This article is from page 9 of the 2009-01-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
THE Christmas and New Year sales were On a par with previous years, despite a slow start, according to En- nis Chamber of Commerce.
“The reports from talking to busi- nesses were good. Things were pretty good and on a par with other years,’ said Chamber Chief Executive Of- ficer Rita McInerney.
“Although the Christmas period didn’t pick up until quite late, it was busy after Christmas because the sales hit so strongly, with up to 50 per cent off in some shops,” she added.
“Consumers are returning to pre- boom shopping habits. Everybody shops in the sales,” she added.
Sunday shopping didn’t do too well with shoppers staying away on Sun- day, December 28. “That day was slow enough. People weren’t used to shopping in Ennis on Sundays as such,’ she added.
However, she expects that business will slow down in the next number of weeks, as the downturn in the econo- my takes effect.
‘Businesses are indicating they feel things will slow down. Mid-January and February are always quiet,” she said.
She is hopeful that businesses in Ennis will survive the downturn. “With the boom, we have seen new
businesses in Ennis. A lot of them have picked up. We have a lot of tra- ditional family-owned long-standing quality in shops. People are being a lot more practical in what they buy. They are looking for quality goods and that is something that will stand to us now,” added Ms McInerney.
Ennis businessman Gearodid Man- nion, of Tom Mannion Travel, said the decision to pedestrianise the streets of Ennis for four days in the run-up to Christmas worked very well.
“It was worth it. They were perfect- ly chosen and I think we got it spot on,” he said.
Meanwhile, the manager of Sky- Court in Shannon said that while footfall was slightly down, overall business was brisk during the sales.
“Our footfall was a little bit down on previous years, which was to be expected. Overall we were quite hap- py with it,” he said.
“People are not spending as they used to. The spending power just isn’t there,’ he added.
He expressed disappointment that the corporate sector didn’t buy into the gift card scheme launched last year.
‘There was a great take-up from the local people as opposed to the factories. We were a bit disappointed that the corporate market didn’t avail of it as locals did,” he said.