Businesses brace for third lockdown
The current lockdown and the most recent restrictions on click and collect comes as a yet another blow to local retailers. Shops which had enjoy an uplift in trade in the run-up to Christmas, were forbidden from having sales and then had to pull the shutters down when the country went into Level 5 as the number of COVID-19 cases soared.
‘From early December we were very busy and sales for the period were actually up on last year,’ commented Jim McDonnell of Tony McDonnell Menswear. ‘However, not being able to have a sale in the store was a big let down. Normally St Stephen’s Day would be our busiest day but not this year. Our post Christmas trade was down 50%.’
As one of the earliest shops in Dundalk to promote their business on the internet, Jim said that ‘undoubtedly, having an on-line presence has helped us.’
He has noticed a demand for more casual wear as people are working from home and socialising has ground to a halt.
Their formal wear and tailoring has taken a bit hit, as weddings would be a big part of their business.
Offering on-line sales and deliveries allows them to continue to trade behind closed doors and he was optimistic that as an Irish shop, they would be able to pick up business as shoppers now face a 20% VAT charge if they buy from UK-based traders following Brexit.
‘ The hope is that it will encourage people to shop at from Irish suppliers.’
Just before they closed their due for yet another lockdown, Raymond Cumiskey of Frank’s Furniture admitted that it had been ‘a very peculiar year’ for them.
‘ Thanks be to God we were kept busy,’ he said, revealing that with people unable to go on holidays had to turned to decorating their houses and buying furniture.
‘For the last ten years, we had suffered with the recession as furniture was the last thing people wanted to buy. Now because people could go nowhere, couldn’t go to restaurants, couldn’t go on holidays, it left them wanting to spend money on their homes and it helped the DIY shops and businesses like ours.’
He said that like a lot of shops, they will be continuing to work behind closed doors. ‘We’ve set up a new website and people can contact us by email or phone if they see something that interests them.’
‘ The most important thing is that we are grateful to everyone who helped us keep our doors open during a most difficult year.’
Lally’s Electrical were fortunate that they were among the category of business deemed ‘essential’ retail so they were able to keep trading all year.
‘We actually had a good year and were very, very lucky to have done ok, unlike the rest of the country,’ said David Lally.
‘During the first lockdown, we were closed but could deliver an essential service if someone needed a new cooker or washing machine,’ he recalled.
‘We found an awful lot of people were upgrad
ing their television, they were getting high end tvs and Netflix,’ he reported. ‘Normally this would be the sort of business we’d get in November/ December, but this year it was in the spring and early summer, when people couldn’t go anywhere because of lockdown.’
However, he disclosed that ‘getting stock was a huge problem and still is.’
‘ There is a shortage of electrical goods right across the board, that goes back to the factories and logistics.’