There has been a sizeable shift in demand from traditional retail to e-commerce as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hoey Parts & Plant Sales of Louth were one step ahead of the rest when it came to unveiling their revamped online shop (www.hoeypartsandplantsales.ie) and it ensured they were kept ticking over during lockdown.
One of the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic was the acceleration in expansion of e-commerce towards new companies, customers and types of products.
The internet provided customers with access to a significant variety of products from the comfort and safety of their homes, and enabled businesses to continue to operate in spite of lockdown and other contact measures.
Based in Castlebellingham, Co Louth, Hoey Parts & Plant Sales launched their new-look online store – www.hoeypartsandplantsales.ie – just before the onset of the pandemic and the volume of traffic to their user friendly website rose dramatically during the past two years.
As the country returns to some semblance of normality, it continues to contribute handsomely to the company’s overall sales figure.
“When the shop was closed during lockdown the orders were still coming in through the website and we were in packing them and sending them out,” explained Aidan Matthews who co-manages the store along with Andy Harrington.
“We had redesigned the website just before Covid to make it easier to navigate and more user friendly for our customers so the timing was good from that point of view. Customers were able to visit the website to view our product range and order items. Even now, our online sales are growing and we have exported parts to places like the US, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka, England, Germany and Austria in the recent past.”
Hoey Parts & Plant Sales are a wholesaler/retailer of replacement and genuine parts and accessories for the JCB Loadall and 3CX range while they also stock a wide array of modern and vintage tractors parts.
Established in 1984 by Tom Hoey, they moved from selling and repairing the Industrial MF range to becoming a leading worldwide exporter and importer of used JCB 3CX and Loadall equipment.
In 1996 they decided to open up their parts counter and with the high demand for service and replacement parts they have grown from strength to strength ever since.
Open Monday to Friday (8.30am-5.15pm) and Saturday (9.30am-1pm), the Hoeys and their knowledgeable staff will try their very best to help you out be it for parts, sales, service, hire or just advice. While they moved with the times in setting up their online store, they are very much advocates of the more traditional face-to-face interaction with their valued customers.
“Tom is well-known and respected within the industry,” Aidan pointed out. “You would have lads regularly ringing looking for advice and he would always help out in whatever way he could. He is very approachable in that respect.”
The company founder’s style has rubbed off on his team of 10 employees which includes his wife Anne, who looks after the accounts, and son Eddie, who assists him in the sales and workshop side of the business.
“We all pride ourselves on offering a reliable service, we always try to help where we can,” Aidan remarked, “and high-quality parts is our big thing. We wouldn’t sell any part that we weren’t prepared to use in our own machines. Quality is key for us.”
Hoey Parts & Plant Sales carry over 16,000 line items including: original and replacement parts for JCB and original and replacement parts for Hitachi, John Deere, Ford, Massey Ferguson, David Brown, Case, New Holland, Agricultural and industrial machinery.
In addition, they stock a wide range of wearing parts, paint, electrical and lighting products and batteries, oils and lubricants. They can also source items they don’t keep in stock so if you can’t find what you are looking for, let them know!
Another string to the County Louth company’s bow is the wide and varied range of plant machinery they have for sale and hire, including JCB teleporters (from 6 meter reach to 17 meter), Hitachi 13 tonne diggers, 3 tonne mini diggers and more.
They supply fresh machines all throughout the country and have teleporters to suit all industries including construction, civil engineering, forestry and agriculture.
“It has been a very busy year, in fact it has been very busy for the last two years. Machinery sales has gone up and the second-hand market is proving very popular with the new stuff not as readily available.
“The JCB parts have gone crazy while the vintage tractor scene is starting up now as well and we’re doing up old machines, body panels and that on the vintage tractors. That has been very busy in the last two years because lads were at home with the time and money to spend on them. The hire side is going well too and has really picked up in recent times.
“Overall, the business is growing, Since I started, eight years ago now, it has more than doubled in size. Hopefully, in another eight years, we’ll be able to say the same thing!” Aidan concluded.
Hoey Parts & Plant Sales
Williamstown
Castlebellingham
County Louth
A91 TW96
Tel: +353 (42) 937 2409
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.hoeypartsandplantsales.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 2, March/April 2022
