Sales may begin on St. Stephen’s
Day
 Ireland's
January sales fever may be coming to an end for another year but retailers
are already planning for next year, with the annual sell-off set to start
even earlier.
In another instance of Ireland’s increasingly consumerist culture
plans have been put forward to open one of the country’s biggest
shopping centres on St. Stephen’s Day.
Traditionally the time for visiting relatives and digesting the turkey,
now retailers in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre have been asked if they
are willing to start their New Year sales on St. Stephen’s Day.
Questionnaires have been sent out to retailers, many of which are English
companies, to gauge the level of interest.
Most sales now kick-off on December 27 having been steadily brought back
over the years from the beginning of January. Blanchardstown Shopping
Centre does not open on St. Stephen’s Day although the nearby retail
park does.
The general manager of the centre Michael O’Hagan believes attitudes
towards shopping have changed drastically in recent years.
He said: “Consumers will decide with their feet over whether they
want the centre to open. Westfield Castlecourt Centre in Belfast opened
on St. Stephen’s Day with research indicating that 20 per cent of
customers were from the South.”
Meanwhile one of Ireland’s biggest shopping centres, The Liffey
Valley, is to double in size under plans for the development of the West
Dublin site.
The development will be one of a series of large-scale expansions by shopping
centres in Dublin with plans for Arnotts, Stillorgan Shopping Centre and
Dundrum Town Centre also in place.
Property developer Owen O’Callaghan is currently in talks with South
Dublin County Council for the creation of a new town centre for the Lucan
and Clondalkin area.
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