East-coast retailers regard New Year's Day opening a 'flop'

POST-CHRISTMAS SALES:THE COLD snap has taken the shine off an otherwise upbeat post-Christmas sales season for many retailers.

New Year’s Day was a flop for those retailers on the east coast who opened on the public holiday, according to retail sources. Those stores that did open saw few customers because many roads were impassible and bus services curtailed, while staff struggled to make it to work because of the bad conditions.

Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) said its members enjoyed a good sales season until the bad weather discouraged consumers from going shopping. REI chief executive David Fitzsimons said destination shopping areas such as the Dundrum Town Centre had suffered worse than city centre shopping areas during the cold snap, while convenience shops had done comparatively well as people opted not to venture far from home.

One unexpected upside to the bad weather for retailers was the extent to which cross-Border trade tailed off as shoppers decided not to risk icy roads and the arduous journey to the North, he said.

Mr Fitzsimons said the decision by department stores to start their sales on St Stephen’s Day had paid off in Dublin, but not outside the capital, where stores failed to attract a “critical mass” of shoppers. The average retailer had reduced pre-Christmas purchasing to less than 80 per cent of 2008 values and ran sales before the holiday, so stock in this year’s sales was smaller and aggressively discounted, he said.

Mr Fitzsimons said the outcome of the sales would give many retailers some reason for confidence for the future but the first half of this year would still be “awful” with as many insolvencies as last year.

BT said it was pleased with this year’s sales figures, with a good St Stephen’s Day more than making up for the impact of the weather on sales on New Year’s Day.

“Despite the adverse weather conditions, we are really pleased,” said BT Grafton Street store manager Mark Limby. “We didn’t know what to expect when opening for the first time on St Stephen’s Day but we were pleasantly surprised by the numbers that turned up.”

He said the weather “took its toll” on New Year’s Day and some staff were unable to get into work because bus services were not running and roads had not been gritted.

Asked whether the fact that most Dublin Bus services failed to operate on New Year’s Day impacted on the store, a BT spokeswoman said this was unlikely to be a factor as research had shown that “most of our customers don’t take the bus”.

Clerys said it was pleased with the numbers attending its sale this year. A spokeswoman said the St Stephen’s Day opening had gone well.