Closures at Carlow shopping centre

The series of shop closures at Fairgreen Shopping Centre is ‘a little disappointing' but there are already “quite interesting options” to replace them, said John Brophy, manager of Fairgreen.

The Limerick-based company that owned Camden Square and Tailor of Blue ceased trading on Sunday, 4 January in their Carlow and Limerick locations, after a liquidator was appointed to dissolve the 25-year-old men's fashion business. “We're sad for that”, said Mr Brophy. “It’s just the way retail is now for independent businesses, it's extremely tough.” Dame Ladies Fashion also closed its physical location in Fairgreen at the end of December. But it was “a controlled exit”, said Mr Brophy, and the brand continues to trade online.

There were three other major closures in the past year: New Look, Vero Moda, and most recently, River Island. However, “those are UK corporate decisions to wind down Irish businesses”, explained Mr Brophy, and they don’t necessarily point to a permanent shift in shopping habits.

His years of experience mean he is not worried about fashion retailing in the long term. “There’s still the tactile element of [shopping in person]”, Mr Brophy noted.

“We get little waves: the current one is Temu and Shein. People enjoy it for a while, then they realise they can’t send it back, that the quality is lacking, and there’s a growing awareness that it's not sustainable. Younger shoppers are beginning to see from sustainability point of view, we can’t keep buying cheap clothes from China and throwing them away when worn twice. They realise they have to support their own businesses.” “I would predict that there will be a swing back of the pendulum”, he said.

As for the centre’s plans to re-let the vacant shops, “We don't anticipate being without units for long”, he continued. “The last time we had a couple of vacancies, we got in Golden Discs and Rituals, both strong brands which added to the offering in the centre.” The newly opened Rituals store was “mobbed” in the run up to Christmas, said Mr Brophy, and drew in new customers. Similarly, Golden Discs has been a “tremendous success” with the Carlow branch supposedly being the most successful of its 28 locations over the Christmas period.

The two large empty units in Phase 2 of the centre will be likely let to international brands due to their size, said Mr Brophy, but they are considering Irish brands too. They are already on the verge of reoccupying the New Look premises. When River Island is made vacant on 10 January, they will decide between two different “interesting” proposals for what to do with the space.