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Retailers says they're still suffering

Friday, July 27 12:36:35

Retailers today said that the latest official retail sales figures from the CSO show that the sector continues to suffer badly from the downturn.

The CSO today issued retail sales figures for June 2012. They showed that the value of retail sales (excluding the motor trade) decreased by 1.0pc in June 2012 compared to June 2011. There was a fall of 2.1pc in the value of retail sales between June 2012 and May 2012.

David Fitzsimons, CEO, Retail Excellence Ireland said June was another disappointing month for Irish retailers, with many sectors suffering from the poor weather. "Retailers are continuing to feel the pain as sales decrease year on year. With increased media focus on Budget 2013 likely in the coming months, it is very likely that matters with deteriorate further".

ISME today called on the Government to immediately set up a Retail Strategy Group to deal with the 'ruinous' retail situation and the threat to jobs on foot of the latest monthly reduction of 0.7pc and an annual decrease of 5.5pc in Retail Sales figures for June, issued by the CSO today.

According to ISME Chief Executive, Mark Fielding, "the latest figures are shocking, while the government has taken little or no action to address the retail sector issues and this has left thousands of retailers struggling to survive, with 250,000 jobs on the line. SME retailers do not have the financial capacity to weather this retail storm, unlike the large multinationals".