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THE LAST THREE months of 2014 saw the largest rise in spending in Ireland’s shops in seven and a half years.
Figures released today by Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) show the Christmas period saw huge increases in spending on jewellery, furniture and footwear.
Overall, the figures show that:
The final three months of 2014 saw like-for-like gains of 4.22%, the largest annualised quarterly increase since 2007
Jewellery was the star performer recording like-for-like quarterly gains of 14.91%
The pharmacy sector remains under significant pressure. The sector recouped some of the losses of 2014 thanks to a robust December, but REI is warning that closures are likely in 2015
The fashion sector performed well, with menswear being the most productive sector recording like for like gains of 8.81%
Footwear increased by 4.68% following on a poor end to Quarter 3, largely due to the unseasonal good weather
The Home Renovation Scheme continues to reap reward with furniture & flooring recording quarterly gains of 8.20%
The photo and camera market continues to suffer and shrunk by a further 35.00% in Quarter 4 2014
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Seán Murphy, the deputy CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland, said that Asian tourists played a large part in the good figures.
“Most sectors recorded strong gains with the jewellery sector being the outstanding performer, recording a 14.91% increase against quarter four [in] 2013.
“Key drivers of spending increases in [the jewellery] category have been both Asian tourists coming to Ireland in ever increasing numbers to buy competitively priced luxury goods as well as growth in demand for fashion brands such as Michael Kors, Alex and Ani, and Pandora.
“Luxury retail can be a major source of tourism spend in the future, if we can profile it correctly.”
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Your device is capable of a theoretical speed 42.3Mbps so it’s still very good as long as you are near a tower. So really you can make do with your iPhone 4!
Viking this is probably not the case.. Some of the operators advertise their UMTS networks as ’4G’ even though they are 3G. They do this because no one owns the terms ’4G’ or ’3G’ and simply renaming their 3G network as ’4G’ gives the perception that their network is more advanced that their competitors. That’s America for you!
3G , 4G …. 5G …..
Could someone please explain these terms in English.
Is this just another way to get more money out of us consumers or are there real benefits to society?
It has a lot to do with the consumer product cycle. Just about the time your phone stops holding a battery charge, they develop a new “network technology” so you will buy a new phone to go with the new network and the new contract with your provider that includes a new price.
I still have an old Motorola phone bought in China for 5quid that still works–and it goes a week between charging! Of course, I can’t tweet or update my FB…life’s critical elements are therefore beyond my reach when driving.
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