‘We just couldn’t do it anymore’: heartbreak as McGroggan’s closes after 103 years

McGroggan’s shop on William Street, serving up its last scoops of ice cream after 103 years in Ballymena town centre

McGroggan’s owner Patricia McGroggan has spoken of the heartbreak behind the closure of the iconic Ballymena ice cream shop, revealing how soaring costs, collapsing town centre footfall, Brexit disruption and changing shopping habits ultimately brought an end to the 103-year-old family business.

The William Street shop — famous across generations for its vanilla ice cream and distinctive raspberry sauce — will close its doors for the final time on Saturday, ending more than a century of trading in Ballymena town centre.

For many local families, McGroggan’s was more than simply an ice cream shop. It was part of childhood memories, Sunday traditions and family outings stretching back decades, with generations returning to the business first established by Hugh and Annie McGroggan in 1923.

The closure has triggered an emotional reaction across Ballymena, with hundreds of people sharing memories online and flocking to the shop for one final cone before the doors close permanently.

Patricia McGroggan reveals pressures behind closure

The McGroggan’s 99 ice cream cone

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme on Friday morning, Patricia McGroggan described years of relentless financial pressure that gradually made the business unsustainable.

“It’s been ongoing this number of years,” she said.

Ms McGroggan said difficulties first intensified after Brexit, with supply issues linked to the Irish Sea Border creating delays, complications and extra costs for small businesses trying to source ingredients.

“Trying to source our ingredients that had to be sourced elsewhere because we just couldn’t get the ingredients after Brexit,” she said.

She said the Covid-19 pandemic then fundamentally changed shopping patterns in Ballymena, dramatically reducing town centre footfall as online shopping accelerated.

“As we all know a lot of people are doing online shopping, so the footfall in the town has completely gone down big time,” she said.

“Like, we’re right between the two shopping centres and you would have thought we were in a prime position, but definitely did not help.”

The famous raspberry ripple…McGroggan’s homemade ice cream

Ms McGroggan also pointed to Ballymena’s public realm works and changes to traffic flow in the town centre as another major challenge for traders.

“They changed the direction of traffic, so you actually have to physically think how to get to our shop,” she said.

“We are on a one-way system and it is a bottleneck right through the whole town, from the top of the town to the bottom of the town.”

She said the evening economy in Ballymena had also dramatically declined compared to previous decades.

“After six o’clock the town is completely dead,” she said.

“Our street used to have 11 pubs on it at one stage and the footfall in the town was a lot better. Not anymore. It has definitely changed.”

‘Profits are non-existent’

The famous McGroggan’s raspberry ripple sauce

Alongside falling footfall, Ms McGroggan said rising overheads had placed impossible pressure on the business.

“You’ve got your rates, your wages, your electric have gone up,” she said.

“The ingredients have trebled — like sugar, milk — it’s all gone up. You can only pay so much for an ice cream.”

“Profits are non-existent in our shop anyway.”

Ms McGroggan said the family had spent years trying to keep the business going despite worsening conditions.

“We were keeping the shop afloat this last couple of years and going nowhere,” she said.

“If we could have kept it open, we would have kept it open. It just couldn’t keep going the way it was going.”

She also criticised the structure of some business grant schemes, saying many smaller traders simply could not afford the upfront costs required before reclaiming support funding.

“As a small business, you’re looking a grant that you can use straightaway,” she said.

“You can’t wait for it and you can’t have the money upfront. The reason you’re looking for a grant is because you haven’t got the cash flow.”

Growing fears for Ballymena town centre

The closure of McGroggan’s comes just weeks after another long-established Ballymena retailer, McKillens on Church Street, shut its doors after generations in business.

The growing list of closures has intensified concerns about the long-term future of Ballymena town centre and the pressures facing independent traders.

Speaking previously following the closure of McKillens, Trevor Barr of Barr’s Family Butchers warned Ballymena risked losing the reputation that once made it one of Northern Ireland’s leading shopping destinations.

Barr’s Family Butchers, first established by master butcher George Barr in 1878, has itself traded in Ballymena for nearly 148 years. The business is now led by George Barr’s great-great-grandson, Trevor Barr, who said the current trading climate was among the most difficult he had experienced in more than four decades running the family business.

Mr Barr warned that soaring costs, rising rates, increasing wage bills and declining footfall were placing enormous pressure on traders, adding that unless urgent action was taken, more closures and job losses would follow.

Calls grow for support for town centres

The closure announcement prompted an outpouring of sadness online, with many local people describing McGroggan’s as one of Ballymena’s defining independent businesses.

North Antrim MLA Jon Burrows said the loss of McGroggan’s represented more than simply the closure of a shop.

“For generations this iconic family business has been part of the fabric of our town, creating memories for local families, visitors and children enjoying what many would call ‘the best ice cream in the country’,” he said.

Mr Burrows said independent traders were under relentless pressure from rising costs, rates burdens, online competition and declining footfall.

He called for practical intervention to help struggling town centres, including:

• Better parking solutions

• Meaningful rate relief for small businesses

• Investment in upgrading and regenerating town centres

• Support to increase footfall and local trade

• A long-term strategy to support independent family businesses

“Our high streets matter. They are about more than commerce — they are about community, identity and pride of place,” he said.

One last chance to visit McGroggan’s

In the days since announcing the closure, the shop has experienced overwhelming demand from customers hoping to buy McGroggan’s ice cream one final time.

Ms McGroggan said the response from the public had been emotional but bittersweet, admitting it was painful seeing the surge in support arrive so late.

“It’s heartbreaking that we didn’t get all this earlier — we might not have had to close,” she said.

The business has even had to stop taking advance orders after struggling to keep up with demand from customers pre-ordering ice cream and making final visits to the shop.

“People buying in bulk and calling in for their last 99 — it is overwhelming,” she said.

With just hours remaining before the final closure, many local families are expected to make one final visit to the William Street shop — not simply for an ice cream, but to say goodbye to one of Ballymena’s best-known family businesses and a piece of the town’s living history.