More must be done for stand alone retailers
The battle for survival by all the small, stand alone retailers across the country is one of the great challenges of our time. Such small shops are the backbone of towns across rural Ireland and indeed are indispensable to wider communities that they serve.
The challenge presented by the large multiples is a tough proposition in itself but this accompanied by the loss of jobs, increased taxation and other cost increases have all combined to create a climate of fear which has hit consumer spending.
Multinationals play a global game and if their outlets in one country are going through a depression because of economic difficulties pertaining in that particular state this is offset by a more favourable picture that exists in other places. Those big companies can withstand the drop in sales in a particular country and wait for the storm there to blow over. However, for the small, individual Irish retailer, there is no such option. He can't see out the current economic crisis by upping sales in another store that he may have in Birmingham or Newcastle. The shop that he/she has in Cavan, Cootehill and Bailieboro is the only one that they have got. For them there is no easy escape from the economic hard times.
A recent study by a leading Irish retail group claims that Irish consumers are petrified with fear - they are afraid to spend because of all that has happened since September 2008. With the banks refusing to lend in any meaningful fashion (even though they are bailed out to the tune of billions by the taxpayer) and credit unions being in the same boat it is no wonder that consumer confidence is in short supply.
Fashion shops, furniture stores and electrical goods outlets are currently in the most difficult situation. The number of women who are now the sole earner in their homes has increased dramatically in this region with the downturn in construction sector affecting male employment. As a consequence there is no money to spend on clothes - with the mortgage repayments, the car loan and other outgoings understandably taking priority.
It is changed times, perhaps everything is now changed utterly in terms of the country that we lived in pre 2008 and what it is today. With turmoil in the world economy and the riots in Greece being a daily occurrence Irish people can't be blamed for feeling helpless. There is a crisis of confidence among the Irish people in terms of how they view their own ship of state. For most of the 90 years that this state has been in existence there was a deeply held belief that the government and our politicians in Leinster House were the people with the hands on the tillar. Our membership of the EEC and world globalisation of commerce has changed all that. Even though our sovereignty is no longer what it was it is the task of the government to ensure that the impact of the current recession does not reek lasting damage on Irish society. When framing the budget, a task that is currently in progress, the government should think of the small retailers who are the life blood of local towns. Increasing personal taxation may bring about short-term gain but it risks creating long-term damage. When a town loses its shops it is gone beyond the point of recovery and no matter what type of investment may later be injected it can't bring back that town's business life which has melted away to other towns and will not come back. Averting that unhappy scenario is a must for our government and for all our politicians. Time is not on our side.
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