I would prefer to spend my money locally, but lack of retail options in Sligo makes it tough
THIS week I turn the big 4-0 and as a treat my friends brought me away for a night. Not knowing where I was going I was thrilled when we arrived in Letterkenny. It’s a town I don’t know at all so it was a bit of an adventure.
After many hours of dancing and few hours of sleep the idea of shopping was mooted.
Not a huge fan at the best of times I reluctantly agreed. However I was pleasantly surprised by my few hours of retail therapy.
With my eldest daughter’s First Holy Communion and a family wedding coming up I was in need of a dress. However I drew a blank in Sligo and had to resort to online shopping.
Yet in Letterkenny I was spoiled for choice. It was a case of having to choose rather than having to settle.
It just made me think, why do we have to leave Sligo to have our choice of high street brands?
I say we as a few weeks prior to that I met another mother of a Holy Communicant in Donegal town who also couldn’t find what she was looking for in Sligo and also ended up ordering online.
I’ve always loved and been proud of Sligo town but I couldn’t get over the difference in what was on offer just an hour and a half down the road.
It seems to be offered real options you have to travel to Letterkenny or to Galway or Athlone. Sligo has come so far in many ways with Sligo IT on the cusp of receiving Technological University status and both the town and the county have everything to offer from a tourism point of view.
But why can’t the town keep up when it comes to retail?
For its size, it’s one of the only towns in the country not to have a Tesco superstore. It’s very limited in terms of high street labels and I would much prefer to spend my money locally than have to travel to find what I want.
Although it’s not ideal taking shops out of the town, is it not better to look at rezoning areas like Carraroe to encourage new brands to come to the town rather than let the money be spent in these outlets in another county?
Towns like Cavan and Roscommon have outlets outside of the town centre and it has not done them any harm.
Sligo has so much to offer and we are always being encouraged to shop locally but there comes a time when it is not possible to do this, as I recently discovered.
It would be nice to see people travelling to Sligo to shop instead of leaving it to do so. With the likes of Next leaving in June, we are in great need of a replacement. Even our Penneys is the smallest one I have ever been in in the country.
This would be another business that could benefit from expansion.
I’m not a fan of online shopping as it can be hit or miss and prefer to go and try on clothes so I would much rather spend my money in the town than send it somewhere else.
It would be a shame to see Sligo slipping back into the past when so many of its neighbouring towns are heading into the future at full speed.