Athlone shop in running for National Retailer of the Year award

Westmeath-based retailer Carraig Donn has today been named as a finalist in the AIB Merchant Services Retail Excellence National Awards 2024.

Carraig Donn is a retailer of fashion, jewellery and gifts with over 40 shops nationwide. The branch located in the Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone is the store listed as a finalist, and is the only contender from the midlands on the list.

In total, 30 store finalists from around the country have been named. These finalists will be vying to be crowned Ireland's ‘National Retailer of the Year for 2024’. The overall winner will be announced on November 2 in the Galmont Hotel, Galway.

In addition to the store finalists, Retail Excellence also announced the Top 5 Independent Store of the Year finalists.

The Store of the Year competition is the central part of the AIBMS Retail Excellence Awards, which were established in 1997 to promote best practice and encourage the highest standards in the Irish retail industry. They are now the largest and most prestigious of their kind in Ireland.

Former "National Retailer of the Year" winners include Brown Thomas, Applegreen, Arboretum, Guinness Store House, Fabiani and PetStop.

Commenting on the announcement, Retail Excellence CEO Jean McCabe, said: "I am delighted to announce the finalists for these national awards. We are experiencing a particularly tough trading environment at present and as such we must celebrate the positives even more so now.

“Even though there are just 35 finalists announced today, the reality is that the entire industry is working so hard and we are proud to be there to support them in every way we can."

Retail Excellence was established in 1995, and is now the largest retail industry body in Ireland, with a membership of over 2,200 retail companies.