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Dalzells of Markethill could quite possibly be the only shop you'll ever need when looking for home appliances, home entertainment or bedding, with an unsurpassed range of products on show. The independent family run business is looking forward to celebrating 70 years in business next year.
outside the shop on Main Street.
A unique selling point of Dalzells is that they have virtually everything in stock, unlike those stores who have to order your product in, with you waiting sometimes months for delivery. Additionally their fleet of 8 lorries on the road give you the option of free delivery across Northern Ireland, Dublin, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, while also taking away your old appliance. Based in the small County Armagh market town they have the largest stock of Range Cookers and American Fridge Freezers anywhere in Ireland.
The third generation family-run retail and wholesale enterprise was founded in 1956 by Noel and Evelyn Dalzell. It's now run by Noel and Evelyn's son Trevor and wife Sharon while their son Chris is also part of the 28 strong team. They conduct retail and wholesale trade Ireland wide and also in parts of GB.
is pictured with just a few of them.
Explaining the business Chris Dalzell said "It's primarily a home appliance business, retail and wholesale. I suppose our thing would be the carrying of stock. That's always been our thing. We would carry anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 large appliances at any time. So obviously, if you carry the stock you have it, you're not waiting. For example we have around 1000 range cookers in stock and our bed warehouse would have maybe 400 to 500 beds at any given time.
"We have all manner of kitchen appliances and Home Entertainment. We do quite a big line in stoves and fires. Multi fuel, wood burners, pellet stoves, gas fires - that's an increasingly big thing for us, people looking to have a secondary heat source in the house. We've quite a range of beds in stock and do a good bit online. We're big on adjustable beds with 10 on show at any time."
Dalzells are very proud of their bedding offering. Chris explains "Traditionally Dalzells have concentrated on Irish bedding brands. King Koil, Kaymed, Respa and Briody. "Believe it or not bed manufacturing is actually a big thing in Ireland. It's a massive thing. My grandad would have been very close friends with the founder of Respa who produce a lot of the springs for English manufacturers from their operation in Oldcastle."
Home Entertainment
Dalzells home entertainment section stocks televisions, sound bars, home cinemas. and everything else for the audiovisual enthusiast. Samsung LG and Sony rein, with TCL increasing in popularity.
While the Markethill store has definitely got larger over their 70 years the increasing size of televisions hasn't taken quite as long "Four or five years ago, 75" was a big screen, and these days 85" and 98" are getting popular but now they go up to 115"." said Chris.
"They're a lot less money than you think. You're talking about £1500 for a 98 inch TV, it's a lot of money, but at the same time, compared to where these things are, it's the one thing that's come down in price comparatively."
Appliances
For kitchen appliances every brand under the sun is there. You've the normal Bosch, Siemens, Miele, Hotpoint, Beko or Indesit and then the niche brands like Liebherr, and Fisher Paykel.
If you want a dishwasher that looks like a filing cabinet, you're in luck! Who knew that drawer dishwashers were a thing!
Cookers
Dalzells cooker range includes Rangemaster, Belling, Stove, Aga, Falcon and Mercury and Stanley. They even do the Lacanche and La Curnue hand built in France.
What's 'In' at Present
Nothing ever stays the same. A new innovation currently is the vented Hob and of course Dalzells has a wide selection.
"It used to be just a hob to cook on and you'd have your extractor above you, your cooker chimney, or an island or whatever. Not now! You have the extraction built into the hub with a panel in the centre with a motor." Chris explains.
The Smart Home is increasingly popular. "So your fridge freezer used to be just a 'fridge freezer'. Now it has a large screen on the front of it. It's effectively a large iPad, everything from family calendar to making video calls, children doing art on it to doing your shopping from your fridge. Then as well you can look inside your fridge, remotely from your phone to see what's there or what's not" said Chris.
A lot of the manufacturers now can control everything from the one app, your washing machine, your tumble dryer, your oven, your hob. And it's not just boiling water you can get from your taps, you now can get sparkling water and even chilled water from your tap.
A deal to be done
Dalzells in some ways are under the radar. "We're an organically built business, we probably don't push ourselves too much to the fore in many regards." said Chris.
"Things are a bit old -school, take us as you find us in a certain way. But people actually quite like that in so much as there's a deal to be done. We'll talk to you, a package deal, we'll work something out. We like happy customers. People make the effort to come to us and we will look after them."
You can find Dalzells at 62-68 Main Street, Markethill. Tel: 028 37551260
Check out their website at dalzells.com
