Laois town shop faces closure over €10,500 ESB bill

The only supermarket left in the heart of a Laois town is in danger of shutting the doors, over mounting electricity bills.

Ela’s Your Stop in O’Connell Square, Mountmellick is run by Ela Oczachowska with six part-time staff.

She has gone public to reveal her daily trauma in trying to keep the business going, brought on by the rising cost of electricity.

Ela has revealed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that she cannot afford to fully pay off the large monthly bills which began doubling in size last autumn, from about €2,000 to €4000.

The debt has now mounted to €10,500.

She has already received two disconnection warning letters, forcing her to call and plead for a reprieve each time. 

The businesswoman has asked Revenue for assistance but so far does not qualify for their help.

“I am crying every day now. I don’t know what to do. They want the last bill paid in full before they will put me on a payment plan. The electricity bill is now twice as high as my rent each month. 

“The banks will not help. If I borrowed to clear the bill I would have to borrow every month.

“If the Government will not help me this shop in the heart of the town will be closed. I will have to leave and close the door behind me. No-one will reopen it in the current climate,” she said. 

Ela who lives in Mountmellick with her two young children, took on the shop 16 months ago.

She made big changes to attract customers such as adding a café area and a hot food deli, staying open seven days a week until 9pm.

“It was going well until before Christmas. People just don’t have the money. I don’t see the same amount of people in the shop now.

“They tell me I have a great deli, but if I didn’t have the students from Mountmellick Community School, I wouldn’t have any business. The school is keeping me in business.

“I try hard to support the local community. I support Santa at Christmas time, I sponsor the St Patrick’s Day parade, the soccer club, the GAA. Anything that’s happening I’m ready to help.

“The Mountmellick community is amazing. I have never ever had a problem with robberies or anyone being rude or causing trouble, ever. They are amazing and I am really close to them.

“I give some customers credit as well, I keep accounts for them because they can’t afford to put bread on the table, even if I don’t have the money myself.

“The local teenagers spend a lot of time sitting in the shop in the evening. They feel safe in the shop rather than being out on the street. I give them €5 or €10 to help me with deliveries to teach them the value of paid work,” Ela said.

She has gone to great lengths to cut her electricity usage.

“I switch off half the lights in the shop now. All the small fridges from the reps are unplugged and at the back. I didn’t sell ice-cream all winter. I can see the bill going down by a few hundred now but I still owe them what I owe them. I give them as much as I can.

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“I have to choose will I pay my staff or the ESB. I had to let one girl go yesterday, I was crying like a baby but I had to let her go, I had no choice. I am working double shifts now myself. 

“I want to say that my staff are so supportive. They say we are in it together. Even when I had to cut their hours they were hugging me and telling me to stop crying.

“Business shouldn’t be this way. Last year I won the Grocery Store of the Year on Midlands Radio. We are not doing anything wrong, we are an award winning shop,” she said.