Boost for retail sector amidst the gloom

The news that Marks & Spencer is to open a store in Navan in the coming few months must come as a significant boost to the beleagured retail sector in the town which has endured a torrid second half to the year, particularly in the run-up to the festive season, with many reporting trade being down by up to 20 per cent or more. By choosing Navan, the British retail giant - which has been rolling out new stores in major regional centres for the past number of years - has given a major shot in the arm to the county town at a time when consumer confidence is at a 20-year low. M&S, as it has done in some of the major commercial shopping centres like Blanchardstown and Liffey Valley in Dublin, acts as a magnet to attract in shoppers from a wide hinterland, benefiting other businesses which suround it. For shoppers in much of Meath who might otherwise choose to travel out of the county to shop, it may well be a good reason to shop local. With a prestige name like M&S now added to the retail offering at Navan Shopping Centre, and with new projects like the Navan Retail Park on the Athboy Road coming onstream, Navan is fast becoming a major retail centre for the north-east, capable of competing for business against nearby larger towns in other counties. Navan now needs to capitalise on this status by targeting shoppers from across the region with a co-ordinated marketing campaign that highlights the wide variety of offerings available here. No-one can be under any illusion but that the coming year is going to be very difficult for retailers. Traders are going to have to be very imaginative to woo shoppers through their doors with price cuts and other measures. Already, against the backdrop of one of the bleakest landscapes for new year sales in living memory, prices are being slashed across all product ranges in cities and towns throughout Ireland to get people to spend. However, more needs to be done. Individual towns have been making efforts throughout co-ordinated local actions aimed at giving value to customers, such as Kells with its Christmas voucher scheme which is estimated to have generated about €33,000 worth of business for local outlets. In co-operation with the local town council, Trim offered free parking to local shoppers on the three Saturdays before Christmas to stimulate business. Further co-operation between local authorities, traders" associations and chambers of commerce can yield benefits if there is a will to change how things are done when times are tough. These types of initiatives need to be explored now. The dip in pre-Christmas trade has merely been a pointer to what may be in store this year. There are real concerns for jobs in the retail sector with some dire predictions suggesting that up to 70,000 jobs could be lost as one-third of businesses engaged in the retail sector could close within the next year. This, it has to be stressed, must be viewed as a worst case scenario, but this revelation alone should make consumers realise that everyone must play their part in shopping locally as much as possible in the next 12 months. The future of hundreds of jobs literally depends on money being spent in local towns and villages. The recession we all face will be aggravated by taking money out of the economy - by spending it in Northern Ireland, for instance - when it needs to go towards the purchase of goods and services here. Undoubtedly, a 6.5 per cent VAT differential between here and Northern Ireland combined with the strength of the euro against sterling makes shopping in the North an attractive proposition for some, and this is understandable among fearful consumers who are looking for value like never before as they seek to make their money go further. However, Irish retailers are engaged in a battle for survival. Business over Christmas accounts for a quarter of annual turnover in some cases in a typical retail outlet, making the December to January period absolutely crucial. And it has been a poor Christmas by the standards of recent years. The Government has given no leadership on how to extricate ourselves from the mess we find ourselves in, particularly by increasing the VAT rate to 21.5 per cent at a time when it needed to be cut. President-elect Obama in the US believes a $2 trillion stimulus package can get Americans to spend their way out of recession; here in Ireland, we"re on our own, but we somehow need to find the courage to loosen the purse strings and dig deep to keep our retail sector afloat by supporting local business.