Retailers pin hopes on 'make or break' weekend's trade

Shops are facing into the “most crucial weekend ever” in the country’s retail history with Retail Excellence Ireland warning some stores face going to the wall unless they have a bumper few days ahead of Christmas.

With poor weather forecast for the weekend threatening footfall, Retail Excellence Ireland said data gathered so far indicated that the Christmas spend so far in 2013 was “flat against last year”.

REI chief executive David Fitzsimons said a trading analysis showed that any growth in consumer confidence had yet to translate to the tills, claiming matching last year’s figure so far was “disappointing”.