This article is from page 7 of the 2011-09-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
TRADERS in Ennis are pulling out all stops today in a bid to give the retail trade the kind of boost that can have the domino effect of bringing more people into the county capital to do their shopping.
As part of the ‘Super Tuesday’ initiative that has been pioneered by Cllr Frankie Neylon and Mayor of Ennis, Michael Guilfoyle, traders have come up with a host of promotions in a bid to attract an influx of shoppers to the town.
“It’s a very basic thing,” says the chairman of O’Connell Street Traders, Gearóid Mannion. “It’s an attempt by councillors Neylon and Guilfoyle to do their bit to help the retailers and traders a bit of a boost, to try and generate a bit of excitement and enthusiasm and create a buzz on what might be expected to be a normally quiet enough Tuesday.
“The idea is that business in town would offer something small for free, or a special offer, or a small discount, two for one, or whatever might be. In the case of Tom Mannion Travel, if you buy a holiday, you get free travel insurance,” he added.
“It’s not about giving away big things. There are no flat screen televisions here. It’s something very small to try and generate something that’s brought about by the collective strength of traders themselves.”
The idea for a ‘Super Tuesday’ was first floated by Cllr Neylon at a meeting of Ennis Town Council in July, and since then the former town mayor has spearheaded its implementation along with current mayor, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle.
“The response we have got to the idea has been great,” says Cllr Neylon. “We sent fliers around and the feedback we got was that this was something businesses wanted to do to try and bring more people into the town.
“The idea is that instead of making a profit for the day that they might make a customer. It’s to have a special day. They can do whatever they want. It’s left totally to themselves to do what they want. We want each trader to have their own Super Tuesday – they can do what ever kind of promotion they want with their business,” he adds. “One of the better aspects about the whole thing is that every business is not doing the same thing. It has been embraced by the business community in the town and the good thing about this that it could become an annual thing.
“It’s trying to create the incentive for people to come into the town to shop and then try and keep them coming back,” he adds.