Cork Business Association

Caroline Counihan, General Manager of Brown Thomas Cork has been elected as President of the Cork Business Association, she took over the role from Lawrence Owens at the Associations Annual General Meeting which took place in the offices of Thomas Crosbie Holdings on Wednesday, 27^th.

Caroline has been in retail for over 25 years, beginning her career with Cassidy Group who were part of Dunnes Store Group at that time.  It was there that she learned everything there was to know about retail.  Caroline joined Brown Thomas Cork in 1997 when the store was changing from Cash’s to the high profile store it is today.  Caroline is currently General Manager of the store, a role she has held for over 5 years.  It is a demanding job however, “retail is detail” and she loves the buzz and passion of the role. 

 Caroline intends to be very proactive as President of the Cork Business Association.  She understands the challenges facing businesses today, and says we must raise the bar and be innovative in 2010.  Businesses must put the difficulties of the last two years behind them really market themselves effectively.  She believes that things are beginning to turn around and figures and footfall are reflecting this.

Speaking to CBA members she said; “We need to continue to work together as a community and continue to drive confidence in our businesses and have our stores and premises as inviting as we can to our customers.  Cork currently has the largest retail square footage in Ireland with over 700 retail and hospitality businesses and a work force of over 40,000 in and around the city.  We have so much choice for our customers – our retail stores and high street shops, the English Market, great restaurants, bars and hotels are all within walking distance of the city centre.  This year we need to concentrate on being innovative.  We need to continue doing what we do well and offer new services to entice our customers to shop with us.  With the help of the community and the CBA all working together this can happen to encourage the customer to spend again – this is not an easy task but small steps and being positive will turn this around.”

A number of ideas are already in the pipeline including a promotion planned for March by Bus Éireann who are offering passengers a special price of €1 to come into the city.  Good Food Ireland are hosting a week running up to Valentines Day to showcase the good food producers in the region and for the months of February and March, Brown Thomas are offering their customers 2 hours Free Parking when they spend €100.

Caroline has the full support of her husband Kevin and son Luke who are immensely proud of her achievements to date.  Caroline will be assisted during her year of office by Deputy President, Sean Murphy (Irish Examiner) as well as Donal Healy, Chief Executive and the Directors and Administrators of the Association.