Freezing weather keep shoppers spending at home

Christmas shopping trends in Navan during December showed a marked improvement on last year, despite the sharp downturn in the economy, according to retailers in the centre of the town. Some people might say an improvement would not be hard to achieve because of the chaotic scenes on Christmas Eve 2009 when the town was hit by treacherous ice, leaving intending shoppers floundering to survive the Arctic conditions, never mind going about the business of buying presents and seasonal foodstuffs. Retail trade then was among the first to be hit by the wintry weather. This year's shopping trends tell a somewhat different story, however. Although the weather conditions had hardly changed from the same time the previous year, the local authorities seemed better prepared. There was a significant and noticeable attempt by the local authorities to keep pavements clear in the major towns and this, combined with free parking in places like the Fair Green, helped boost trade. Former Trimgate Street, Navan, trader and now independent councillor, Francis Deane, said the feedback from traders was “extremely positive†this Christmas. He said shop-owners had told him trade had been “nice and steady†since about 18th December. Shoppers had been able to relax, knowing that there was no pressure to return to their cars thanks to the free parking, and local cafés were “buzzingâ€. The councillor added that he had also received encouraging feedback from Watergate Street business-owners. “There is no doubt that 2010 was a turbulent year for independent retailers. Consumer spending is way down and it is a pity to reflect on some of the great shops which closed, such as Bookwise - a lot of people mentioned how they missed that shop this Christmas season,†he said. The reality was that money this year was “tight†and business had arrived late, possibly due to the severe weather conditions. Trade was also helped by the fact that many shops were offering discounts this year and had also gone into sales mode much earlier. “Giving good value for money seems to have worked,†Cllr Deane said. Trim Chamber of Commerce president Yvette Bloomfield said people did shop locally due to necessity but that, because of the snow, trade was down overall in Trim. She noted that people have also been spending less this year. The snow affected trade in Trim in the weeks running up to Christmas with people tending to stay at home, but necessity forced shoppers out in the days before Christmas and people had been shopping locally. During the snow, Ms Bloomfield said trade was terrible for some businesses. She said that, usually, most businesses do 30 per cent of their trade in the run-up to Christmas, but not this year. Ms Bloomfield, proprietor of An Troman, said they had been very busy with hampers, particularly during Christmas week. However, she said that some of their stock could not be delivered from Dublin and, in particular, they had difficulties with the delivery of fresh food. She said that, in general, spend was down, with people curbing the amount they were spending. The Chamber was forced to cancel its Christmas market and Santa's visit scheduled for 5th December because of the weather. It had been intended to hold it the following Sunday but health and safety concerns with the snow and ice again forced the cancellation of the event. In Kells, food retailers and butchers noticed a marked improvement in business over the icy period, but shopping for clothes and gifts was down on last year. According to Jess Olohan of Kells Chamber of Commerce, there had been a lot more local shopping because of the bad weather. “Butchers and supermarkets noticed a lot more people shopping in the town for groceries, but the clothes shops and other retailers did less business than last year. It seems that people stayed in Kells and shopped for their food here, but people just weren't doing the same amount of Christmas shopping as in previous years,†she said. Ms Olohan said the Chamber's Christmas Shopping Voucher Scheme had proved very successful and they sold over €30,000 worth of vouchers in the town.