The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
RESTRICTIONS have been eased for some time, but the local retail sector is still facing a number of challenges.
Rosie O’Neill of
A Bit of a Do children’s fashion boutique said that things have been relatively quiet.
“We’re just tipping away, it’s nothing major or anything like that. We have a lot of our spring/summer stock still left, with having been closed for so long. Communions and confirmations were cancelled and that had an ongoing effect, families would come in for clothes for them, and now that they’re running into the autumn it’ll be winter stock they’re looking for.”
The end of August would typically be a quiet time anyway she feels, and she is hopeful things will pick up in the coming months.
“This week things are very quiet, but that’s only because of going back to school and the weather has a lot to do with it. People aren’t going shopping, they’re getting every little last bit of sunshine we can get.
“All we can do is look to the future, Christmas will be coming and hopefully that’ll get people out shopping again. We’re hoping that the autumn and winter will be a bit better.”
Orlagh Heaney of the Tír na nÓg Toymaster shop in Ennis said that things have been going well in recent weeks, but there are a lot of challenges looming around securing stock.
August has been a good month, she said. “The last couple of weeks was our best few weeks, the last three or four weeks, a good lot of Irish tourists were about, moreso than foreign obviously, people from Dublin, Mayo, Cork.
“In the last five or six weeks our Christmas Club is flying, would you believe. I think they were kind of getting ahead before the kids are back at school, you normally wouldn’t see it until around the second week of September.”
However it is becoming much harder to get stock and prices are rising, which the business is trying to absorb where possible, rather than passing on to purchasers, but the outlook is difficult. “Going forward into 2022, it’s going to be hard to get stock and it’s going up again in cost.”
There are various factors coming together, to create shortages. “Brexit is a factor, it is contribting to what’s going on. I wouldn’t say it’s 100% accountable, but a lot of the toys are UK companies, some of them have opened European offices, to make it a bit easier.
“The freight companies are saying they can’t get enough drivers and also that there will be an issue with trucks going over through the UK as and from the end of September. That’s all going to add on to costs as well.”
She also says there has been a good level of local support since they reopened.
“We were closed for the first five months of this year and half of last year, which was a huge hit for us. To be fair to the locals they supported us once we reopened and we’re grateful for that. We had done click and collect when we could and it wouldn’t have been a fraction of regular trade, but we had regular customers who would pick up stuff. Then when we did reopen a lot of our regulars did come back which was good to see.
“You always have that fear when there’s a break in anything like that that if they start going elsewhere they’ll keep going elsewhere, but they didn’t.”
She is hopeful that toy shops will still retain their niche even with online shopping far more prevalent. “A child in a toyshop or a child looking at a computer screen, there’s no comparison.”
Kilrush and Ennis clothes shop owner Patrick Bourke said that things are currently very hectic.
“At the moment we are very busy. We’re definitely busier than 2020 but not as busy as 2019.”
With weddings postponed because of restrictions earlier in the pandemic, there’s a backlog now.
“It’s very pressurised in that all the weddings are coming together. The slack of last year and then this year, it’s all coming together on us. Last week was extremely busy and we’re short staffed.”
He says there is much anecdotal evidence from business ownersacross various sectors that the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is discouraging people from taking up positions.
“There are loads of people leaving everywhere this week going back to college. One person is losing ten people this weekend.”
Patrick himself has been looking for workers at a very busy time. “We actually have 11 weddings going out this weekend. That’s how busy things are. I’m looking for staff, having been advertising for the last six weeks.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
