[ To nominate your Best Shop 2015, click hereOpens in new window ]

Six days into this year’s Best Shops competition and already we have thousands of nominations. The competition, which is sponsored by AIB Merchant Services, is about rewarding enterprise, innovation and attentive service in the country’s independent shops.

Last year, the competition attracted 27,000 nominations for over 2,700 shops. So far this year, nominations are up, so clearly there’s a lot of customer satisfaction out there.

During the month-long competition we will be highlighting readers’ comments and photographs that stand out in this space, and in the Saturday magazine. Keep the comments coming and tell us what it is that makes your favourite shop special. What you write matters and helps to highlight hidden treasures all over the country that we don’t yet know about.

Your comments will also help us determine where to send our secret shoppers and judges visit when they go out on the road. The judges are looking for shops that offer a sense of discovery, that stock stuff you want to buy and make you feel welcome from the minute you cross the threshold but never crowd your space. It sounds easy but it isn’t.

This year’s judges are: Simon Pratt, MD of Avoca; Eddie Shanahan, retail consultant; John Redmond, creative director of Brown Thomas; Deirdre McQuillan, fashion editor of The Irish Times, Alanna Gallagher, Irish times journalist and Robert Doherty, head of product at AIB Merchant Services.

You have until midnight on Tuesday, August 4th, to shout about your favourite shop. Nominations close at this time.

After that the judges will begin sifting through the shops listed to pick out the ones with the most votes that merit a place on the shortlist of 100 shops. This is a mammoth task and the judges will be visiting possible shops to see if they should make it through. They also read readers comments to help them make the selection.

The shortlist will be published in the Saturday Magazine on Saturday, August 8th.

Then the real fun begins as we visit and review those shortlisted to pick out those exceptional shops. There will be differences of opinion from the panel. Consensus will take time and there will be differences of opinion. All will be revealed when the winners are published on August 29th.

May the best shops win!