Commercial activity picking up in Clonmel

We have let a number of retail outlets in the town centre over the last month.
Photostation, with outlets in Thurles and Nenagh already, took the former Only unit, beside Abrakebabra.



Julia's European Market took the former Chess clothing unit in Market Place, opposite Elvery's.



Catherine Nail Collection took the former Culleton unit in Market Place, also close to Elvery's.



Best of luck to them all in their new ventures.

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Upward-only Rent Reviews, what next?

Rob Kitchin from Ireland after NAMA reports on Upward Only rent reviews. Are their days numbered?
Inside Ireland reports that Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) has published a survey which reveals that 97% of the 187 companies (representing 2,200 stores) they contacted have sought a rent reduction from their landlord. More than 30% have recieved an outright rejection to their request. 25% of retailers claimed they will be forced out of business in the next 12 months if rent is not reduced and almost 80% claim they require a rent reduction of more than 15% in order to break even. REI argues that 35,000 jobs have so far been lost in the retail sector, and many more are under threat given the drop in both the volume and value of sales and the fact that many retailers are unable to renegotiate rental terms to a more favourable rate. Upward only rent review clauses were banned by the Dept of Justice last December, but this did not apply retrospectively, thus doing little to relieve pressure on tenants locked into existing agreements negotiated before the recession. REI have taken a proactive lobbying position on seeking a rent reduction, producing three short videos and bombarding local representatives with postcards asking them to pressure the Minister for Justice to enable retrospective rent review clauses. Upward only rent reviews always seemed a dubious arrangement to me, designed to serve the interests of one group only – the landlords – regardless of market conditions. It’ll be interesting to see what the government do here, as they are caught between two strong vested interests (retail and property/investment companies), and by enabling the reduction of rents they’ll potentially be undermining the rental income base of many properties going into NAMA (by one estimate costing the taxpayer €2.1 to €2.8bn). I suspect the pull of protecting jobs and local economies will be stronger, however, although I can envisage legal challenges to such a change – a working group is deliberating on the issue at the minute.

Personally, I think that it will be held that a contract is a contract, so it will not be possible to change the clause retrospectively. In any case, most landlords have exercised common sense and allowed rent reductions in order to maintain a tenant in their properties.
Larger institutional landlords, such as pension schemes etc. are much slower to allow reductions. This is a difficulty for both landlord and tenant and will lead to litigation as some retailers break leases and are subsequently pursued by landlords.
More money for the legal profession!

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Clonmel Town Centre trading boost

Two new lettings in the past few days are good news for Clonmel Town Centre.

A unit at Gladstone St, (formerly Only), and one at Market Place (formerly Culletons) have now been let and both will open with new tenants within the next month.

A great vote of confidence in the town to see new traders.

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Marks and Spencer open in Clonmel

Huge queues, traffic gridlock, but happy people all round for the opening of the 20th Irish M&S store in Clonmel today.

Some people stood in line for up to 4 hours to visit the retailing giant’s new store at the Showgrounds development, on the Davis/Waterford Road.

Following 2 years of “will they, won’t they” rumours, the launch today was extremely successful and has to be a boost to the town. Up to 100 people will be employed at the new store.

Although controversial, in that some (the writer included) think that the development will take from the town centre, the extra traffic that a retailer such as M&S will bring may compensate.

If the crowds today are any indication of the future popularity of the store, then it will be good for Clonmel as a whole.

Opening hours are Mon-Wed and Sat 9-7, Thurs-Fri 9-9 and Sunday 10-6.

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Sasha in Liquidation

Clothing chain Sasha, has gone into liquidation.
The chain has a store in Clonmel, on Gladstone St, right opposite our office. The Clonmel store employed 7 people.
Nationally, the chain runs 42 stores and employs 300 people.
David Carson, of Delloite, the same man who handled the Waterford Crystal closure, was appointed examiner to the company that owns Sasha last December, however the High Court was told yesterday that due to a sharp deterioration in trading conditions, there was no longer a reasonable prospect of the company’s survival.

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Clonmel Chamber Meeting 21/01/2009

Wednesday night, I attended the Clonmel Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Minella Hotel. The topic of discussion was how to promote Clonmel in its various aspects; as a retail centre, tourism and heritage.

Jim Power from Friends First was to be a guest speaker, but had the flu so could not attend. He sent his Power Point presentation which Frank O’Donoghue reduced from approx. 45 minutes to 5 minutes without any loss of content or message!

A spokesperson from Failte Ireland who focuses on the South East said that as a tourism destination, Clonmel will only thrive for short term holidays but that we need to improve marketing Clonmel for it’s beauty and heritage.

The River Suir, Comeragh Mountains, town walls and the fine buildings of Clonmel are strong selling points. A marketing “hook” mentioned for the UK market, “Clonmel as the town where Cromwell suffered his first major defeat.”

It was suggested that a number of teams, staffed by volunteers would concentrate on three sectors.
Town centre retail
Tourism and heritage
Marketing and promotion

The 60 or so people attending were asked to indicate which area they would like to offer assistance in. Teams will be formed for 3 to 4 months at a time and will then pass the baton to other volunteers. It is hoped that this program will result in improved promotion of the town and a better business environment for all.

I nominated myself as interested in Town Centre Retail and Marketing/Promotion. It will be interesting to see if I get a call. Watch this space.

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Road Works

It appears that despite there being little monies in the coffers, the Borough Council are determined to spend whatever they have before the year is through. In the middle of the Christmas shopping period, when already hard-pressed retailers are trying any method possible to shift stock to a public afraid to spend money, both Market St and Parnell St traders have to endure enormous disruption due to road works. It seems that an upgrade of the sewerage system could not be done at any other time of year!
Yesterday, no traffic was allowed on Market St. As this is an integral part of the concentric one-way system we have in Clonmel, this caused congestion all over town. More importantly, it seriously impacted on the traders on Market St and Parnell St, which is fed by Market St.
Although pedestrian traffic is allowed, behind 2 metre high palisade fencing, it is not a safe environment for shoppers. Excavators, mini-cranes, dumpers, jack-hammers, con-saws all made themselves seen and heard. Many people chose not to enter the street at all.
The Borough Council state that this work will continue for most of January, so any chance these traders have of a post-Christmas sale will be seriously diminished. The economic environment is bad enough at the moment, without this added burden to traders.
Surely the experts in the Borough Council could have scheduled this work for another time of year, when the disruption and subsequent congestion elsewhere would not have had such a severe economic impact. They obviously do not think commercially, except when it comes to collection of Business Rates, demands for which will land on trader’s doormats early in the New Year. I hope that all the traders who receive one will be in business next year!

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Starting small.

Whether it is due to the current economic woes, or just coincidence, our agency has a number of smaller retail units to rent at present. By smaller, I mean 300-500 sq ft, in areas such as Mitchel Street, Irishtown, Mary Street and Market Place. The important thing about these units is that they are all reasonably priced. Rental ranges from €10,000 per annum (pa) to €15,000pa, ie €2-300 per week. All are offered on flexible leases from 1-5 years. This gives any budding entrepeneur the opportunity to get into business reasonably cheaply from a property perspective.

There has been a great level of interest for these cheaper units, from new entrants to established retailers. Specialist wine shops, accessory shops and new clothing shops are the main enquiry source, but a more unusual phenomenon (to me in any event) is the surge in enquiries for tanning/beauty salons. Perhaps it is the bad weather we have had, but tanning seems to be a growing (glowing?) business. It is very popular amongst our large Polish and Lithuanian population and now also it seems, amongst Irish females too!

This level of interest in smaller properties at lower rents shows that given the right cost base, there are plenty of people willing and able to take the first steps to start their own business. A town needs large retailers, and Clonmel has a long list of National retailers, but it is also vital to the heart of any town that smaller, local retailers thrive. It is great to see this level of interest, even at this more difficult of times! Long may it last.