‘Shop locally in Longford and support local retailers’ says Samuel Byrne

Christmas is coming to Longford town, and the Longford Shopping Centre is hoping that the community will be buying locally.
With iconic tunes playing over the speakers, and seasonal fashion, customers will be spoilt for choice.

That is what Longford Centre’s Samuel Byrne has been discussing, who chatted about the importance of supporting businesses in the area during the festive season.

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“I’m a big advocate for shopping locally and in Longford,” he said when asked about what he hoped the centre would offer to local shoppers and visitors.

“I’d encourage just calling into the centre as opposed to online. Having face-to-face conversations with the staff. We’ve everything you need in Longford Centre. Hopefully, people will support us and the Longford community this Christmas.”

Samuel, who has been Longford Centre manager for three 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."

That is not all. On Sunday, December 21, between 1pm to 4pm, the centre will be having a free family fun day.

There will be Christmas arts and crafts, as well as face-painting for the children. The aim is for a good turn out, and plenty of families coming into town to celebrate the build-up to Christmas with a pleasant, fun experience.

Like last year, Santa’s Post Box is returning for children to post their Christmas letters.

Samuel explained how it worked, “Similar to a raffle, we’ll pick the letters and we’ll get prizes based on age and gender, and contact the parents before Christmas.”

Adding that many people were delighted by Santa’s Post Box for delivering an additional gift about two to three days before Christmas, it has been a popular attraction in the shopping centre.

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Free letter templates will be supplied for the children to write letters to Santa for what presents they want. If lucky to be picked out, a couple of lucky entrants will be receiving a present from Santa.

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 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.