125 years of Eason’s

Nessy
Arts and Culture

paulhoward
Paul Howard
I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Eason’s 125th Birthday celebrations last night.

It was a lovely mix of history and stories and speakers on the night included the authors Cathy Kelly, Paul Howard (better known as Ross O’Carroll Kelly) and the Queen of Irish writing Maeve Binchy. You’ll be able to hear some of Maeve’s words on Culture Cafe on 2XM on Wednesday October 5th at 1000.

Here’s all the press stuff:

Wednesday 28th September, Eason, Ireland’s leading retailer of books, stationery, magazines and lots more, officially marks its 125th anniversary.

Eason will kick start the celebrations this evening with an exclusive invite only event in their flagship store on O’Connell Street, when guests will hear from a number of well known authors and friends of Eason; Maeve Binchy, Cathy Kelly and Paul Howard (aka Ross O’Carroll-Kelly).

Continuing on the celebrations to mark this significant milestone, Eason has planned a host of special events including special celebrity book signings, book club evenings and author evenings, which will be open to the public and free of charge. Eason has also planned to reintroduce a limited edition retro bag with the recognisable blue and green stripes in celebration of its 125th anniversary.

Speaking about the 125 year celebration, Head of Marketing at Eason, David Field said “We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating 125 years, which is a very significant milestone for Eason, as an iconic Irish brand. Charles Eason signed the lease in 1886 for the first Eason store and now 125 years on, Eason has established 60 stores throughout the Island of Ireland, so it’s a great success story steeped in history. The significant milestone, not only allows us to travel back in time and remember all of the incredible moments that Eason has been part of in the past, but also to share our ambitions for the next 125 years which will see exciting developments and innovations take shape to move forward in line with our customers changing needs.”

Also, to mark the anniversary, Eason has collated a Top 10 Eason moments which pinpoints some of the most memorable happenings over the years in Eason. For example, in the early 1890’s the Great Irish Playwright Sean O’Casey worked for Eason but was sacked for refusing to remove his cap when collecting his wage packet. Another moment to remember was in 2004 when the most expensive book ever sold by Eason “GOAT“ Greatest of All Time, signed by Muhammad Ali, published by Taschen which retailed at €2980.

More recently in April 2005 Bill Cullen succeeded in breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest ever book signing in Eason’s, O’Connell St. Bill spent eleven hours signing copies of his book Golden Apples .

TOP 10 EASON MOMENTS:

  1. In 2004 The most expensive book ever sold by Eason was a GOAT – Greatest Of All Time, signed by Muhammad Ali, published by Taschen only 10,000 copies were ever produced and retailing at €2,980
  2.  In the early 1890’s Great Irish Playwright Sean O’Casey worked for Eason but was sacked for refusing to remove his cap when collecting his wage packet.
  3.  The first midnight opening for Harry Potter was in Eason’s O’Connell Street in 2001.
  4. The first breakfast opening was in 2008 for the launch of Stephanie Myers to celebrate the worldwide publication of ‘Breaking Dawn’, the 4th part of the ‘Twilight’ series
  5. The fastest selling autobiography was Roy Keane’s ‘Keane’ selling 90,000 copies in just one week.
  6.  Eason O Connell Street has played host to 1 American president, 1 British Prime minister and 3 Taoisigh
  7. Eason O’ Connell Street has only closed its doors for 3 book signings; U2, Tony Blair and, Bill Clinton
  8. The most controversial books of all time was Madonna’s “Sex” and “Spycatcher”
  9.  Eason O’Connell Street was burned down in a fire resulting from the great Rising 1916
  10. The Biggest ever book-signing took place on April 15th 2005 when Bill Cullen succeeded in breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest ever book signing in Eason’s, O’Connell Street. Bill spent eleven hours signing 1,849 copies of his book Golden Apples.

    11. Over the years, Eason has hosted hundreds of famous faces who have welcomed fans through the O’Connell Street doors for book signings including Graham Norton, Katie Price, David Beckham, Pele, Bill Clinton, Westlife, Micheal Parkinson, Roy Keane, Bob Geldof, Ryan Giggs, Nancy Sinatra, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Hasselhoff, Ulrika Johnson and George Best.

Already this year, Eason have introduced two new online offerings including EasonSchoolShop.com, a one stop shop for all stationery and textbooks plus Easonoffers.com offering customers exclusive daily offers of up to 75% off a wide range of Eason products, with free delivery anywhere in Ireland.

For more information on the Eason 125 years celebrations log onto www.easons.com or drop into your nearest store and ask for more details.