Almost 500,000 shoppers through the doors in the first 10 days.

Athlone Towncentre opened with a bang on November 1st with almost 500,000 shoppers through its doors in the last 10 days making it the most successful retail scheme to ever launch in Ireland. Athlone Towncentre has been heralded as the Grafton Street of the Midlands, a comparison that stands up not only in the variety of retailers trading in the Towncentre but also in terms of their retail performance.

Marks and Spencer have reported that their Athlone shop is now their number one store in the UK and Ireland based on store footprint. Other retailing giants, River Island and Warehouse have also been enjoying sales figures previously only experienced in the Capitals top shopping street with both retailers citing similar sales figures in Athlone as they have in Grafton Street.

Record sales over the opening week have also been enjoyed by H&M, Monsoon, Coast, Jack and Jones, Promod, Du Pareil au Meme and JD Sports amongst others with all reporting sales figures up to three times higher than what they had forecasted for their opening week.

‘We were extremely busy all weekend with our sales expectations surpassed. Our average sale would be €33-35 per transaction – this jumped to €46 per transaction on Launch Day in Athlone. The footfall in the shop was huge.” according to Hilary Behan, Store Manager, Du Pareil Au Meme.

Fields Jewellers also had a record breaking weekend and according to their store manager, Donna Mulligan ‘Our opening weekend has been absolutely fantastic! Our sales were three times our expectations and easily beat levels set in comparison to a Dublin store launch.’

With six shoppers per sq.m. in Athlone compared to three shoppers per sq.m. in Dublin, the retail centre at Athlone Towncentre is filling a major gap in retail supply in the region. Spanning 300,000 sq.ft over two levels, Athlone Towncentre features some of the biggest names in International fashion – Zara, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Next, Tommy Hilfiger and Esprit have all chosen to locate in the new fashion heart of Ireland.  For most of these high fashion retailers this is their first branch outside the main cities of Ireland.

“Athlone is now one of the largest retail towns in the country with only Dublin, Cork and Belfast ranking above it in terms of provision of retail offering.” says John O’Sullivan, Director of Gallico Developments. “One important shopper trend that has emerged since the Towncentre opened is the number of shoppers travelling by public transport with at least 1,000 people per hour arriving on one of the 70 regional buses and 32 trains that stop in Athlone each day. The new Towncentre is offering shoppers from the Midlands and the West an alternative to travelling to Dublin and we predict that 18,000 cars will be taken off the M50 as a result of consumers shopping locally”

Athlone Towncentre will also feature an international four star Sheraton hotel. Opening in April, this will be the second only Sheraton Hotel in Ireland and will feature a unique Urban Spa. The combination of the retail and hotel facilities under one roof will place Athlone firmly at the top of the list of leisure destinations in Ireland.