With the January sales in full swing leading department stores analyse consumer spending.
New year sales in leading department stores such as Clerys in Dublin see shoppers grabbing a bargain, but for traders it is time to take stock of the year gone by.
1992 was an uncertain time for leading department stores with the currency crisis putting consumer spending on hold. A September rise in intrest rates saw consumers saving rather than spending.
According to George McCullough, managing director of Brown Thomas, the festive season saw an influx of shoppers to its stores Switzers in Dublin, Todds of Limerick and Moons in Galway.
It looks as if there was a lot of money around.
George McCullough thinks consumers who earned high interest on their savings bought more at Christmas, which more than made up for those who did not have the money to spend.
However he worries about the impact a continuation of high interest rates will have on retail in 1993.
One good Christmas won't be enough for Ireland’s leading retailers.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 5 January 1973. The reporter is Mark Little.
