A Dublin clothing business has been left devastated after its warehouse containing much of its stock was destroyed in a fire last week.
Badlands Vintage is a well-known vintage clothing shop located in Temple Bar. The business's warehouse on Ossory Road in East Wall went on fire last Thursday, June 15, destroying much of their stock which included clothes, gems, and more.
The company was founded by Dublin man Mikey McQuade during the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to Dublin Live, Mikey said: "It happened late on Thursday night at the warehouse on Ossory Road, I was on holiday when I got the call.
"We have a family business, myself at Badlands Vintage in Temple Bar is just one of five. Me and my dad owned the warehouse.
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"It's Flip and Helter Skelter in Temple Bar that is also affected by this it's not just me, my dad is in business over 30 years. I put it up on social media, it affects my shop but it affects his shop just as much."
Mikey explained that Badlands Vintage specialises in vintage clothing and that they buy everything in weight. "We buy 100 kilos of leather jackets or 200 kilos of Levi jeans, and if people have the stuff we will buy it and keep it.
"You end up just stockpiling, so I think we had about 9,000 kilos worth of clothes in the warehouse."
At Badlands Vintage, they usually buy their winter clothes stock in the summer and summer clothes in the winter. Mikey was going on a trip to Kerry with his family when he got the dreadful call that the warehouse had been destroyed in the fire.
"The whole building has been condemned [because of the fire], and they'll have to knock it down," he said. "We don't have our place insured because you never think something like this is going to happen, so we don't know what's going to happen there. There's a garda investigation there too."
Mikey explained that they are now going over to Holland to buy more stock to replace what was lost in the warehouse fire. He continued: "During the summer you buy a lot of stock that's a very busy season so we're going to buy more stock.
"We're in the search for another warehouse, so if there's any people offering reasonably priced warehouses that don't go up in flames. We're in the market for one."
Mikey said that they have received "brilliant" support locally in the aftermath of the warehouse fire. He's also urging people to keep supporting businesses like his in Temple Bar.
He added: "So many people came out on Saturday and bought lots of stuff from the shop, that's great and they're our loyal customers. That's what keeps us going.
"But it shouldn't take a tragedy for people to realise that if you don't support your local businesses they're not going to be there regardless of a warehouse fire. All the people in Temple Bar, there's great businesses in there and they're all supporting peoples' families.
"They're all hardworking individuals and not just a faceless organisation. People should be supporting local businesses."
A garda spokesman confirmed to Dublin Live that they have launched an investigation into the blaze. He said: "Gardaí are investigating an incident of criminal damage by fire that occurred in East Wall, Dublin 3.
"Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of a fire at a premises on Ossory Road shortly before midnight on Thursday, 15th June 2023. No injuries were reported.
"The scene was preserved and a full technical examination conducted by the Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit. Investigations are ongoing."
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