The best value is here in Cavan, say the retailers

“Prices have narrowed and best value is here now,†is the genuine assessment of business owners relieved at the jump in turnover over the Christmas holiday period. This is a welcome contrast to 2009 when retailers from the border counties of the republic faced a haemorrhaging of customers to big name multiples in the North. Since then a capable, hard-working local business sector rethought its strategy and successfully regrouped to turn the tables on the big name opponents. Reports of a 20% increase in sales is great news in the middle of a severe economic recession and there is a general expression of gratitude to thousands of customers throughout the county who decided to shop local this time. While the weather contributed to the decision not to travel, it is seen as not the primary factor and that a desire to shop local in order to save jobs as well as the issue of better value here were what decided the issue in the final analysis. Many stores on this side of the border have expanded the scale of their enterprises and brought down prices, which has made travelling north a nonsensical proposition from the money saving point of view. According to leading businessman John Foy, the adjustment in prices has meant that stores in towns like Cootehill and Cavan are now much cheaper than the North or Dublin. “Prices have narrowed and best value is here now,†maintained Mr. Foy, who recently undertook an €500,000 expansion of his SuperValu store in Cootehill. Describing it as his best Christmas ever, he emphasised the pulling power of good personal service. “Being able to talk with the customer on a first name basis strikes a positive chord; it creates a sense of assurance that the store owner knows them personally and will be anxious that they have a good shopping experience when visiting his store,†observed Mr. Foy. Patrick Boyle of Patsy Boyle Menswear was heartened by the entry of many new customers to the shopping scene. He feels that having decided to explore the range of bargains available locally, those shoppers were pleasantly surprised at what they saw. In fact many told him that they purchased all of their festive season requirements in the immediate area. Towns located right on the border always faced a tough challenge from Northern competition but Padraig Donoghue believes that challenge has been met and dealt with successfully. Mr. Donoghue, who owns the Centra supermarket in Belturbet as well as SuperValu stores in Ballyconnell and Ballinamore, cites the dropping of prices in this jurisdiction as being a persuasive factor in the upsurge of shoppers. This combined with the current sterling/euro price differential helped a lot, he feels. The euro is 85c against sterling, while it was parity between the currencies this time last year. “When there is a difference between sterling and the euro there isn't the same value for the southern shopper down the North,†explained Mr. Donoghue, who revealed that turnover at his stores was 20% up on last year. Reflecting on the swings and roundabouts nature of cross border trading, he further revealed that there was a fair amount of sterling taken on this side of the frontier this time around, particularly in relation to petrol and diesel sales. Cavan Chamber president Pacelli Lynch is also satisfied with the shopping buzz that was around Cavan this Christmas. He believes the shop local campaign has paid dividends with many people from the county and general area making a genuine effort to support the economy and retain jobs. “At this stage I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in support of Cavan businesses over the Christmas period and leading up to it,†he said. Noting that there were seven modern supermarkets in Cavan Town, along with a wide range of convenience stores, Mr. Lynch said that this growth in competition was a good thing and if people shopped around all of those enterprises they would get fantastic value. Looking to the year ahead, he is confident the decreased VAT differential will boost the fortunes of businesses on this side of the border. Twelve months ago UK VAT stood at 15% while the Republic's VAT was 21.5%. Now the British government is raising VAT to 20% while VAT here has been slightly reduced to 21%. “The chamber will continue to be active in promoting Cavan and we wish everyone a prosperous and peaceful 2011,†he said. One of Cavan town's top commercial entrepreneurs, Sean Tarpey, owns SuperValu stores at Lakeland retail park and Drumalee. One of the new generation of business people who are putting the town and county on the map, Sean informed us that his turnover was 20% up on last Christmas. “It is testament to the good value we have,†he said, revealing that the special offers in his stores in the run-up to Christmas were a real winner. Such offers included a turkey for half price as well as other attractive specialities across the entire food and confectionary range. Ballyjamesduff is a long established market town, which like all smaller towns has had to weather the drift of people away to larger centres, however, draper Pat Clarke was pleasantly surprised by the desire of people to spend their money in their own immediate area. “I was happy enough with the Christmas,†he put it.