On July 1st last year, Raymond Davern did not come into work for the first time in 43 years. He had promised himself that, on reaching his 60th birthday, he would retire and, despite doubts expressed by friends and family, was determined to go through with this plan.

In fact, it was only last month that he formally handed over responsibility for the family shop, Davern's of Cashel, to his third son - also called Raymond - and even so, he still likes to pop into the premises from time to time. "We were busy last Saturday, so I went in for a couple of hours and sold two suits. I still get a buzz out of it." His parents first started the business on the town's Main Street in 1926 - "on a different site and as a general drapery, as it always was in those days". The youngest child of the family, he willingly started work when he was 17. "I was dying to go in. I just loved selling. Truth be told, I'd love to have done dress design, but that wasn't on for men at the time." His brother Eugene, who died earlier this year, owned a shoe shop in Cashel and this is now also owned by Raymond jnr.

The current premises used to be a hardware and general store belonging to the family of Raymond snr's wife, Ellen; she studied dress design and worked for a period with Neilli Mulcahy before starting to study commerce, all of which experience could only prove beneficial for running a fashion retail business. While her husband has opted for retirement and golf, Ellen Davern still travels on buying trips with Raymond jnr. The shop has stocked overseas labels for almost 40 years. "We bought our first suits from Germany around the time my father died in 1959. I went to Paris for the first time in 1960, but my parents used to go abroad before the war," says Raymond snr. As well as offering china and glass in an adjoining building, until the end of the last decade Davern's used to carry childrenswear but now only focuses on men's and women's fashion and footwear.

"The most important thing is to move fast and anticipate what's going to happen next," says Raymond snr of the merchandise his shop has carried. "The first commandment in this business is: Do not buy what you like yourself. The thing to do with a mistake is sell it - and not hang on." At the moment, among the most popular and best-known labels stocked are Basler, Jobis and Preference for women and Hugo Boss and Joop! for men; the latter are to be offered Tommy Hilfiger from next month. "Basically, we're concentrating on the family. The hardest ones to cater for are the teenagers but unfortunately we have to because their parents shop with us and bring them in. The boys are easier because they're more into brands than girls." The market to which Davern's caters is essentially conservative, but "willing to spend money, although it has to be quality. Basically, if you have what people want, they're willing to pay for it. We're living in a farming community. Our customers are very loyal to us and we're very loyal to them. We do mailshots four times a year to about 1,600 people, updating them on what's in stock and notifying them when we're having a sale." As no other clothes shop in the area offers a similar range and service, Davern's attracts clientele from as far afield as Dungarvan and Mallow, Belfast and Galway. "We had some Russians in this morning who bought well in our sale." However, Raymond Davern snr believes business has become steadily tougher over the past 40plus years. "People are more discriminating and demanding now. We've certainly become more cosmopolitan; people are travelling more which is great because when they do, they can see you're in tune with fashion elsewhere." Completely pragmatic about fashion and retail, Raymond snr insists had one of his sons not evinced such a keen interest in taking over the shop, it would have been sold. "Very few businesses go into the third generation successfully," he says.

Raymond jnr has already been working in Davern's for the past 11 years, so presumably his father believes the shop can comfortably accommodate being managed by another generation of the family.

Series concluded.