Carrolls Irish Gifts boosts its management team

Key senior changes at globally successful family-owned retailer Carrolls Irish Gifts

Carrolls Irish Gifts, new roles: Gareth Kelly, Brian Greenan, Steven Connolly and Pauric Cooney.

Family-owned retailer Carrolls Irish Gifts has made several key appointments across the business to strengthen its management team and to support future growth. 

The new appointees are: Brian Greenan, retail managing director; Gareth Kelly, business development director; Pauric Cooney, director of e-commerce, digital and corporate; and Steven Connolly, chief financial officer.

Founded in 1982, Carrolls has outlets across Ireland stocking clothing, jewellery and gift products, well-known Irish brands including Guinness and Aran Knitwear. It also has a successful online business.

Brian Greenan was previously head of sales at Carrolls Irish Gifts for six years, managing the company’s store retail teams and supporting the continued growth of the business. He also spent seven years with Lidl as sales operations manager, where he managed the highest revenue generating district in Dublin.

He was also previously a store manager for Lidl. He holds a degree in Retail & Services Management from DIT Aungier Street.

Gareth Kelly has been part of the Carrolls team for almost three decades. Having joined on a part-time basis while still in school and college, he has held roles including store assistant, assistant manager, store manager, area manager, buyer and head of purchasing.

Pauric Cooney brings extensive international retail experience to his new role. He was previously head of e-commerce at Cenomi Retail in Saudi Arabia, leading the e-commerce strategy across multiple markets including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Caucasus region.

Before this, he was Cenomi Retail’s commercial director, overseeing a portfolio of international fashion brands and coordinating cross-functional teams across product planning, logistics, marketing, merchandising and operations to drive business growth across the Middle East and North Africa region. Pauric is currently completing an MBA at Heriot-Watt University.

Steven Connolly joined Carrolls Irish Gifts six years ago and was most recently finance director. Prior to joining Carrolls, he held key finance roles including CFO at McCauley Chemists Group and finance director at JV Facility.

Steven is a fellow chartered accountant and holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and a BComm from UCD.

Meanwhile, Carrolls Irish Gifts has also had a planning application for a new tourist experience attraction at its existing outlet on Talbot Street in Dublin approved by Dublin City Council. The new amenity will give an “immersive and interactive film experience” to visitors.

To be known as ‘The Masterpiece Immersive Experience, the new tourist attraction will cover an area of over 1,500m² and will require a reconfiguration of the existing three-storey building to provide immersive 3D rooms and gallery/exhibition areas.