Closure of Shaw's on Mary Street in Dungarvan is ‘devastating’ loss

Shaw's Home and Electrical store will be ceasing its operations on Mary Street in Dungarvan early next year.

The Shaw's store on Main Street, however, will continue to operate and will be expanding its offering of homeware products. The sale of electrical products from Shaw's in the town will cease entirely when the Mary Street store closes. 

Speaking on the closure, Dungarvan Councillor Joe O’Riordan told the Waterford News & Star that the loss of the store will be devastating. 

“The loss of Shaws to the town will be a severe blow. 

"It’s a shop I use myself regularly, and to lose that sort of shop in the town is very bad. 

"It was a brilliant shop and they sold everything there."

He added, “Obviously there will be jobs lost and it will be a further nail in the coffin of Mary Street, which has always been a very important street in the town and Shaw's was a great attraction to bring people up Mary Street."

Cllr O’Riordan said that retailers across Dungarvan are struggling to survive due to the lack of parking available in the town. He added that the influx of outdoor dining areas, which do not get used in the winter, are contributing to the problem.

“The centre of the town is dying because of the lack of parking and the ridiculous situation where for eight months of the year, you have tables and chairs in the square taking up multiple parking spaces and nobody is using them. 

"This is having a detrimental effect on retail businesses."

Cllr O’Riordan added, “It's lovely in the summer time to have outdoor dining, it's absolutely fantastic, but I don’t get the logic of having outdoor dining in this country in the winter because nobody sits out during that time of year.

“Hospitality and retail can exist together, and they should complement and support each other by taking away those outdoor tables and chairs and making the parking spaces available. We have a great town and it’s a great town for hospitality, but it should also be a great place to shop. We have great restaurants and great shops and they should be supportive of each other because they are symbiotic.” 

Cllr O'Riordan added that retailers are already battling tough competition from online businesses, and that the shortage of parking is making the situation even more challenging.

“I talk to retailers regularly and they’re under severe pressure because they're having to fight with online businesses.

“The one advantage local retailers have over online shopping is that a person can go into a retail shop and they can judge the aesthetic of the product, they can touch it, feel it and try it on, something they can't do when shopping online.

"But if people are driving around town, and they can't get parking, they will just shop online. People come to Dungarvan from everywhere because we have wonderful businesses, but people won't come if they can’t find parking.

“The retail businesses need to be supported, they need to have the support of the council, there needs to be extra parking provided, and we need to stop wasting parking through the whole winter with tables and chairs outside that will never be used.”