Month: May 2008

MORE than eight in 10 Ennis resi- dents believe that the town needs a stronger selection of stores to shop in and the same number are proving it by going to shop elsewhere at least once a month.

Nine in 10 of those shoppers spend more than €50 on their away trips, while 83 per cent of those surveyed believe that Ennis will benefit from the development of a world-class shopping centre and 83 per cent say that a new retail development at Cu- sack Park would add to the town’s economic prosperity.

Questions asked in the survey de- termine that “the provision of world- class retail and entertainment serv- ices 1n the heart of Ennis will retain customers within Ennis town, break habitual spending habits outside the confines of the town and will add significant revenue to the local econ- omy’, according to the summary of the findings, conducted and drawn up by CREST Retail Excellence Ire- land.

76 per cent of those questioned for the survey felt there should be better restaurant and entertainment choices in the town.

Of the stores currently operating in Ennis, women aged 30-50+ years said that Dunnes was the store they most liked, while 20-30-year-old fe- males most like Cornucopia.

Willow was the retail outlet of choice for 14-20-year-olds.

Men aged between 14 and 30 years named Manix as their favourite store and those aged 30 to 50-plus chose Dunnes.

The total sample used for the survey was 839 residents or 4.15 per cent of the population of Ennis, as recorded in the 2006 census.

The sample included 518 women and 321 men who were interviewed on three separate days between March 1 and 8 last by trained re- searchers conducting face-to-face interviews.

The report concludes that an “in- town development of scale would substantially benefit the economy” of the town and the “vast majority

of Ennis residents are fully support- ive of a new in town retail develop- jee 8 i

Reacting to the survey, a spokes- person for the Aisling Chiosoig Part- nership described the results as a remarkable vote of confidence in the proposed RiverSide Quarter.

“Clearly the people of Ennis want this project to go ahead. They want the range of retail outlets that the RiverSide Quarter will provide and they recognise the prosperity it will bring to the town in terms of jobs and increased retail spend.

“With the people of Ennis behind the concept, we feel very confident about the future. We also believe that the incredible support shown by the survey will be consolidated when the detailed plans and illustrations become available for all to see,” he SrBKOe

A PERCEIVED lack of choice is pushing customers away from Ennis and towards larger urban centres, ac- cording to Retail Excellence Ireland.

Commenting on the findings of a re- cent survey, Crest Retail Excellence Ireland CEO, David Fitzsimons said shoppers wanted big-name brands like Marks and Spencers and River Island.

Crest Retail Excellence Ireland was commissioned by the Aisling

Chiosoig Partnership to survey at- titudes of Ennis residents to current shopping choice in Ennis, as well as shopping habits and attitude of resi- dents to the Cusack Park project.

The Aisling Chiosdig Partnership plans a €350 million mixed-use de- velopment to be known as the Riv- erSide Quarter. The 10-acre Cusack Park site is currently the subject of a rezoning submission to Ennis Town Council by Clare GAA.

The survey was carried out in En- nis town over the period March 1-8

last. A sample of 839 respondents were interviewed on three separate days. The survey found that there are 757,500 habitual ‘Out of Ennis’ shopping trips made by Ennis resi- dents annually and that 83 per cent of Ennis residents believe the town re- quires a stronger selection of stores. Mr Fitzsimons said, “The figures are pretty unequivocal. You have al- most 800,000 shopping trips made outside of Ennis and the average spend is close to €100. Ninety per cent of people spend more than €50

on an average shopping trip outside of Ennis. And when people travel they are more likely to buy more. It does appear, or the findings of the Survey appear to indicate, that an aw- ful lot of money is going out of the town because of a perceived lack of selection.”

The survey found that when ques- tioned on their preferred retail out- lets, there was an overwhelming response from shoppers in favour of big-name stores.

Mr Fitzsimons said, “It cuts up pret-

ty differently between age groups but definitely the most favoured selection was Marks and Spencers. Prompted, or when given a Selection of stores to choose from, Marks and Spen- cers came out on top by a fair old bit. Women tended to go for stores like Brown Thomas, while men went for shops like Homebase and Argos. Younger people indicated that they would like to see shops like River Island or Jack and Jones, which was popular with young men, in Ennis.” Limerick and Galway were cited as

that it has bought 17 houses in Clare. A spokesperson con- firmed that the houses were bought

within the past two years.

She said the council was free to purchase housing “inside or outside the boundary”, but refused to say where the houses were located.

A rescue and regeneration initiative for Limerick’s troubled Moyross area means that people have to be relocat- ed while work is taking place. It has not been confirmed that these resi- dents are bring relocated to Clare.

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy said she was concerned as to how the

city council would manage the hous- es it has bought in Clare.

“If the council is applying a strengthened criteria for the new regeneration area then the same cri- teria should be applied in all local authority allocation and HSE rent subsidised housing,” she said.

“IT would be concerned if the city council was concentrating on buy- ing houses on the Clare side of the boundary rather than on the Limer- ick side,” she said.

She said she would also be con- cerned if all of the houses were lo- (OF: Ker OMB NOUN Ol omCT NO GlomreR Rotem

Corbally’s Des Long who 1s chair- man of the Munster Republican Sinn Fein Executive said, “Exporting those involved in anti-social behav- iour by stealth to Clare is no solution to Limerick’s housing problems.”

East Clare Councillor Pascal Fit- zgerald said he would be demanding to know where the houses had been purchased.