John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson gets a big Dunnes send-off after 35 years in the business
By Ursula Duddy
A former manager at a Derry department store said he was ‘lost for words’ when staff and former colleagues over his 35 year tenure showed up to give him a big retirement send-off.
John Hutchinson, 63, worked as a manager at the Dunnes Stores outlets in Derry’s Springtown Shopping Centre, Richmond Centre and Foyleside Shopping Centre as well as having trained for the company in Belfast and worked in Letterkenny and Magherafelt.
John got an amazing send-off as he celebrated his retirement last weekend at the Argyle Bar with colleagues from throughout his 35 years with the company turning up to wish him well.
He attributed his lengthy career in retail to his family, saying it is ‘in the blood’ and he followed in the footsteps of his parents and uncles who owned shops in the border areas of Bridgend and Burnfoot.
He remembered with fondness the years he spent with Dunnes Stores and the good times shared with those he worked with.
“They were great times; we had a lot of craic and banter working with the staff,” he said.
“We have still all kept in contact over the years and kept those ties but I couldn’t believe it when I saw people that I hadn’t seen in 15 to 20 years showing up for my leaving do.”
John recalled some of the times gone by over his 35-year career. He remembered that the toy department in Dunnes’ Richmond Centre many years ago, since closed, was a hotspot for good-hearted Christmas chaos.
“When I was working in the Richmond Centre, we were the first new big department store in the city after the Troubles,” he said.
“We had toys downstairs, so when Santa was in Austins the children used to come over to Dunnes to look at the toys they wanted for Christmas.
“We had some gimmicks back then; I remember one year we had the Power Rangers. There is a lot more competition in the town now but back then there was no Smyth’s so it was Dunnes that all the parents took their children to, to see the toys and decide what they wanted from Santa.”
John said that he has always bumped into people he has worked with over the years.
“It was a strange thing back in the 80s that Dunnes had a policy that every manager would have to be called ‘Mr’ so I’ll meet people that still call me Mr Hutchinson – it’s can be very embarrassing!” he laughed.
“There were so many young people from different schools that used to work in Dunnes, at its peak in the Richmond Centre, we used to take on up to 200 extra staff around Christmas and the people we took on when they were 16 would still remember me.
“Sometimes I will meet a fella that’s lost his hair and grown a beard or a girl with two or three children with them, I recently met a fella in his 30s who had grown from a schoolboy about a foot taller into a big hunk of a man!
“They’ll remember me and call me Mr Hutchison and tell me they had their first job in Dunnes when they were 16, although they’re all grown up and look different now - it’s great.”
John said he was very touched by the organisation that had gone into his retirement party and astounded his family, friends and colleagues by actually being lost for words.
“I just want to say thanks to everyone; there was a massive turnout,” he said.
“And it’s very seldom you see Hutch lost for words but if definitely took me two or three minutes to be able to speak!”
John said he will definitely find a big change being retired but intends to pass his time growing happily.
“After working as long as I have, I can’t switch off,” he said.
“So I’ve got myself an allotment and I’ll spend my retirement gardening, I don’t think I’ll be putting the feet up just yet.”