The former F. Dowler Ltd in Lisnaskea is to reopen under the name of ‘Dowlers Ltd’, as new owners breathe life back into the popular general hardware and building supplies store which had closed its doors in 2019.

Directors of the business, Mervyn Gregg and Raymond Chartres, are delighted to welcome customers back to the premises at Lisnaskea main street as they open the doors of Dowlers Ltd this Friday, November 12.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter ahead of opening day, Mervyn noted that staff members and the local community felt it acutely when the business was forced to close.

“This feeling has since been very much reflected in the desire of former members of staff to return to the business in its new guise and the extremely favourable reaction of the local community to the news that we were to reopen,” he said, commenting that both of these factors have been “very reassuring”.

However, Mervyn and Raymond are not expecting the reopening to be “seamless”.

“The reality is that two years has elapsed since the demise of F. Dowler Ltd, so it won’t be a seamless transition.

“We are experiencing a very volatile economic environment and many of our former customers will have gone elsewhere to conduct their business,” explained Mervyn.

“As a result we, as the newly reformed Dowlers Ltd, will have to work hard to regain the support, confidence and loyalty of these people and hopefully in the process re-establish the reputation of a business that was once the ‘heartbeat’ of Lisnaskea,” he told this newspaper.