You can get all your Christmas shopping at Longford Centre

There has been a noticeable upsurge in shoppers at Longford Centre in recent days as the countdown to the festive season ramps up and intensifies, according to centre manager Samuel Byrne.

The Christmas lights were switched on last weekend and Santa met children at the nearby Grafton Court Christmas Fair as an increasing number of people gathered in the town centre.

Samuel, who has been Longford Centre manager for two years, has observed an increase in numbers of shoppers as the festive rush begins in earnest.

"Absolutely, we would typically look at Black Friday as being the kick-off for the Christmas period here and to be honest I was only saying earlier when I was on the shop floor, it's the atmosphere that got me and the amount of people who were in and out," he said. "There has definitely been a good boost in footfall into the centre."

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Samuel said the businesses are happy and there are encouraging signs despite the loss of a retailer earlier this year.

The centre had 15 retailers however, it was reduced to 14 when Glitzi Bitz, who sold handbags, jewellery and women's clothing and accessories closed.

"The other stores are remaining with us and they are doing strong sales at the moment," Samuel said. "The way we put it is you can get everything under the one roof at Longford Centre and we have a great assortment of stores and even a pet shop opened up here last year so you can even get your pet sorted for Christmas."

Samuel moved from the capital to Longford with his family for a quieter life five years ago.
"I would have no complaints at all, I am very happy in this position and I'm working amongst the community," he said.

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Samuel stated it is the 'most opportune' time for retailers who can probably make the equivalent of sales in December to match the previous 11 months.

"It's certainly the biggest time for spending and in general and overall for positivity as well," he added. "People are in a good mood around the festive period and I think that sometimes translates into sales as well."

Samuel said last Saturday, November 30 they had a free festive arts, crafts and face-painting event in collaboration with Hanlon Artworks that coincided with the Grafton Court Christmas Fair.

Longford Centre has not been able to welcome Santa since Covid and Samuel stated unfortunately he will not be visiting this year, but they are very hopeful he will be back next year.

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"We do have a Santa postbox we put in place at the centre this year so kids can bring in their own letters or we have letters on display that they can take and write their letter to Santa and there will be a special surprise given out to one of those kids on

December 22 when we pull a name from the selection of letters," he said. "So, Santa may not be here but the elves have left their postbox so kids can still write to Santa."

Samuel has encouraged local people to support their local retailers and come into the shops in person if they can.

"There are a couple of shops here that would have online stores but the biggest thing for us is to shop locally in Longford and support local retailers. It's always great when the shops can have interactions with their customers," he said. "We have a great mix of stores and it's great to see people come in physically and shop in-store as opposed to online."

For more information on Longford Centre or to keep up to date with the latest events happening visit https://www.facebook.com/ LongfordCentreOfficial for more information.