SUN TAN.. Lauren Barlow took advantage of the recent good weather to keep her tan topped up
SHOPS in Fermanagh are reporting a brisk trade due to the spell of hot weather, with cash registers ringing loudly.
The forecasters say we can all look forward to wall-to-wall sunshine. Today’s temperatures are expected to reach 25C, with conditions dry and settled for most of the week.
Although Ireland, north or south, is not in the World Cup, it can claim to outdo Porto (24C, Portugal), Paris (22C) and Rome (24C), three cities whose countries are.
And, of course, the excitement of the World Cup has boosted sales of beer as well as ‘World Cup’ footballs.
“It was really only Monday that the sun hit, and everyone went mad”, a store manager in Heatons and Sports Direct told the Herald.
“Flip-flops are flying out the door, in fact everything to do with summer is just flying out, ‘T’ shirts, sun cream, beach buckets and spades and footballs.”
It was the same story in Mullan’s Pharmacy, Enniskillen. There, sun creams was their big seller but, also, nail polishers.
An assistant reported that people were ‘getting their feet out’, hence varnish for pedicures and manicures.
And, it’s not only the female gender who are coming in.
“The majority are women, but you get a fair few men as well. It’s as good a week as we’ve known, if only we could get out in it.”
At Maud’s ice cream parlour in Enniskillen, an assistant reported a busy week-end, with ice-cream and cold drinks topping the charts.
“Volume-wise, we’re up a third. The most popular ice-cream flavour? It has to be Pooh Bear. It’s a very popular ice-cream, with a honeycomb and vanilla mix.”
The manager of McBrien’s NISA store in Irvinestown, Ryan McAuley told the Herald that the sunshine, ‘definitely helps’.
“Beer sales, the whole works. We’re probably up about 10 per cent. Once the sunshine comes out, people will spend more on drinks and the deli counter and, on the grocery side, charcoal and things to do with barbecuing.
“It’s great. If only we lived in Spain, every retailer would be a millionaire.”
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