The business began life as a small furniture shop in a former sawmill on Merchant Street in Cork.

Over the following twelve years, Roche grew the business to include womenswear and moved to a new premises on Winthrop Street.

On 11 December 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, British forces set fire to much of Cork city centre and destroyed many premises on Patrick Street, including Roche's shop.

[7] In 2005, most of Roches Stores supermarkets were closed down, with the remaining four being operated as concessions - two (in Cork) by Caulfield/McCarthy, another SuperValu franchisee, and two (in Blackrock and Galway) by Marks and Spencer.

[8] Roches Stores caused controversy in the 1970s and early 1980s when it demolished Frescati House in Blackrock, the home of Lord Edward Fitzgerald.

Marks & Spencer had agreed to acquire the company's Wilton outlet in Cork; however that deal later fell through due to a dispute over rent with the owners of the centre.