Retail News
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The entire team at Retail News welcomed the news that WH Smith have withdrawn, pending review, their request for a promotional fee of £500 (€630) from Irish publishers to stock their titles in the retailer’s airport stores in Ireland, which was revealed in our exclusive story in the July/August issue of Retail News.
The fee pertained to seven WH Smith stores in Dublin airports and one in Shannon and the move to withdraw it has been broadly welcomed by Ireland’s magazine industry. However, as noted, the request for a promotional fee has not gone away and is merely “under review”. Watch this space!
Breaking news stories like this one is just one of the ways that Retail News serves Ireland’s grocery sector. In this issue, we unveil new research, in association with Retail Ireland, which reveals that shopping around is very much the norm when it comes to grocery shopping, while price and value remain key concerns for consumers (Page 18-22).
This brand new research, which was carried out by Millward Brown, also takes note of rising consumer confidence and quantifies the importance of an online and social media presence to Irish grocery shoppers. The results, some of which are surprising, make required reading for the FMCG market.
Also in this issue, Vincent Jennings, CSNA Chief Executive, gives a hard-hitting interview on the real issues facing Irish retailers, from upward only rent reviews to local authority rates (Page 24), and we preview Food & Hospitality Ireland, which takes place on September 17 and 18 at the Citywest Events Centre, Dublin, and promises to be a ‘must see’ event for Ireland’s retail, food and hospitality sectors.
Kathleen Belton
Editorial Director
kathleenbelton@retailnews.ie
