We must do all we can to help protect the local retail trade

At a funeral ceremony in Drogheda last week, Fr Denis Nulty described aspects of the life of the deceased, businesswoman Catherine (Kay) Crimmins (née Lenihan from Duleek), who, with her husband photographer, Liam, ran a photography and gift shop at Shop Street for many decades. She was the "front of shop" person who dealt with the public on a daily basis. In many shops today, Fr Nulty said, assistants might ask "Can I help you?" but the act of assisting the customer is far from their minds as they continue animated conversations with their shop assistant colleagues. This was never the case with Kay Crimmins. The customer was always the centre of attention. "She was not so much interested in profit, but more interested in people," he said. Her attitude lay in a natural ability to communicate with people, she knew her customers by name in many cases, and that person became the focus of her attention for as long as they were in the shop. It was an old-fashioned style but it worked. Perhaps we are now all regretting the years of the Celtic Tiger when life was certainly more rushed, where there seemed less respect for the individual, where (and it must be said) customers were often treated like trash. Who can forget the "there you go" style of many shop-owners and assistants who barely looked at their customers as they passed their hard-earned cash across the counter. Yes, since the Tiger was shot and buried in about 2008, attitudes appeared to have changed in some places. It's nice now to get the odd "Thank you very much" and "Thanks for calling in" when you make a purchase these days. For goodness sake, we're only a step away from "Have a nice day!" Sections of the retail trade are now giving real cause for concern as they struggle to ride out the recession. Last month, we learned that retail sales continued to fall - down 1.9 per cent in the year to February, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). That decline came as consumers cut back across a range of areas, with sales in books and fuel falling and furniture sales also dropping. Excluding the volatile motor trade, core retail sales were down by 2.1 per cent over the year and one per cent on a monthly basis. All this is reflected at local level. At a recent Meath County Council meeting, Ratoath councillor Nick Killian claimed that "the retail sector is dead in the water at the present time" and he suggested the council might have to "bite the bullet" and contemplate reducing commercial rates in order to keep people in business. There may be many factors affecting retail sales in towns like Navan. Meath has a high unemployment rate, half of the people at work but living in Meath are working outside the county and, most shockingly, 40 per cent of Meath people shop outside the county. The latter figure must give serious cause for concern. It is obvious that the proximity of more attractive shopping facilities in or near the capital is influencing shoppers to spend their money there. Loyalty is a much diminished currency. More could be done by Navan dwellers to improve their own town. For instance, if we look at the Tidy Town Competition results for the last couple of years, it would appear that we have a long way to go in improving our overall position. The town had total marks of 263 out of 400 in 2011 (261 out of 400 in 2010) - and these marks were achieved through hard work put in mainly by Navan Town Council and Meath County Council. The rest of us appear to be falling by the wayside in presenting a clean face to the public. It is obvious that the town needs a refreshed retail strategy, one that will make it more attractive to shoppers to stay put here. A start on that was made last November when then Sinn Fein Mayor Joe Reilly presented proposals to the local Chamber of Commerce. including suggestions that Navan Town Council and Meath County Enterprise Board work with retailers to promote strengths and improve weaknesses with their outlets, that merchandisers would be engaged who would advise on optimum shop layout, product positioning and window design, with additional training to improve sales skills. There could also be a shop front upgrading scheme (through grants for improving signage and painting shop fronts), professional training for retailers interested in having an internet presence and the pedestrianisation of the town centre on a pilot basis, all of which would help to build a town that is attractive for locals and the visiting public. We may be hearing more about this in the coming weeks. Watch this space.