House of Waterford Crystal - Retail Excellence

Wednesday, 15th August 2012

House of Waterford Crystal announced as finalist in Retail Excellence Ireland National Store of the Year 2012

Retail Excellence Ireland (REI), Ireland’s largest retail industry body, has just announced the finalists for REI National Store of the Year 2012.

Thirty finalists, including House of Waterford Crystal, will have to wait until Saturday 3rd November 2012 to find out who will be awarded the REI National Store of the Year 2012.

Sienna Home Furnishings has also had success and achieved Top50 status and will now be formally recognised as a Top50 store in Ireland.

The National Store of the Year 2012 is part of the REI Awards, which were established in 1997 to promote best practice standards in the Irish retail industry. The Awards, in partnership with Barclaycard, recognises Ireland’s best retail stores, companies, people and websites, and aims to promote best practice standards in the Irish retail industry.

As part of the selection process, all store entrants were visited by a Mystery Shopper, with those exceeding demanding service and standards criteria making it to the Top100 Stores. A team of Store Assessors then visited each of the Top100 Stores, selecting the Top50 stores and then the final Top 30. The National Store of the Year will be selected based on the reports data gathered and a review of store photography and in-store video recording evidence.

David Fitzsimons, Chief Executive, Retail Excellence Ireland commented, "I want to commend all of the retailers who entered this year. In particular, I congratulate the thirty finalists for making it through. The very high standard of service, customer engagement, innovation, display and levels of investment among Irish retailers made selecting this year’s finalists particularly difficult. The REI Awards are about recognising and rewarding retail excellence".

"High standards are particularly important given the very severe challenges currently facing Ireland’s retail industry. It is clear from the quality of this year’s entrants that the retail industry is playing its part in trying to keep businesses open and retail workers in jobs. Initiatives like the Town and City Management Framework are created to help revitalise towns and cities across Ireland which in turn will re-engage with citizens and customers alike. The retail industry is one of the biggest employers in Ireland, with 250,000 people working in the industry".

The Retail Excellence Ireland Awards, now in its 15th year, will take place in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway on 3rd November 2012 with President Michael D. Higgins in attendance. The Awards programme is now the largest and most prestigious of its kind in Ireland.