Stark warning on challenges for retail businesses in Ennis

RETAILERS in Ennis have weathered “the perfect storm” in recent years and are now facing “retail Darwinism – survival of the fittest”, believes Ennis Chamber’s CEO Margaret O’Brien.

The county capital has seen some retail outlets shut their doors for good, and there are fears that more closures are yet to come.

However Ms O’Brien insists Ennis is “in strong position to attract new outlets”, adding that support is needed from the local authority and landlords to realise the town’s full potential.

Meanwhile, Gwen Culligan, one of the county’s best known retailers, believes the coterie of agile, independent retailers in Ennis have given the town a strong backbone.

“We can’t hold back change, but we can do our best to work with it, in order to survive and thrive,” she says.

Ms O’Brien toldThe Clare Champion, “Recent years must have felt like a running battlefield for retailers. The Covid pandemic wreaked havoc for two years, then came the war in Ukraine and resultant energy cost hikes. Then came staff shortages, difficulties around staff retention, wage increases, changes to employment regulations – all of which have put a significant strain on retailers.

“As always, there are also local issues. County Clare was one of very few local authorities to raise commercial rates and that happened before businesses were hit with notices of rates revaluation, with many facing into increased valuations.

“For many it was the perfect storm. Here in Ennis, businesses in O’Connell Street had to deal with disruptions due to Irish Water refurbishment works throughout last summer and those disruptions are set to be repeated with the commencement of planned public realm works.”

Ms Culligan, director, County Boutique on O’Connell Street added, “Not knowing the timings of forthcoming disruptions makes it difficult to accurately plan ahead. We buy forward and it’s difficult to make decisions when the timings or known disruptions are out of our control and are currently unknown. We are also unsure about tourist numbers for Ennis this summer, which also impacts on our decision-making.”

Regarding the closure of some premises in Ennis, Ms O’Brien commented, “Across Ireland towns have experienced closure of premises that were part of a chain. That process was in train before Covid, but the arrival of the pandemic speeded things up. Brexit also influenced the closure of UK-owned chain stores. In this respect Ennis seems to be less impacted than many other towns.

“We have always had an enviable independent retailer offering in Ennis. We have a core number of businesses with strong leadership capabilities. They have a strong identity and culture and provide customers with a targeted offering.

“Importantly, they went into survival mode during Covid by upping their online presence. This represented a significant investment in their businesses not just financial but also time. For most it was an investment that has paid off.”

Ms Culligan outlined, “We invested in our website and online marketing during Covid and we have definitely been rewarded. A high functioning website created an opportunity to stay in touch with our loyal customers throughout lockdowns, but also provided us with a means to attract new customers.

“While our regular customers were delighted to return to in-store shopping once lockdowns were lifted, we retained and have managed to grow a new customer base from all over Ireland.”

She added, “Many Ennis retail businesses enjoyed a great Christmas trade. The appetite to shop local which was very much in evidence during Covid was maintained. We found that customers were interested in products with sustainable credentials, that are easy to wear high quality and long-lasting.”

According to Ms O’Brien, “The forward-thinking retailers in Ennis understand how shopping in real life works in a world of social shopping. By offering the right products in the right environment they can continue to attract shoppers.

“Undoubtedly there are casualties and there will be more casualties, but Ennis is also in strong position to attract new outlets. Essentially what we’re seeing in Ennis and elsewhere is retail Darwinism – survival of the fittest. 

“However, while the town centre may evolve organically it will still require external support to reach its full potential. An oversupply of retail space will need to be addressed and, ideally, repurposed for other uses.

“This will require constructive support from the local authority. Landlords too will need to play a part to ensure long-term, sustainable rents. The recovery may take time and mix of uses will differ, but the important message is that Ennis has a future as a vibrant town.”

Ennis Councillor Pat Daly is urging landlords to support retailers, saying some are seeking “crazy money” to lease properties.

“I am calling on landlords to lease premises out at a reasonable rent. It’s better to have a building making a few hundred euros with a good client who pays every week and is open, than it being closed up.”

He urged property owners to take action to prevent their premises becoming derelict in the future, “If a business goes down, consider selling the property, leasing it or re-opening it.”

He added that “great work” has been done by Carmel Greene and Fiona Whelan in the Clare County Council’s Economic Development Directorate saying this has led to improvements in the town centre. He adds incentives are available from the council to encourage the use of long term vacant commercial premises.

The Clare Champion contacted Clare County Council to respond to the concerns raised. A spokesperson for the local authority stated, “Clare County Council has been doing considerable work in tackling vacancy and dereliction in County Clare in the past 18 months and we are seeing the benefits of this work, in bringing properties back into use, encouraging owners to bring properties to market and in rendering them non-derelict.

“While much of the work to date has been in relation to residential properties, we are working on a number of commercial properties in the Ennis town core.

“Any residential property brought back into use will also benefit the wider economy and the services sector generally. In addition, the Government announced a new grants scheme for residential properties in summer 2022 and we are currently dealing with 35 applications for this grant for the county.

“It is intended that a six-week advertising campaign will be commenced by Government on this new grant and other supports such as SEAI grants. Details of this grant can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c2183-croi-conaithe-towns-fund/ and staff in Clare County Council’s property management unit are available to assist and answer queries regarding the grant.”

Regarding rates, the spokesperson stated, “Clare County Council did not raise commercial rates in this year’s budget 2023. Clare County Council did however raise rates in November 2021 for the 2022 budget period.

“This was the first increase since 2014 and in lieu of this increase support schemes were introduced to customers. These schemes helped to mitigate the increase for those who had rate bills of €10k or less, 85% of all commercial rate payers.

“The revaluation of commercial rates is an independent process carried out by the National Valuation Office. The dates and timelines associated with the revaluation process was communicated to all commercial rate payers in advance by the Valuation Office.”

Looking ahead the council has stated, “Clare County Council is continuing to support and assist in the delivery of the Ennis 2040 vision of delivering a sustainable and vibrant town centre.

“The Ennis 2040 DAC has commenced master planning town centre projects with the aim of revitalising the town centre experience and making Ennis a more attractive place to live, work, shop and visit.

“It is envisaged that planning applications will be lodged for the first of these Ennis 2040 projects later this year.”

In response to the concerns raised over the impact of works on O’Connell Street a spokesperson for Irish Water said, “Last year Uisce Éireann carried out essential works in Ennis, replacing aged watermains at High Street, Bank Place, O’Connell Square and O’Connell Street. These works were undertaken to provide a more reliable water supply, reduce high levels of leakage and improve water quality.

“The works were carried out as part of Uisce Éireann’s National Leakage Reduction Programme and involved the replacement of over 680m of aged cast iron watermains with new modern pipes and was a continuation of the works successfully completed on Parnell Street in 2019.

“The upgrade of the water network was completed ahead of the Clare County Council public realm regeneration works in the area.

“The benefits of the works are significant, by improving water quality, reducing leakage and overall providing a more reliable water supply in the town centre.

“Uisce Éireann delivered these water network improvement works ahead of the planned public realm works which will make a positive contribution to the development of Ennis both socially and economically. Uisce Éireann has no Leakage Reduction Programme works planned for O’Connell Street in 2023.”