A week to the winners: Best Shops judging heats up

The judging for Best Shops 2014 is underway and over the coming days a winner will be selected in each of our 10 categories. These are: best artisan food/ greengrocer; best cafe /teashop; best boutique; best gifts/design/ interiors; best salon; best shop for a day out; best bookshop; best specialist shop; best service and best shop window.

Secret shoppers have visited shops across the country, and our judges have been to the four corners of Ireland to get a first-hand feel for the kind of service they offer and to see how the premises looks. The answer to a key question: “Did it make you want to buy?” will help the panel find winners.

The story behind each shop front is also inspiring the judge’s decision-making process. As MD of Avoca it is part of Simon Pratt’s job to know all the good food shops in the country and he knows the businesses that are serving up a tempting offer. Independent retail consultant and a former director of marketing and merchandising at Arnotts, Eddie Shanahan travels an estimated 20,000 kilometres per annum visiting shops in the four corners of the country in search of the quixotic mix that makes retail interesting and arresting. Frockadvisor founders Sonya Lennon and Brendan Courtney are stylists who have shopped for a living. As fashion designers who have their own shop they also know first-hand the challenges independent Irish retailers face. As head of product management at AIB Merchant Services, Robert Doherty understands the business of retail, and together with his nationwide team he is helping the panel make more informed choices.

Selecting a winner in each category isn’t easy, and so we’ve decided to introduce a highly commended badge to each category to ensure that all those who merit the awards will be rewarded. Want to see how they’re getting on? watch our video fo the judging process above.

The Irish Times Best Shops competition, now in its third year, recognises the important part shops play in our urban and rural communities. They form part of the social fabric of our towns, villages and city districts. This year has seen an eight-fold increase in nominations, which totalled almost 28,000. Almost 2,700 businesses were listed, that is nearly five per cent of Ireland’s total shop population.

Distilling down all those worthy businesses to a Best Shops 14 Top 100, a number that was increased from 50 last year because of the sheer volume of entries, took a lot of time. Reaction to the shortlist has been phenomenal.

[ irishtimes.com/life-and-style/best-shop-2014/nominations ]

Not long now. All will be revealed when the winners are announced in the Irish Times magazine on Saturday, September 6th.

[ Irishtimes.com/bestshops ]