Cold weather leaves businesses ‘devastated' in run-up to Christmas

Many local businesses have been “absolutely devastated” by the fall in custom due to the recent cold spell according to Mullingar Chamber of Commerce CEO Karagh Fox.Following a year when many businesses have been left counting the cost of the continuing recession, Ms Fox said that the unseasonably cold weather couldn't have come at a worse time.“This is meant to be the busiest time of the year. For a lot of small shops it's do or die time and the fall in business is definitely a big issue for them. It just seems that it's one thing after another this year. However, it's an ill wind that blows no good, with many hardware stores and other fuel providers reporting a marked increase in business since the start of the cold spell.”Well known Mullingar restrateur and President of the Chamber of Commerce, Julie Magan told the Westmeath Examiner that many local businesses had been looking forward to the the traditional pre-Christmas spike in business after a very tough year, but the recent Arctic conditons resultant decrease in revenue has “just been the icing on the cake”.“We're looking forward to the next two weeks as they are traditionally the busiest time of the year, but I don't know if businesses will be able to make up the loss in revenue incurred.“We had to close our restaurant for three days the week before last as the town has been dead at night. Nobody is taking a risk and going out. All of the shops are saying the same. There is no business, the only place that is busy in Mullingar is the hospital.”While she acknowledged that Westmeath County Council had done what it can with limited resources to clear the roads, Ms Magan, who is the proprietor of Illia Restaurant, said that not enough had been to clear the footpaths for pedestrians.Another local business that was left cursing the weather was Gloss, a new hair salon that recently opened on Oliver Plunkett Street. Proprietor Audrey McKinley said that the timing was very bad for business like hers that was trying to establish itself.“After a busy first two weeks, things went really dead. We had loads of cancellations, because really weren't able to get into town for their appointments,”However, it's an ill wind that blows no good, with many hardware stores and other fuel providers reporting a marked increase in business since the start of the cold spell.”Anne Bracken of Shaw's Hardware in Pearse Street told the Westmeath Examiner that the well-known store had been very busy in the past ten days with people stocking up on fuel and other items such as lagging jackets, heaters, shovels and salt in a bid to battle the conditions. She also noted that electric blankets have been “flying” out of the shop.Declan Murphy, co-owner of John Daly's Bar in the centre of Mullingar, said he also noticed a pick up in business during the cold spell as locals who had to take time off as they were unable to travel to work were treating themselves to a few mid week drinks.