M&S to bring major retail boost to Navan

Navan"s status as a top-level shopping town is set to get a boost early in 2009 when prestige British retail giant Marks & Spencer opens a new unit at the town"s shopping centre. Although not yet confirmed by the company, it is believed that the town"s new M&S outlet could be open in a large, newly constructed building opposite Argos at Navan Shopping Centre as early as the March/April pre-Easter period. The 30,000 square unit over one storey will be larger than either the M&S stores in both Mullingar and Athlone. The large Tesco supermarket in Navan Shopping Centre covers 50,000 square feet of space. Rumours about Marks & Spencer locating in Navan have been circulating in the town for much of the past year. The company will be fitting out the new store over a 10 to 14-week period, it is believed. All the drapery and food departments which make M&S such a favourite with shoppers will feature in the new unit. From a car parking point of view, there are 1,500 spaces available at Navan Shopping Centre. The festive period up to Christmas Day was a successful one again for the centre, with a footfall of over 260,000 compared with 240,000 for the same seven days in 2007. During the post-Christmas trading days, footfall was said to be consistent with last year"s. A trend identified by the Shopping Centre this year was that while the number of transactions went up, the amount spent on them dropped. Navan Retailers" Association secretary, Francis Deane, however, was less than happy with business in the town over the festive season. Mr Deane, of Michael Francis Menswear, Trimgate Street, is a candidate for Fine Gael in this year"s local elections. Commenting that some businesses in the town had dropped 25 to 30 per cent of their trade compared to the 2007 level, he was angry about lack of free parking for the Christmas period. Factors such as the levelling out of the sterling/euro rate and the cut in VAT by the UK government had inflicted enough damage, making the trip to the North to shop more attractive for many people, he said. Mr Deane said he was not happy with the local town council"s gesture in making one car park, at Navan O"Mahonys GFC, Brews Hill, free for the holiday season and has called on the local authority to provide free parking in Navan for January. He added that retailers are seeking more 'off-street parking" similar to the area at the former Irish National Foresters Hall at Brews Hill. Mr Deane voiced grave concern about the future of jobs in the local retail business. Already, he said, businesses were talking about possible cuts in working hours for their staff. For Rebecca Wilkinson, owner of Wilkinson Jewellers, Kennedy Road, the perception of a greater number of transactions but less spent was also noticed. Her customers were taking a more considered approach to chosing gifts. 'It was very important to them that it was the correct gift,' she said, adding that branded products such as Pandora jewellery and John Rocha items, as well as Tissot, Rotary and Tommy Hilfinger watches remained as popular as ever. In Trim, trade was reported to be down this Christmas by as much as 30 per cent for some businesses, though most retailers say business had picked up in the days leading up to Christmas. Consumer confidence 'being at an all-time low' was one of the factors affecting business this year, according to Pat O"Byrne, who runs a menswear store on Trim"s Market Street. Mr O"Byrne said that business was down about 25 per cent for him this year, though they had been busy in the final days before Christmas. He said: 'It has been difficult, there is no doubt about it that things are down, in line with the general economy. We are definitely down about 25 per cent. We were busy for the last few days but, overall, we would be down for Christmas.' Mr O"Byrne cited a combination of factors as to why trade is down, including consumer confidence being at an all-time low and people afraid of losing their jobs. He believed consumers were afraid to spend money, 'even those who have money'. Mr O"Byrne added: 'People are generally cutting back but, having said that, we needed a reality check. People were spending money they didn"t have on credit,' he said. Francie Martin of TF Martin Jewellers in the town said business had been quite good in the last week, though trade had been slow to pick up this year and they would be down about 10 per cent on last year. Trim councillor Ray Butler, who owns a shoe shop on Market Street, said he has been selling shoes in Trim for 17 years and that this year was the worst Christmas he could remember. He said that trade was down between 30 and 40 per cent, Kells reported a better than expected Christmas trade, as a discernible loss of customers to Northern Ireland was compensated for by a late shopping rush just before Christmas Eve. The Kells Chamber of Commerce voucher scheme proved effective, generating an estimated €33,000 worth of business for 55 local outlets thanks to strong support from local employers. Kells Chamber of Commerce president Jess Olohan described trading as 'slow enough' into the final days before Christmas. However, she praised the efforts of individual shops who launched mid-season sales to drum up business. There was a clear improvement over the closing days, she added, and the Chamber itself was receiving queries about its voucher scheme right up to 8pm on Christmas Eve. 'The success of the vouchers has encouraged the Chamber to consider expanding this promotion right around the year. It proved so successful entirely through the enthusiasm of traders and local employers,' she added. Castle Street businessman and councillor Brian Curran said he had been very pleased with the volume of trading in the closing days. But the comments he had heard from other traders indicated the close proximity of the border had a detrimental effect this year. Locals had to address the challenges facing Kells and to bring back the many customers shopping elsewhere and over the border, he said. In Oldcastle, traders reported quite a good Christmas, though the business community had feared an even tougher loss to the North. Shops and services described trade as 'buoyant' even though the town"s substantial non-national population had dropped with many returning home for the festive season. Oldcastle Chamber of Commerce also reported good overall volumes of trade locally, with the last-minute rush on Tuesday and Wednesday being particularly marked. Businesses in Ashbourne experienced downturns of between 10 and 40 per cent in the run-up to Christmas. Businessman Brendan McGeever said the town got very busy in the last few days but there had been a noticeable absence of footfall and spending in early December and November. 'The North was a big factor in keeping people away,' he said. 'People are feeling the pinch.' Mr McGeever said his own business had experience a fall-off into double digits on last year"s trade, while he had heard anecdotally in the town that some businesses experienced downturns of up to 40 per cent. He said that Ashbourne businesses had made a lot of efforts to encourage shoppers to shop at home for Christmas. 'Local traders were proactive in getting people back to shop in Ashbourne and rewarded their customers. Many of us held our sales before Christmas,' he said. Derek Maguire, President of Ratoath Chamber of Commerce said that business in the area was down significantly on last year and local retailers were worrying about the new year. 'Figures vary, but from traders I have spoken to, business is down between 10 and 20 per cent,' he said. Additional reporting by Noelle Jennings, Ann Casey and John Feeney.