The future looks bright for small family-run butchers shops, many of whom are holding their own these days and - in some cases - giving supermarkets a run for their money.

J Collins and Sons butchers has traded on Main Street in Lucan since Niall Collins's great-grand-father Joseph opened his doors for business in 1918. Hanging on the tiled walls are framed snapshots of the shop in the 1920s, with sides of beef and rows of Christmas turkeys hanging in the window.

The business survived through the doldrums of the 1980s, when new supermarkets sprung up all over suburbia and many small food shops were forced to close.

Four generations on from 1918, Niall Collins is preparing to take over the business reins from his father Joe, who has managed the shop since 1960.

Most major supermarkets are within two miles of Lucan's Main Street, yet the Collins's business is thriving and customers come from as far as Malahide and Castleknock to buy their weekend roast.

One clue to why customers trek across the city to buy here is that herd numbers, names of the farmers who produce the meat and the address of the abattoir where the animals are slaughtered are listed in the shop window.

Word of mouth and customer loyalty is what has kept the shop in business, Joe and Niall believe.

"People are more conscious of what they eat and where it comes from. The days of three chicken fillets for £1.99 (€2.53) are gone - people question what they're buying now. Plus, we're slightly cheaper than the supermarkets," says Niall.

While the BSE scare and demand for traceability in the food chain has attracted shoppers back to small butchers' shops in droves, sound business acumen undoubtedly had a hand in the Collins's success.

Having expanded to three outlets by the 1980s - two in Lucan and one in Leixlip - the family empire is now pared down to the extended original shop on Main Street. Corporate customers have been a significant survival factor over the years, with the GAA and golf clubs and local hotels among their most solid supporters.

The core of the business, however, remains their legion of personal customers, who look on the shop as a community centre, says Niall.

"We've a regular crowd who have come to us for years - people we know by name. I even know what time they'll be coming in."

Until four years ago the Collins's slaughtered their own lambs in a modern purpose-built facility behind the shop. Because of changing health regulations, they now send their meat to a friend's abattoir.

Once or twice a week, Niall lectures to trainee chefs at Tallaght Institute of Technology, This year, he plans to extend the premises to make room for a new line of sauces and ready-made dishes.

"We stock vegetables and sauces so people can buy their whole dinner here on the way home from work," says Joe, who still works in the shop most days.

Next door, the Collins are building two shops with overhead apartments on a small infill site, maximising the potential of the prime Main Street location. The butcher's shop will remain in family hands for some time to come, promises Joe.

"The premises are valuable, but it's a tradition and there's a good living out of it. I'll keep the shop 'till I die."