European retailers seek more Irish action on pandemic

RETAILERS with international operations have raised concerns that Irish coronavirus restrictions on shopping are less rigid than in many other countries.

Niall Anderton, senior vice-president for Circle K, and overseeing operations for the fuel and convenience group in Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Russia, said more clarity was needed.

“In terms of Ireland, there is probably little enough guidance in terms of what to do,” he said. “We’re putting things in place that we’ve learned from other business units.

“We don’t have the guidance we really should be getting.”

There are 162 Circle K outlets in Ireland and at least 60 of them now have perspex protective screens.

Anderton said that had been developed by a member of staff over the St Patrick’s Day period, following the lead from the Polish division of the business.

“The most important thing for us is our staff and our customers, and we’re putting things in place to protect those people,” he said.

The company has made the decision to close its deli counters as demand has slowed down and because it “was the right thing to do”.

“The thing I am most disappointed with is there is no clarity on what we need to do,” he added.

The country manager for Ireland for pet retailer Maxizoo, Enrico de Luca, also said the business would like to see more direction for retail here.

“We would like to see faster and stronger measures to minimise the impact of Covid-19. I trust this will happen shortly,” he said.

“As the biggest pet chain retailer in Europe, we are present in many countries and experiencing different situations, as well as learning from each other.

“Some good measures have been done already (in Ireland) but more stringent measures, like closure of non-essential shops, will significantly help in reducing traffic of people and the risk of faster transmission of Covid-19.”

The company has introduced a number of its own measures to protect staff and customers.

Meanwhile, Jean McCabe, deputy chairperson of Retail Excellence, said it was time for landlords to press ‘pause’ on commercial rents.

Some landlords have shown understanding. “But some have threatened retailers that if they don’t comply with the terms and conditions of their contracts, even with regards opening hours in a shopping centre, they will face legal action,” she said.

McCabe, who owns Willow boutiques in Ennis and Galway, said fear was a huge factor for consumers and urged the Government to announce a big financial support package.