breffni Tiles

There was double celebrations recently as Breffni Tiles Cavan and Monaghan celebrated one year in business in Cavan and the opening of a brand new store in Monaghan Town. Reporter Aisling Kiernan caught up with the owners Rocky and Louise Reilly on what has been a bumper year for their business...

The latest outlet, BTM Tiles & Bathrooms and Rocky’s Café, launched in Glaslough Street to much fanfare on Saturday with Monaghan GAA’s Conor McManus and Cavan GAA’s Padraig Faulkner on hand for the official proceedings.

Breffni Tiles is owned and run by Rocky and Louise Reilly who live in Redhills with their four children.

Rocky, a tiler by trade, has worked both locally and across the country for the last 22 years. These latest developments include the expansion of the business in Cavan and the establishment of a retail outlet with coffee to go in Monaghan.

“We are celebrating one year in Cavan and have renovated the showroom with the addition of new lines,” he continued before adding the business boasts everything from ceramic and porcelain tiles to laminate flooring, sanitary ware and LED mirrors.

“We have so much stock on display now in our newly renovated showroom. We have tiles and bathroom suites to view; we also have projector screens in both Cavan and Monaghan which shows the work we have done and the choices that people have when they come to our store.”

Seizing the Monaghan market

Following on from the success of the Cavan store, Rocky realised there was a niche in the market for a retail outlet in Monaghan.

With this in mind he set about his business plan and, last Saturday, that plan came to fruition when the store was officially opened to much fanfare.

“Compared to Cavan, there are less tile shops in Monaghan so I realised the potential that was there,” he continued.

“I would know a lot of people in Monaghan - people who I would have done a lot of work for down through the years - but really it was the opening in the market that struck me the most.

We have a large range of stock to suit all tastes and styles.

There’s lots of choice and if people are renovating an old house for example and they want to keep the character, then we have lovely patterned tiles to suit that. In fact they are becoming more and more popular.”

A winning team

Rocky and Louise Reilly are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to their business ethic. And all this despite the fact that Louise works as a nurse and the couple have four children ranging from 18 years down to 11.

“I help out wherever I can,” Louise said.

Rocky added: “Louise is going to run the coffee shop.”

A tile and coffee shop is certainly a different and unique offering - one that will no doubt be welcomed by shoppers.

“Yes, we will be serving takeaway coffee,” Louise continued before adding that the building previously housed a cafe so it made perfect business sense to continue that on.

“The space was geared out for that so we decided to keep it on. Initially I suppose we were looking at a tile shop only but when we saw the potential by including coffee in the mix, we decided to go for it.”

Serving a wide customer base

The Cavan and Monaghan region remains close to Rocky’s heart. Born and reared in Redhills, and residing there now with his family, he feels “this area has been good to me” and wants to give something back in terms of providing jobs and access to high quality tiles for consumers at good value.

“I’ve always taken pride in my work, grabbing the opportunities that come my way,” he explained, before adding that the business and expansion is part of all that.

“I’ve been a tiler all my life and I have always wanted to work for myself, so here we are! The business in Cavan is going very well for me and, when I saw the opportunity in the market that presented itself in Monaghan, I grabbed it with both hands.”

Indeed, the customer base also includes shoppers from Dublin, Meath and further afield. It is testament to the popularity of the business in Cavan.

Expanding into Monaghan “made sense”, added Rocky.

“Yes, they [customers] are coming from all over; I have a lot of customers coming from Dublin because it's just down the road really and there’s not much hassle getting down.

"The fact that we’re based on the Dublin Road makes the business very accessible as well. And, between the two shops now, I have a lot of stock.”

Rocky sources his products locally where possible and also from suppliers in Spain where he has established a great network of contacts having worked in the trade for over 20 years.