Kildare County Council Launches New Retail Window Merchandising Scheme to Support Local Businesses and Enhance Town Centres

Kildare County Council’s Economic Development Unit has launched a new Retail Window Merchandising Scheme designed to support local retailers, strengthen town-centre presentation and enhance festival activity across County Kildare.

The initiative will provide participating businesses with access to professional visual merchandising expertise, tailored one-to-one design support and grant aid to enable the creation of impactful, sustainable and year-round window displays.

Under the scheme, a professional visual merchandiser will deliver workshops in selected towns and following the workshops, retailers may avail of up to three hours of one-to-one mentoring with the designer. This personalised support will help businesses develop a bespoke window display plan incorporating local themes, sustainable and reusable design elements, and practical recommendations for maintaining professional displays throughout the year. Businesses will then be eligible to apply for a grant of up to €1,000 to implement their design plan. Vacant or unoccupied units and pop-up shops are also eligible.

This year’s programme will support retailers in Kilcock for the What’s De Craic Festival, Newbridge for June Fest, Kildare Town for the Kildare Derby Festival, Naas for Taste of Kildare, Athy for the Shackleton Autumn School and Leixlip for Christmas Celebrations.

Speaking at the launch, Jacqui Mc Nabb, Head of Enterprise, Economic Development and Tourism, Kildare County Council said: “We are delighted to launch this Retail Window Merchandising Scheme, which offers a creative and practical way to support local retailers while enhancing the visual appeal of our towns. By partnering with skilled display professionals and local designers, this initiative brings real value to our business community and our festival celebrations. We encourage retailers and property owners to come forward and get involved.”

Free training from leading retail industry specialists will take place on:

• Monday, 20 April - Boost Sales with Visual Merchandising

• Monday, 11 May - Sustainable and Profitable: How Small Retailers Win on Both

• Monday 12 October – Data Driven Store Layout Management

Retailers, festival organisers, and property owners are invited to submit their interest by Friday, 10 April by emailing shopfront@kildarecoco.ie .

To register for the masterclass session on 20th April, visit: https://www.localenterprise.ie/kildare/training-events/online-bookings/focus-on-retail-boost-sales-with-visual-merchandising.html