Retail Excellence, the largest Retail representative body in Ireland, has announced the winners of 20 categories at their annual Awards held in the Great Southern Hotel, Killarney last night Saturday, 9^th November.

The Awards, which are backed by AIB Merchant Services, were presented by energetic TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin and attended by more than 500 Irish retail industry executives.

Brown Thomas scooped the top two awards winning Retailer of the Year and National Store of the Year for their Grafton Street, Dublin store. Matthew Brown of Echochamber in the UK, who visited and judged the Top30 finalists said that the Grafton Street store is a “world class destination with a fantastic shopfront and a really beautifully designed retail footprint which is incredibly busy at all times of day. The store has fantastic merchandising of fashion and an appealing, helpful tone of voice” concluding he said “all departments are simply superb – with a huge range and the implementation of impeccable standards. This is a global leading store.” 

Top5 Store Winners included Arboretum, Carlow, Hook & Ladder, Limerick, Petstop, Limerick and Windyridge Nursery & Garden Centre, Dublin.

Enterprise Ireland were named as the Retail Industry Advocate of the Year following the successful launch of an online grant scheme to help Irish retailers grown international online sales. The night also celebrated the best in eCommerce with Vaughan’s Shoes (vaughanshoes.ie) winning National Online Retailer of the Year.

Talent within the Retail Industry was also celebrated with Eamonn Kelleher, Co-Op Superstores winning Manager of the Year and Eoife Clarke, Golden Discs winning Rising Star of the Year. The great City of Cork was named as Ireland’s Friendliest Place.

Commercial Director Retail Excellence, JP Kennedy said “We are delighted to recognize and award the very best in Irish retail all of whom have shown an unquestionable commitment to meeting and exceeding customer expectations as well as innovation in store and in-service delivery. We are particularly pleased that across all of our categories of awards Irish retailers, both big and small, urban and rural competed to deliver that exceptional standard of service to customers regardless of their size.”

“Congratulations to all the winners. These retailers represent the best in retail industry in Ireland. AIB Merchant Services are proud to partner with Retail Excellence Ireland on such a prestigious event” said Hubert O’Donoghue at AIBMS.

Established by Retail Excellence in 1997, The Awards is the biggest event in the Irish retail industry calendar and aims to promote best practice and encourage high standards in the Irish retail industry.

Further Comment Contact: JP Kennedy Retail Excellence Mobile: 086 8116616

Full List of Winners