Retail Excellence Ireland have undertaken a national survey of 100 towns/urban places in Ireland.  Speaking at the Irish Planning Institute Autumn Conference on Friday, REI CEO David Fitzsimons leaked a few key findings of their research whcih is due to be published by the Indedpendent newspaper in a few weeks. 

In their poll of consumers, they found that Retail Mix has the greatest influence on people’s willingness to visit a town centre (compared to parking (which came in at #6).  The full survey will make for interesting reading.

We’ve been highlighting the importance of managing the retail mix for some time now. See this 2010 presentation to the IPI conference.

https://www.slideshare.net/HamiltonRichard/the-future-of-town-centres-town-centre-management-strategies