It’s back to brass tacks this week. The schools are open (for how long we don’t know because swine flu is bound take a grip ), the tourists are gone, and within a few days businesses will get a real sounding about how the the next few months should go.
How bad is the recession, how many fewer workers are buying lunches, hitting the fashion boutiques, getting their highlights done regularly, filling their cars up with fuel, doing a big weekly grocery shop? These questions have yet to be answered, but by the end of September the picture will be much clearer.
The Gaeltacht areas and Bean an Tis are suffering. Funding and subsidies are being withdrawn left, right and centre. The tax take is down. Social welfare payments are up. Who will survive?
As the leaves begin to fall so too do the spirits of local businesses, these business men and women who have provided valuable employment in our rural county for years and decades. Christmas will be difficult this year but it will bring with it a sense of reality, a throw back to the ‘80s when Santa Claus almost caused hysteria among children who prepared for weeks for his arrival, and presents were given in the true spirit of Christmas and not the one-upmanship often sought now when friends and family try to outdo each other.
Between now and Christmas we can ensure that the local business men and women, so important to the economies of our towns and villages, survive and thrive.
The banks have closed up shop, credit availability is at an all-time low, and shops need our hard-earned cents to get through these bleak times.
It’s time a halt was put to the annual Christmas shop in Dublin, for those people who can still afford to hit the capital. Plans to jet over to the Big Apple on a pre-Christmas spending spree could be adjourned for another year. New York will be as bright and beautiful after this recession as it is today.
All the festive knick knacks will be available here in Mayo. Perfumes, aftershaves, gift vouchers, toy shops, computer stores, we have them all and more. The resounding message this year is to shop local and keep our communities alive and interesting. Imagine your typical local village without its pub, post office and convenience store. It’s these businesses that are struggling. Look around your local town - more and more once thriving stores are now derelict sites. By spending your Christmas cash in Mayo this year you will have done your bit to add to the local economy.
We all hear the anecdotal evidence of how much you can save across the border, but travelling to Newry or to Enniskillen every week to stock up at Iceland or ASDA is not sustainable, and with the differential between sterling and the euro set to decrease, that option will become less and less viable.
Of course, the success of shop local campaigns does not rest solely on the shoulders of consumers. It is incumbent on the businesses to look at themselves too and to ensure that customer service is better than it is, that staff are trained in the basics of good manners and don’t grunt an answer at you; that waiting staff don’t try their best to avoid eye contact; and that shop layouts are inviting and don’t look more like storerooms than places to browse and buy.
It’s time to get back to basics and support our own. A little bit will go a long way.
