Owner Neville Gardner opened Bethlehem’s Donegal Square on Main Street in 1985. The store now sits in front of McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub and Whiskey Bar. Watch the full video here http://www.mcall.com/business/outlook/85972734-132.html
Hey, I'm Neville,
The founder and great manifester behind Donegal Square.
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At age 11, I sold a farmer’s wife a bra in the Ladies Dress Shop that my Mum ran in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. So began my entrepreneurial adventure. Fairly early on I knew a career involving entrepreneurship, sales, and being around people was in the cards for me.
Growing up in Lambeg, a small village eight miles from Belfast, I was reared partly by my Granny McCarthy while my Mum went to work. My Mum and Dad had gone to work early in life with no opportunity for advanced education because of their family circumstances and the outbreak of World War II. Even though my parents didn’t have an abundance of money, there was always food on the table. Great breads, scones and baked goods were always part of my upbringing.
Sports have always been a huge part of my life, and because of my love for them I managed to get a Grammar School Education by receiving a scholarship (which also enabled me to participate in all the sports I enjoyed). When I first came to the USA to live, following a trans-Atlantic field hockey romance, I was drawn to the idea of importing the things from Ireland and the UK that I missed the most. Following a period of experimenting with importing tweeds and knitwear for wholesale, I realized there was potential for a business in the Lehigh Valley. The ultimate goal for my wife and I (I married a local woman, Linda Shay, the same woman from the trans-Atlantic field hockey romance back in 1978) was to create a comfortable, friendly, warm atmosphere with a rich cultural experience — as if you were visiting Ireland.
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