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Sligo predicted to be in the Irish Top 10 Shopping Centres
Re-developed centre in Sligo will see the town move into the top ten of Irish retail centres, it has been predicted. A new report also claims that the town will consolidate its position as the number one shopping destination in the Borders region. The assessment carried out for the developers of the proposed shopping centre and multi-storey car park in the Wine Street car park also suggests that Sligo's catchment area will grow, increasing shopper spending in the town by almost a third to 6312 million a year. It claims that Sligo will move up the league table of shopping centres from 13th to 10th. That would mean it leapfrogging over Castlebar, Swords and The Square Tallaght to just below Tralee, Blanchardstown and Waterford. The report has been prepared for Treasury Holdings by Experian, described as "a global leader in providing analytical and information services to organisations and consumers to help manage the risk and reward of commercial and financial decisions". Experian have analysed the catchment area of Sligo pre and post the development of new retail space in the town centre. The report states that the new development will see Sligo's catchment population increase from 145,000 to 200,000, whilst "shopper comparison spend" in the catchment will see a 29% uplift from €242 million to €312 million. Experian say that Sligo's catchment is set to expand post the planned redevelopment of the town centre, with around 260,000 square feet of new retail space set to be delivered over the next few years, as well as a 1,000 space car park. Apart from the shops to be built by Treasury, they are also including the plans for re-developed Tesco, Penneys and Dunnes stores. According to their analysis Sligo will capture 36% of retail expenditure in its catchment area, equating to a shopper expenditure of €312 million drawn to the town centre. Experian also say that their research has shown that there has been an increase in cross border trade in Northern Ireland by 7% compared to April 2008, with shoppers from the south taking advantage of a weak pound and lower VAT in Northern Ireland. They expect 11% of Sligo spend to be lost to centres in Northern Ireland, with Enniskillen accounting for the majority of this figure. But Experian expect this figure to reduce in the medium term as UK interest rates rise, VAT returns to 17.5% and the pound recovers some of its strength against the euro. The report also states that the latest economic forecasts from Experian's economic team shows that spending growth is expected to increase by 11% between 2009 and 2015 as the Borders region comes out of recession. |
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