Ireland will always hold a special place in our hearts here at Kubix. Not only is it the place where we hired our first international team member Aoife, it’s also home to many of our exciting marketing clients and their website projects. From the health drinks of Filthy Rich, to Supernature snacks and the beautiful gifts from Hampers & Co, our Irish clientele has been expanding rapidly in recent years.

Back in January, we scoured lists of retail events over in Ireland for one we could attend to get a better understanding of what retailers were facing overseas.

Showcase Ireland, a four-day event in Dublin gathering retailers from across the country, looked to be our lucky charm. With tickets secured and flights booked, myself and Aoife got ready for the Irish retail event of the year.

The Luck o’ the Irish

We certainly felt like we had luck on our side when we first set off to Showcase. As the sun came out across the beautiful streets of Dublin, we gathered for our first coffee of the day and scanned through the list of exhibitors. With over 300 stands to wander round and explore, it was set to be an eventful couple of days.

Upon stepping into the RDS Main Hall, it was immediately clear that this was the show for us. From handmade notebooks to kids clothing, natural beauty products to candles, Showcase Ireland had laid on a fabulous array of businesses, each with their own story to tell. Business owners stood proudly alongside everything from jewellery made from scrap paper and resin, Irish artwork depicting Dublin pubs, handmade lighting or even, as I exclaimed with surprise whilst walking past one stall, “Donkey milk soap!”

With over a third of all exhibitors already on Shopify, we quickly found ourselves in e-commerce paradise, wandering from stall to stall and discussing all things retail.

Our Irish Account Manager Aoife gravitated to one particular brand: aptly named Aoife Lifestyle. We found business owner Aoife Rooney standing next to a glass box filled with old fishing nets. She gestured to them and explained her process.

“I make my own fabrics from old fishing nets and other materials,” she explained. “And turn them into luxury bags. I’m off to Paris Fashion Week in a few days, so it’s a very exciting time!”

Aoife was keen to hear about the benefits of the Shopify platform, and after the show actually came to our Kubix team for a full website build. Discover the site we build for the Aoife Lifestyle brand here.

Old Clients & New

At the start of each day, we caught up with one of our oldest clients Oxford Blue Clothing over at stand E38, where business owner Johnny was busy arranging his stock, coffee and croissant in hand. Having worked with Johnny and conducted his marketing for over four years now, it was great to see him in person once more.

“We exhibit here nearly every year,” he said, smoothing down a classic Oxford Blue tie and taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s so nice to be back. You two are going to love it.”

We really did. From room to room, we were greeted by friendly, passionate business owners who each had found their niche and were looking to grow. From Kata who started Cotton Caterpillars when finding a solution to treat her baby son’s eczema, to Silvana Landa who started Landa Bags after watching her Italian grandfather work leather in his cobbler’s shop, each entrepreneur had been on quite a journey to get to where they are today.

What surprised us most of all was the passion business owners had for being as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible. Whether it was Badly Made Books who recycle materials to create their own notebooks, or Aoife Lifestyle and their upcycled bags, nearly every stand was making a conscious effort to be, well, eco-conscious.

What an event like Showcase Ireland does is remind us of where Kubix came from. Whilst nowadays we often liaise with directors or marketing managers, it’s all too easy to forget that we used to primarily support the sole business owners; the entrepreneurs on the brink of fast growth.

We came away from Showcase feeling like we hadn’t just connected with Irish brands, we’d made some friends along the way. With various website audits to conduct and a few Shopify educational tools to send over to those who requested it, Aoife and I returned to our respective offices feeling more in tune with the business owners of Ireland than ever before.

Connecting with so many happy faces and growing brands confirmed two things to us: That business in Ireland is booming, and Shopify is helping to get them there.

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