Spend, spend, spend

THE figures involved would you consider joining the Party. 1996 was a year of excess for the Irish consumer, who spent as he or she has never done before. And perhaps the most startling fact is that the total amount of retail space in Dublin increased by one-quarter - just under 1 million square feet - and yet all the main outlets were pleased with their level of business.

Other Irish cities reported levels of sales they had not experienced before, with chambers of commerce saying their local populations were no longer travelling to Dublin for shopping sprees.

The motor industry experienced a boom year. This was seen from the lower end of the range, where the scrappage scheme was availed of to replace an old car with a new Fiat or Volkswagen, to the top of the range, where the executive car market experienced 12 per cent growth.

Sales of the most popular BMW range, the 3-series, "surged ahead" by 22 per cent, according to Mr Michael Nugent, of Motor Import Dublin, which has the sole concession for BMWs in the Republic.

Prices for the 3-series go from £19,600 to £40,000. Motor Import sold just over 800 3-series BMWs during the year, an increase of 200 over last year's sales. The most popular car in the range, the 316 saloon, sells for £22,500.

Demand still exceeds supply for the more expensive BMW 5-series, though the waiting time is now down from eight to two months. The BMW 7-series, where prices start at a mere £60,000, saw 36 sales during the year.

The number of new cars registered this year is set to exceed 114,000, an increase of over 32 per cent on 1995. And if the sales figures for executive cars are a barometer of the economic outlook, then we can all rest easy.

"We're looking forward to an even better year in 1997," says Mr Nugent. "At the moment, we are at an all-time record in terms of advance orders."

The effect of this car buying is there for all to see on the streets of Dublin, where traffic has slowed to a crawl. Other cities complained of similar problems. The rise in the net car population over the past two years, including imported used cars and subtracting scrapped cars, is estimated to equal 250,000, bringing the total car population to around 1.25 million.

Meanwhile, inside the home, new TVs were being plugged in, new washing machines plumbed. A survey for the grocers' organisation, RGDATA, found that 60 per cent of Irish homes now have a microwave. Four years ago, only 20 per cent of households had one.

"It's been an excellent year for us," reported Mr Stephen Cloonan, of Harry Moore's, the six-outlet Dublin chain which sells home electronic entertainment goods. "I think our industry had done very well, not as well as the motor industry, but still, everyone is very pleased."

The shops have 40 product categories. "There's always some on the way up and, some on the way down, depending on the stage of life of the product. Large screen and, wide-screen TVs were very big this year, 28 to 40 inch. A number of suppliers are out of stock."

Personal computer sales are strong, as bare sales of this year's most popular game product, the £200 plus Sony Playstation Cassette tape-playing personal stereos are down, with sales being hit by the switch to the personal CD player.

"An unexpected feature of the end of the year is the level of GSM (digital) mobile phone sales. We would have expected them to be selling more than they are but it's the analog phones that are selling because of Eircell rebate structures."

In Galway, the Chamber of Commerce has just carried out a limited survey which found that retailers are experiencing a 10 per cent increase in sales this November and December, when compared with the same period in 1995.

The increase in customer spend is being felt in all sectors. "The population of Galway is growing by 2.5 per cent per year," says chief executive of the chamber, Mr Jarleth Feeney. "There has also been an increase in employment around the city."

The chamber estimates that, as an average over the year, £4 million to £5 million is being spent each week in Galway shops. The number of cars registered in Galway is up by one sixth on last year.

The same picture emerges in Cork. Mr Michael Geary, chief executive of the chamber there, says 20,333 new cars were registered in Co Cork this year, bringing the total car population to over 150,000. "It seems incredible."

The Irish public, needing to rest up after all this shopping, has also been taking more holidays than ever.

"Ball park figures, I would put it at over 400,000 holidays this year," said the president of the Irish Travel Agents Association, Mr P J Brennan. "About 10 per cent of those would be second holidays."

People who might normally go to Spain went to more expensive destinations, such as Mauritius or the US, but more people than ever, at least 160,000, went to Spain.

TRAVEL agents expect to sell 20,000 winter skiing holidays. "It has tripled over the last five years. The market is very bouyant and capacity is very tight." Asked about growth, Mr Brennan said: "You have to be The growth of the last number of years just couldn't be sustained."

A similar view is voiced by Mr Declan Martin, of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. He believes that retail sales growth is not keeping pace with growth in the economy. "I think the rate is showing that you can only spend so much."

The idea that people, or some people at least, have money they don't know what to do with might explain the latest figures for cash in circulation released by the Central Bank. On Monday, December 16th, there was £2,194 million in circulation, a 7.35 per cent increase over the same day last year.

The preliminary figure for the population from the April census is 3,621,035. That works out at £610 cash in circulation, for every man, woman and child.

Take away children, teenagers and all the people on welfare payments living on incomes of £60-plus per week, and there are a lot of people out there with large amounts of cash in their pockets looking for something to speed it on.