Consumers paid heed to 'shop local' message in festive trade

Christmas trade in shops around the county was "steady enough", and in some cases "pretty good", but with a great deal of caution built in as people ponder the future of the euro and their job prospects in the New Year. Retailers reported that shoppers concentrated on "practical buying" and were often putting off "big spends" until the New Year sales. There appeared to be two sides to the traditional seasonal shopping spree in Navan - Navan Town Centre said it had one of its busiest Christmases since 2007 and enjoyed a "good, long, solid trading run for two weeks uo to Christmas" while, for retailers in the main streets of the town, caution was the watchword among shoppers. Pat Mullaney, manager of the shopping centre, said that traders had been "cautiously optimistic" in the run-up to Christmas and were finding it hard to predict how trade would go. "There was a big hit on the Friday before Christmas - people definitely came out and spent in force", he said. "We had a few 12-14-hour days and it was justified for the traders to stand around for that length of time because the shoppers turned up and were in spending mood," he said. "I would say that there is general satisfaction among traders about how things went," he added. Independent Cllr Francis Deane, a former retailer himself, said that sales in the town's streets were "strong enough" but that there was a certain caution about people's spending. "From what I have heard, there was a lot of practical spending. People spent money on things they really needed rather on things they felt they wanted. The weather was a huge factor in favour of trading this year - last year and the year before were a bit of a wipe-out, so I think there was general relief that the weather was benign," said Cllr Deane. Because the weather was so mild, there had not been huge spending on clothing and he said people could expect to pick up some real bargains in the post-Christmas period. The councillor felt that people had concentrated on keeping their business local so that families could be kept in business, and employees in work. The state of the economy had had some impact on spending, he said, and this left people cautious in the way they spent money. He described the Christmas atmosphere in Navan as "fantastic" and there had been very favourable feedback about the town's Christmas lights. The Christmas crib in Trimgate Street had also been the subject of "great compliments" and he added: "To be fair to the Catholic Church, they did their bit with the illuminated star on the front of the church". TRIM Trading in and around Trim was "very busy" in the two days before Christmas, according to the president of the Trim & Area Chamber of Commerce, Noel French. "It was certainly busy in the two days before Christmas - I think the 'shop local' message is something that people are very aware of and is one that the Chamber and lots of organisations put out every year. "This year more than ever, I think, people heeded it because shopping local could make all the difference for the business of a neighbour or friend and jobs depend on them. The current economic climate, too, means that people are also looking for good prices and a lot of shops, certainly in Trim, responded to that with lots of special offers," he said. KELLS In Kells, trading in the town was described as "brisk" in the run-up to the big day with initiatives like free parking drawing people from neighbouring parishes into the town. Kells Town Councillor Brian Curran said that while Kells enjoyed the upsurge, he was urging people "to think before they spend". "When you spend locally, you are investing in your own town where money is then spent locally with groups and services in the town. We're seeing a renewal of co-operation between traders, the chamber and the council and that's been successful in the last few months and I hope it continues," he said. Kells Chamber president Geraldine Gaughran echoed the success of free parking and singled out the Christmas bonanza draw which saw shoppers benefit from €1,000 of Kells Vouchers in return for shopping locally, and a top prize of €500 was won on Friday 23rd. "I'm very pleased with the bonanza draw, which was a joint initiative between the chamber and the council. Also, the year-round gift vouchers saw over €20,000 bought. It's going to be another difficult year, obviously, but the big message has got to be 'Keep it Kells'. Let's make 2012 your Shop Local year," she said.