­Fabulous Fridays until September

The recently launched Fabulous Fridays initiative has added yet another incentive to encourage shoppers to make the most of the extended opening hours.

Retailers taking part in Fabulous Friday are open now from 9am to 7.30pm each Friday in July, August and September. In addition to this, those behind the scheme have introduced a weekly draw by the retailers and an incentive scheme by the restaurants in Ennis to reward and encourage shoppers to make use of Fabulous Fridays.

“The feedback on our first Fabulous Friday last week was very positive. Around five minutes to 6pm we  had several shoppers in Manix who were delighted and relieved when I approached them and told them about the extended opening hours,” said Pádraig Haugh from Manix in Lower Market Street.

The community of retailers participating in Fabulous Fridays have now decided to reward shoppers on Fridays with a weekly draw for an item from one of the shops.
“We want to make our visitors and also in particular our residential shoppers feel welcome and valued in Ennis town.

“Each person that purchases an item after 6pm in one of our participating shops can enter into a draw every Friday and the winner will be contacted the following week,” said Ronan Cahir from Giftvenue.

“With presently nearly 30 retailers on board, there is plenty on offer on a Friday in Ennis. We do hope, of course, that many more will join us in the coming weeks and months.”

The retailers initiative has also found friends amongst the community of restaurants in Ennis, who are launching an incentive scheme aligned to Fabulous Fridays.
“Fabulous Fridays is a fantastic scheme, which we in the hospitality sector welcome and support,” said Paul Madden from Temple Gate  Hotel.

The incentive scheme by Ennis’ restaurants will be offering a spot prize to be collected and consumed each Friday evening in the venue offering it.
“We are delighted to offer the first spot prize of a bottle of Prosecco next Friday.

“The voucher will be given to one of the retailers participating in Fabulous Fridays, who will give it to their third customer after 6pm,” said Brian O’Neill of the Rowantree Cafe Bar.

“We are excited to see who will be calling over to us after their evening shopping to enjoy their sparkling prize with us.”

The initiative is also supported by Ennis Town Council, who recently decided to offer an additional hour of free car parking every Friday, resulting in free parking from 5pm every Friday throughout the summer and autumn months up until end of December.

The full list of retailers will be available from Ennis official website, www.visitennis.com. Street by street, the following retailers have joined Fabulous Fridays to date: On O’Connell Street Bowe’s News, County Boutique, Delia Keane’s Cafe,  Ennis Gift Centre, La Vita Hair & Beauty, Maurer’s Jewellers, Nozomi, Seodín. On Lower Market Street and Market Street An Binsin Luacra, CD2, Cornucopia, Ennis Pet Centre, Manix, Paddy Quinn’s Bar, Something Special, The Irish Shop.com, the Veterinary Surgeon, Precious Pets, Specsavers. On Abbey Street Elvery’s, Giftvenue, Holly’s Pharmacy, Moody Cow, The Ennis Bookshop, Tierney’s Sweet Shop and Young World.

Over the past weeks, a group of representatives from Promote Ennis, the Purple Flag Working Group, Ennis Chamber and retailers from the key shopping streets in Ennis have been meeting regularly to bring about the Fabulous Fridays initiative. The idea of extended shopping hours is based upon a survey that was carried out at three key accommodation providers in Ennis town centre, which confirmed that there was a strong demand for early evening shopping (6-8pm) with over 50% of respondents being in favour.

The Working Group entitled Interim Town Team, who have meantime also supported the push for the covered market in Lower Market Car Park, will be reviewing the outcomes of the trial period of Fabulous Fridays in August and September to consider its continuation.

“Following the great uptake on Fabulous Fridays and with a view to offering opportunity for a possible extent ion of this to other days of the week, I am delighted to announce that Ennis Town Council have recently decided to extend the free parking offer from 5pm to seven days a week up until the end of December.

“In this great weather, we hope that this incentive will encourage people to come to town in the early evening to make use of the high-quality early bird dining options and entertainment available,” said Councillor Johnny Flynn, chair of the recently formed Interim Town Team.