Four retailers from Co Wexford in top 100 listings
David Tucker david.tucker@peoplenews.ie
FOUR County Wexford businesses have been listed among Ireland’s Top 100 retailers.
Retail Excellence Ireland named the local stores as Byrne Books and Toys, in Court Street, Enniscorthy; Dominic Smith Expert Electrical, in Knockmullen Retail Park, Gorey; Greenacres, in Selskar Street, Wexford, and Tom Doyle Supplies, in Camolin.
The Top 100 stores are part of the Retail Excellence Awards, established in 1997 to promote best practice and encourage high standards in the Irish retail industry and are now the largest and most prestigious of its kind in Ireland.
The Awards, will take place on Saturday, November 11, in the Malton Hotel in Killarney.
David Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of Retail Excellence said there were almost 700 entries nationwide and as with other years ‘we are delighted with the quality of applicants this year’.
‘The very high standard of service, customer engagement and display among Irish retailers was very evident which made selecting this year’s Top 100 particularly difficult.
‘I want to commend all who entered this year and in particular, I want congratulate the Top 100 stores for making it through. Those named as Top100 finalists have what it takes to shine through and be recognised as the best retailers in the country,’ said Mr Fitzsimons.
He said the Retail Excellence Awards are about recognising and rewarding retail excellence.
High standards, he said, are particularly important given the very severe challenges currently facing Ireland’s retail industry.
‘It is clear from the quality of this year’s entrants that the retail industry is playing its part in keeping businesses open, retail workers in jobs and our town centres vibrant which in turn will re-engage with citizens and customers alike.
‘We look forward to going through the process with our members and continuing to drive standards in retail in this country.’
As part of the top 100 selection process, all store entrants were visited by a mystery shopper, with those exceeding service and standards criteria making it to the top 100 stores.
The top 100 will now be invited to a private briefing with Echochamber, a creative retail agency which tracks global retail trends, on Tuesday, August 22, where they will be presented with the 10 pillars of Retail Excellence and will be given time to prepare a submission showing evidence they meet those 10 pillars.
Echochamber will then consider the submissions and will proceed to selecting the top 30 stores which will be announced on September 22. The top 30 stores will then be rigorously tested before being whittled down to the top three finalists and winners in sectoral categories.