Shoppers braced for price hikes after late bargains

Shoppers should expect a real shortage of goods – coupled with a massive hike in prices next year – as Chinese manufacturers struggle to source reasonably priced raw materials.

Retailers across the county are reporting strong customer support throughout the busy Christmas season following a very healthy summer full of domestic tourists.

Sean McDonald of McDs Home and Garden Centre in Loughrea and the city said he still has Christmas stock arriving this week, due to delays with shipping containers – and he is planning to have an early seasonal sale this weekend to clear much of it.

But he is also warning of significant price increases on stock next year due a 30 to 40 per cent hike on costs being applied by Chinese suppliers and as a result of Brexit charges.

“I’m selling stock at the moment at a cheaper price than I’d be able to buy it in next year. There are seriously increased prices unless you can grow or make something yourself due to logistics and big price increases in the cost of raw materials such as aluminium and steel,” he explained.

“There will be a real scarcity of commodities next year the likes of which I’ve never seen before in my 20 or 30 years in the industry. Ireland is still being protected from it by the EU but they’re seeing it in the UK with a lot of empty shelves.”

Footfall has been up in the second half of the year – and continues despite the warnings over the prevalence of the Omicron variant spreading throughout the community in the last fortnight.

“It’s been a reasonably brisk year. We’re still growing our online business; it’s going in the right direction. But it’s always easier to get 100 customers in-store than picking, packing and dispatching so for us it’s good having both especially if we’re forced to close.”

Pat Smyth, whose department store in Gort sells men’s and women’s clothes, remains busy despite not selling online.

“We have a comfortable footfall because we’re unique in that we have a traditional country trade but provide a city or town collection. We’re hands on, we meet and greet the customer, and that’s an advantage. We have a very loyal trade from the county of Clare and the hinterland of Galway and we also have the passing trade from Limerick who don’t want to go into the city,” he reveals.

He also believes the pandemic has not kept his customers away as the shop is spread out over 3,000sqft and they are more than happy to wear masks and sanitise.

“Whilst it [Covid] is rocketing through every village, thankfully not many are succumbing to it in a bad way. We’ve brought forward out sale to cover the possibility we may not be open in the new year so we’re giving early discounts.”

Patricia O’Toole, who runs the Beautiful You boutique in Clifden, says the high levels of Covid have resulted in a slight drop in visitors to the tourist town in the last fortnight.

But the town’s new shops and cafes which have meant almost no empty buildings on any street continue to prove a draw for locals and visitors.

“Everybody will agree the summer season was very good here, in fact right up to October. It was almost all Irish people who said they needed to treat themselves and they did spend,” she exclaims.

“Given that we are a visitor location, it remains to be seen whether this latest wave will affect us over Christmas and New Year. We’ll have to wait and see the impact of any restrictions because it’s a long time over January, February and March and we need that time to be busy to get us through it.”

She always carries a sale section for bargain hunters in her Market Street store where there is always room for people to move about comfortably for up to six shoppers. She will gauge business before deciding when to launch into her sale.

“There’s considerable choice for consumers here in Clifden and something for every pocket. People are commenting all the time how fabulous Clifden is and how well the outdoor dining has operated. I’m so proud of Clifden. It’s amazing.”