SLIGO has seen the launch of a new fashion boutique by Jodi Egan.
The former Hollyoaks star and wife to Kian Egan has launched the boutique in the Quayside Shopping Centre which focuses on women’s fashion that is both affordable, stylish and exclusive.
Speaking to the Sligo Weekender about her reasons for opening a shop in Sligo, Jodi was enthusiastic about her Irish home.
“I fee like I have been adopted here [in Sligo] over the past few years. It feels like home to me now, it really does. I think that Sligo is such a hidden little gem. We get to travel all over the world and you think you might want to leave somewhere like Sligo, but when you see other places and come back here you realise there is no place like it,” Jodi said.
The decision to be in Sligo with husband Kian and the couple’s two sons was ultimately fuelled by wanting a good family life according to Jodi.
“Myself and Kian had looked at other places to live, but thought about what we have here in Sligo. The children really were the thing for me. I have got boys and I want them to be outdoors type guys and be surfers like Kian. I want that for them, not to be stuck in a city. To be able to get out an about and not have the worries you would have in a city,”Jodi commented.
On the business front for Jodi’s Boutique, Jodi wanted to bring a London style boutique to Sligo.
“I am very conscious of when I am shopping being able to go to a boutique and leave with three or four pieces and spend maybe in and around €100. For me, it is not not about how much money you spend on clothes but how you dress yourself. A lot of women don’t want to have to spend huge amounts of money on a dress they might only wear once. If they can find something they can feel comfortable in and maybe get a cute little top for the next day that’s what I would want. It is nice to be able to pop into a boutique rather than go out and spend €1,000 on a silk shirt just because it has a label name,” Jodi added.
Kian, Jodi’s husband was equally enthusiastic about Jodi’s new venture in Sligo and was full of praise for businesses here.
“When you look at this shop, I think it is quite different for Sligo. Everyone involved in getting this shop going is from Sligo. The designers are from Sligo, the guys who put it together are from NOC Carpentry from Sligo. I feel Sligo has got a wave of young people who are trendy that have gone and seen how it works in big cities. You have cool places like Shells, McGarrigles, Knox, places that are trying something new. There are clothes shops popping up and sushi restaurants all of a sudden and it feels like we have a modern kick coming in. You look at something like the surf summit coming to Sligo and it is amazing,” Kian said.
As well as that, being a Sligo native himself, Kian also wanted his two sons to experience what he had in Sligo growing up.
“We have been coming back to Sligo on and off for the past number of years. We love life here. When Jodi’s mum passed we were hit with a decision of where we are going to send our kids to school and what life is right for us. Jodi and myself both loved it here more and more,” he said.
Jodi’s Boutique is now open at the Quayside Shopping Centre.
Jodi launches her new Sligo boutique,