Town"s main shopping centres poised to attract new tenants

In what"s sure to provide a much-needed economic boost to Athlone, four new stores will soon open in both of the town"s shopping centres within the next few weeks, the Westmeath Independent has learned. Despite the recent glut of retail closures in the town since Christmas, both Golden Island Shopping Centre and the Athlone Towncentre have confirmed that they are currently in negotiations with prospective new tenants. In Golden Island, two separate retailers are looking to lease units within the shopping centre, and there"s a lot of interest in a third unit, while in the Towncentre, the marketing manager has confirmed that two new leases are due to be signed very shortly. The names of the future tenants can not yet be confirmed because of the on-going lease negotiations. The good news comes after many high-street retailers have closed in the town in recent months, including Principles, Barratt"s Shoes, Sasha, Paco, Zavvi and Sally West, with the loss of full and part-time jobs. However, although both Golden Island Manager Tony McDermott and Athlone Towncentre"s marketing manager Shirley Delahunt, remain optimistic about a steady footfall and summer sales, other traders around town are not as positive and say that the economic recovery is slow to start, despite the influx of summer tourists.