Spending up but bargains down in summer sales as boom continues

Irish retailers report a boom in sales during the first half of this year as they benefit from the increased spending power of the country's consumers. A number of other factors have also played a part in encouraging rising profits for stores here, not least the sterling/pound differential which has made the Republic a particularly attractive shopping destination for weekend visitors from Britain and Northern Ireland.

As shops prepare for their seasonal sales over the next couple of weeks, they expect these events to be shorter and to contain less stock than in previous years.

This means consumers looking for bargains should prepare for disappointment as the usual rails of marked-down items fail to materialise. Increased sales appear to have been the norm across all areas and there has hardly been any time since the beginning of the year when customers were in short supply.

Even the disappointing weather for the early part of this summer would not seem to have deterred shoppers, although Sean Barron of the Flairline group says his company registered "a bit of a drop" in May when sunshine was in particularly short supply.

Flairline, which took over the Richard Alan and Betty Barclay outlets earlier this year, has even seen growth in sales at these shops; Mr Barron gives a figure of eight per cent for the Grafton Street branch of Richard Alan.

The increase has been much more dramatic among the company's long-standing Pamela Scott and Ashley Reeves/Lisa Perkins branches, standing at 15 per cent for the former and 12 per cent for the latter. "It's all in the buying," is Sean Barron's explanation for these figures, adding "we've got a very good niche in the market."

In future, he observes, all stores in the group will carry new merchandise every month, leading to faster turnovers of stock. An immediate result will be shorter sales as the amount of material available for reductions will be less than before.

Shorter seasonal sales are also likely to become the norm for the Brown Thomas group. The company began its summer sale a week later than usual and will be ending it earlier, so that the event runs for no more than four weeks.

According to Duncan Graham, Manager of Brown Thomas Dublin and BT2, over the past six months both outlets have registered double digit increases on the year.

They are going into their sales with less stock than before and this helps to explain the abbreviated time for price reductions. In response to demand from customers, Brown Thomas has already begun to put out early autumn stock by brands such as French womenswear designer Sonia Rykiel.

Mr Graham says there are a number of reasons for the increase in consumer spending. The most obvious is the state of the Irish economy, but he also cites the strength of sterling and comments on the influx of tourists during what used to be regarded as an off-peak period.

"During peak weekends like rugby weekends," he observes, "we do particularly well." Areas which have registered especially strong growth include menswear, with casual and sports labels performing best, and women's accessories where sales of shoes and handbags have seen substantial increases. The presence of a luxury brand such as Louis Vuitton, of which 50 per cent of sales are to overseas visitors, has also been to Brown Thomas's advantage.

As an indication of where future growth is likely to lie, Mr Graham says that next season the company would be pushing other luxury labels because "we believe there is more which could be done on that area of exclusivity."

At Arnotts, a spokesman says that because the company is at present preparing its own six-monthly statement, precise sales figures are not yet available. However, he concurs with the remarks made by other retailers and comments "trading is up on previous years and above expectations."

In late May, the outgoing chairman of Arnotts Tom Toner said trading during the first three months of the financial year was "ahead of budget and last year."