Evan Quaid.
14 year-old Evan Quaid from Castlemahon has been rewarded for his remarkable entre-preneurship by having his product placed in the world’s first duty-free store, Shannon Duty Free. Evan is the youngest ever producer of an item to be stocked at the famous store after his Quaid Candles were put on sale there. The young entrepreneur, who won the junior category of the National Student Enterprise Programme after developing the product in November 2017, messaged the Shannon Airport Instagram account late last year, asking for the candles to be stocked in the store. After meeting him and his mother Triona, the Duty Free team didn’t think twice.
Head of Commercial at Shannon Airport Darren Smyth said that the airport was struck by his enthusiasm, entrepre-neurship and the quality of the candles. “Evan is a remarkable young man and it’s already clear that he has a very bright future in business ahead of him. We were impressed by his enterprise in the first instance and then wowed by his enthusiasm and determination when we met him,” he said. “He got the idea for the candle making business from his favourite YouTube vlogger, bought a candle making kit, and it started from there. That’s the type of ‘can-do’ spirit that has epitomised Shannon over the years.”
Evan said, “I’m delighted to get my candles into Shannon Duty Free. I contacted a number of stores about stocking my candles and Shannon Duty Free came back very quickly, said they liked the idea, and asked if they could meet my mother and I. I’ve read up about the history of Shannon Duty Free, that it was the first airport duty free shop in the world. With over 1.7 million passengers going through the airport each year, it’s a fantastic opportunity to have the candles stocked.”
“The staff at Shannon have been really supportive and this is a really big moment for me. Aside from being a great place to have my candles on sale, this is great promotion for the candles also,” he said.