Iconic Cork takeaway KC’s on sale for €2m

The 1958-founded, family-run food institution has seen off floods, fire and a pandemic

Top gourmet takeaway KC & Son & Sons hasn't moved from the tiny 100 sq metre Douglas toehold in 64 years. Picture: Larry Cummins

ONE of the country’s most-talked-about food institutions, KC’s takeaway in Douglas, Cork, is quietly up for sale, with a whopper of an asking price — the diminutive 100 sq m operation seeks a hefty €2m.

KC's and the Sunshine Band? Senior partner Wesley Crawford of KC & Son & Sons, Douglas.

The thriving takeaway business, likely to be turning over in excess of €2m a year, is now in its third generation of Crawford family ownership and, trading under the moniker “KC & Son & Sons”, has been in the heart of Douglas village and in the bellies of Corkonians since 1958.

With what must be the highest turnover per square metre of any food outlet at €20,000/sq m, and with a constant queue outside its door, the well-branded business is dwarfed sizewise by its neighbour — the Douglas Village Shopping Centre to its rear. The shopping centre is currently in advanced sale talks itself, with a €21m price tag and with three parties still in the purchasing picture.

Father and son:  Wesley and Zac Crawford, two of the partners, in KC's in 2012, as it prepared to reopen after severe flooding damage which hit Douglas village. Picture: Denis Minihane.

KC’s turnover is not disclosed in the sale prospectus, issued by selling agent Gerard O’Callaghan of ERA Downey McCarthy who had been tasked to offer the highly branded business off-market, nor is the price tag disclosed there.

However, well-placed sources familiar with the offer confirm the price expectation of €2m, and say the turnover is on a similar scale, over €2m pa, or c €40,000 a week.

Described as “exceptionally valuable and exceptionally profitable,” it’s understood that the Crawford family is interested in a sale, or in a possible partnership. The family has not commented publicly on their sale plans.

The ERA Downey McCarthy sales prospectus which has been quietly circulated and attracting national inquiries says: “There is an excellent opportunity for anyone seeking to expand and grow the business by replicating the success of the premises in Douglas by opening new locations.”

Little and large star buys: a €20m+ sale is imminent at the Douglas Village Shopping Centre which is close to and behind KC's.

The tidy operation is in its original premises, adorned on its front wall by a clutch of Bridgestone Good Food plaques, on a new 21-year lease from 2021, at a rent of €47,000 pa.

Among those who have so far shown an interest are takeaway/food operators well outside of Cork, including from Dublin, attracted both by the turnover and the chances of opening other outlets with the same menu and immense brand loyalty.

Fiona Crowley, Douglas with a bag of KC's chips. Picture: Larry Cummins

Founded in 1958, KC & Son & Sons is one of Cork City’s oldest takeaways, but it’s not the oldest. For example Jackie Lennoxs on Barrack Street has been trading since 1951. With an average of eight to 10 staff, it’s been headed by senior partner Wes Crawford (he’s the ‘son’) who started working there over 50 years ago, at age 17 after his father, who founded the chip shop, died.

It since developed its lengthy and legendary menu with punningly titled creations such as Pitta-ful Poultry, classics like the meat pattie (going strong since 1960, later sold in supermarkets) and the King Creole.

In the same tiny premises for nearly 65 years, barely the width of a standard domestic living room, the business has survived fire, flood, and pestilence. The Douglas Village Shopping Centre was hit by a carpark blaze in 2019; KC’s was rebuilt internally after flooding in 2012 when the centre of Douglas went underwater; and it had a remarkable delivery business during Covid-19 lockdowns. It’s active on social media, with a range of branded goods, from beanies to service aprons.

Best goods in small parcels: the diminutive shopfront proudly displays its Bridgestone awards. File pic Denis Scannell

The premises is so small the familiar refrain is “blink and you’d miss it”, except for the queues which form from early evening to 11pm closing time.

Douglas Village Shopping Centre went for sale as an investment in 2022 with a price guide of €21 million cited by selling agents Cushman & Wakefield

It comprises c 100 sq m in a narrow (c 4.5m) but deep premises, now held on 25-year lease, next to Paddy Power in the epicentre of the “old” village. 

It’s near the likes of Barry’s of Douglas, numerous sit-down restaurants, drive-thrus (including a KFC and McDonalds), two shopping centres, an Aldi, libraries, and more, with turnover likely to punch well above the weight of many of its larger premised neighbours, with enviable customer loyalty.

Queues? It takes them in its stride, they are par for the course. 

“It doesn’t stop, all night,” senior partner Wes Crawford has noted in a Youtube video linked to KC’s website which also features sons Zac and Josh (it’s owned by a four-way partnership). Streamlined early in-house preparation means a rapid throughput, and quality and continuity are maintained by in-house made sauces and other ingredients, many very locally sourced and credited.

The same Youtube video (‘Chips off the Block, the KC & Son & Sons Story’) noted the arrival of daughters, after 100 years of sons only in the Crawford clan, prompting the quip that if they were also to go into the business “we’d have to get a bigger sign.”

DETAILS: ERA Downey McCarthy 021 4905000; KC & Son & Sons (kcandsonandsons.com)