Athlone Towncentre granted new anchor

BoB_BoT · 11-12-2014 6:13pm

D Trent wrote: »

Small shops in Athlone struggling to survive? Stop that nonsense wilya

http://www.joe.ie/life-style/pic-athlone-shoe-shop-offers-a-deal-you-would-only-see-in-ireland/478327

Didn't I see the same shop with a closing down notice on it's door?

BoB_BoT · 11-12-2014 6:19pm

Just with regards to the 24hour status of Tesco, there's no need for it. The demand is simply not there. I used to live opposite Golden Island a few years ago when they have 24hour opening. The couple of times I dropped in around 1/2am even around 3am there were bugger all people shopping. Only once do I recall seeing someone with a trolley doing a proper shop.

Long Gone · 11-12-2014 8:26pm

BoB_BoT wrote: »

Didn't I see the same shop with a closing down notice on it's door?

Wouldn't surprise me if they tried that kind of gimmicky paddywhackery sales tactics - Embarassing.......:rolleyes:

cena · 11-12-2014 8:50pm

BoB_BoT wrote: »

Didn't I see the same shop with a closing down notice on it's door?

I think it has closed by now. Not a good place for a store. you can just about walk pass the store as the path is not wide enough and they counldn't widen it cause of the traffic going through the town

L.Jenkins · 11-12-2014 10:59pm

Long Gone wrote: »

Wouldn't surprise me if they tried that kind of gimmicky paddywhackery sales tactics - Embarassing.......:rolleyes:

AR Trading out in Monksland have had Closing down sale signs up for the last couple of mounths :P

galait · 11-12-2014 11:14pm

Itzy wrote: »

AR Trading out in Monksland have had Closing down sale signs up for the last couple of mounths :P

Over a year in fact

veryangryman · 11-12-2014 11:33pm

galait wrote: »

Over a year in fact

That crowd are from cute hour country (mayo). More the fool that takes it for real. Still the odd decent offer on furniture. Tip: haggle like a champ

roosterman71 · 12-12-2014 10:13pm

Long Gone wrote: »

This is Athlone, capital of the midlands that we're talking about here, not parochial backwaters like Portlaoise, Tullamore and Mullingar. A town with the population critical mass and the vibrancy of Athlone should support be able 24 hour supermarket opening of at least one supermarket.

Out of the towns mentioned, Tullamore has the lowest population. Portlaoise and Athlone are within 8 of each other. And Mullingar is just 50 behind Athlone.
2011 Census - Towns Categorised by Population Number
Furthermore, Portlaoise and Tullamore are the main town of their respective counties. On top of that, Portlaoise is alongside the main motorways to the south west (M7/M8). So none can be classed as "parochial backwaters" as you've claimed.

Regards the 24hr shopping, none of the aforementioned towns need it in my opinion. And the retailers agree or the service would be provided

ShaunC · 14-12-2014 11:34pm

roosterman71 wrote: »

What a retarded statement. Out of the towns mentioned, Tullamore has the lowest population. Portlaoise and Athlone are within 8 of each other. And Mullingar is just 50 behind Athlone.
2011 Census - Towns Categorised by Population Number
Furthermore, Portlaoise and Tullamore are the main town of their respective counties. On top of that, Portlaoise is alongside the main motorways to the south west (M7/M8). So none can be classed as "parochial backwaters" as you've claimed.

Regards the 24hr shopping, none of the aforementioned towns need it in my opinion. And the retailers agree or the service would be provided

And Athlone isn't even the capital of Westmeath let alone "the midlands" ffs

L.Jenkins · 15-12-2014 12:21am

ShaunC wrote: »

And Athlone isn't even the capital of Westmeath let alone "the midlands" ffs

No, but it's still a sizeable town in the midlands on the main Dublin to Galway corridor and a neglected town at that.

veryangryman · 15-12-2014 10:11am

Itzy wrote: »

No, but it's still a sizeable town in the midlands on the main Dublin to Galway corridor and a neglected town at that.

I don't think we are neglected at all.

Only I.T in the midlands
2 major shopping centres with big name shops (had been 3 before reality kicked in around Irishtown)
Major employers like Dept of Education/Ericsson/Elan all located here
Bypass of Athlone built before bypasses of Dublin/Limerick/Waterford/Galway/Kilkenny/Cork

I would argue we get a decent slice of the cake considering our population.

Steven81 · 15-12-2014 11:22am

Having lived in Mullingar for about 4 years and Athlone now for about the same i definitely think Athlone has more going for it. Apart from Mullingar general i couldnt name another employer in the town with over 150 employees, the IDA park hasnt any main names with quite a few places going well though.

Athlone has the college, Covidien, Ericsson, Alkermes, Department of education and Athlone Extrusion ( not sure how many are emplyed in both). Businesses are more likely to start in Athlone due to having the expertise from the college as can be seen from the building going up in Monksland.

I definitely think Athlone has more going for it but you cant beat the Chinese take aways in Mullingar

cena · 15-12-2014 5:46pm

A new 9D cinema thing coming this week. The town centre posted it on Facebook.

Movie lasts for about 5 to 9 mins, €7 a time

veryangryman · 15-12-2014 5:47pm

cena wrote: »

A new 9 cinema thing coming this week. The town centre posted it on Facebook.

Movie lasts for about 5 to 9 mins, €7 a time

Sums the Centre up perfectly. Nothing but overly priced blah that will not last the test of time.

Steven81 · 15-12-2014 9:20pm

http://athlonetowncentre.com/2014/12/irelands-1st-9d-cinema-open-athlone-towncentre/

Looks good though

John_Rambo · 15-12-2014 9:31pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Sums the Centre up perfectly. Nothing but overly priced blah that will not last the test of time.

The book shop is very good, excellent staff and it's good value.

Sunny Dayz · 15-12-2014 11:00pm

John_Rambo wrote: »

The book shop is very good, excellent staff and it's good value.

What book shop? easons?!

John_Rambo · 15-12-2014 11:14pm

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

What book shop? easons?!

Yeah. Easons. Got some good deals the last time I was there. They had free book readings for kids too.

Zubeneschamali · 16-12-2014 9:53am

John_Rambo wrote: »

Yeah. Easons.

Easons were in a perfectly good spot down in Golden Island. I'd say they are sorry they moved.

veryangryman · 16-12-2014 10:02am

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Easons were in a perfectly good spot down in Golden Island. I'd say they are sorry they moved.

Agreed, the new are doesnt suit them. The old shop in GI was perfectly placed in centre of mall. You'd go in and browse at the books/CDs/magazines etc if you had time to kill around the centre waiting for a bus etc. New place is an afterthought if your in the centre. Many approaching from main entrance would miss it.

ShaunC · 16-12-2014 11:23am

veryangryman wrote: »

I don't think we are neglected at all.

Only I.T in the midlands
2 major shopping centres with big name shops (had been 3 before reality kicked in around Irishtown)
Major employers like Dept of Education/Ericsson/Elan all located here
Bypass of Athlone built before bypasses of Dublin/Limerick/Waterford/Galway/Kilkenny/Cork

I would argue we get a decent slice of the cake considering our population.

The advantage of having a strong political influence living in the town;)

athlonelad · 16-12-2014 11:36am

ShaunC wrote: »

The advantage of having a strong political influence living in the town;)

Every town has a strong political influence living amongst them In some shape or form. Thats not why large multinationals choose athlone.

athlonelad · 16-12-2014 11:36am

ShaunC wrote: »

The advantage of having a strong political influence living in the town;)

Every town has a strong political influence living amongst them In some shape or form. Thats not why large multinationals choose athlone.

room_149 · 05-01-2015 2:14pm

athlonelad wrote: »

Every town has a strong political influence living amongst them In some shape or form. Thats not why large multinationals choose athlone.

Athlone is streets ahead of Mullingar in terms of decent employers (those mentioned in a earlier post) located in the town- I think getting the IT (then RTC) instead of Mullingar back in the 1960s definitely helped- fair play to the politicians who swung that decision for the town. The IT is an impressive facility that has continued to grow & improve over the years. The people of Athlone should rightly be proud of the place.

Mullingar, in 2015 badly needs a kick up the arse/ shot in the arm- its biggest employers are/were a closed army barracks, a crumbling mental hospital & the Regional Hospital. The old cattle market auction site was redeveloped into high rise apartments so it's actually lost it's status as a market town now.
The streets are full of pound shops, empty premises and no big retailers- indeed many people complain about the same and will travel the 30-40mins to Liffey Valley, Blanchardstown or Athlone to shop.

Mullingar has a couple of tiny industrial estates & and an empty IDA park located to the town's eastern bypass. Thus there are very few jobs on offer for professionals. As result the trains, buses & m4 to Dublin are packed with hundreds of commuters each weekday morning heading east.
Effectively the place has become a dormitory town for the Captial (the population grew from 12k to 20k in the 2000s due to its close proximity for commuters - roughly 45mins to Dublin via m4/ 1+hr on the train service to Connolly, and the cheaper houses on offer) but maintained the appearance of a small, drab midlands market town.

It would serve everyone much better in Mullingar to stop harping on about all that Athlone appears to have and concentrate on what it does have in place or going for it.
In recent years the town's artists, craftspeople & musicians have increasingly come to the fore, it has some fine pubs, restaurants & a large Arts Centre. Each summer see's thousands attracted to the Life & Body & Soul festival's held outside the town @ Belvedere & Ballinlough. The Festival of Fire's also ran for a number of years.
Perhaps it's time to tap into the noggins of some of these people, along with the likes of Manchan Magan, Ronan Casey, Michael O'Leary & some of the more progressive business people (ie not those from the town's traditional GAA/Civil Servant/Political circles- they had their innings & its high time for a change!!!) could knock heads together and give the town a re-boot?
Pie in the sky stuff i guess, but the place needs some blue sky thinking. Perhaps Michael O ' Leary could be persuaded into building that airport in the bogland located to the East of the town? Or move his head offices down- the site where Boston Scientific once lay is empty would be ideal..
Or maybe someone could convince him to create a large, outdoor music venue similar to the UK's National Bowl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bowl) This could be built in one of those empty rezoned areas on the town's outskirts, perhaps?
Or Failing all of that, how about a Joe Dolan/ Niall Horan/ JP Donleavy/ Ryanair theme park?!;)

holyhead · 08-01-2015 9:12pm

The construction of Golden Island effectively relocated the town centre from Church St. The provision of generous parking in terms of places and it being free also helped. The athlonetowncentre is lovely but it somehow feels squeezed into the existing streetscape.

Long Gone · 11-01-2015 2:22pm

holyhead wrote: »

The construction of Golden Island effectively relocated the town centre from Church St. The provision of generous parking in terms of places and it being free also helped. The athlonetowncentre is lovely but it somehow feels squeezed into the existing streetscape.

Golden Island didn't relocate the town centre from Church Street. The town centre will always be Church Street. What it did was tear the commercial heart out of Church Street.... This should never have been allowed to happen.
What was needed to renovate the Church Street area for the modern era was to completely demolish that ridiculous island of shops in front of The Bawn that bottlenecks the whole town centre and provide a decent multi-storey car park in the area so that there is sufficient parking for people who want to shop or socialise in the town centre.
The so-called "Athlone Town Centre" shopping centre is an extremely badly designed and ill concieved monument to bling. I agree that it feels like it's been shoehorned into the existing streetscape. The architecture of the associated hotel block is a disgrace and a blot on the Athlone skyline (it looks like the very worst example of an ugly 60's glass and brick tower block) and the dreadfully poor design of the centre's car park is nothing short of appalling.

Addle · 11-01-2015 6:21pm

Long Gone wrote: »

As a frequent night shift worker I completely disagree. It's 2014 - We should have a 24/7 economy now. The disappearance of 24 hour shopping in Athlone is if anything indicative of the general economic decline that has befallen the town. Any decent sized town or city should have 24 hour shopping, and most of them have.

You can't shop while you're working.

L.Jenkins · 11-01-2015 6:44pm

Addle wrote: »

You can't shop while you're working.

Hence why 24 hour shopping would be helpful for those working 12 hour shifts during the day or at odd intervals.

veryangryman · 11-01-2015 7:33pm

Itzy wrote: »

Hence why 24 hour shopping would be helpful for those working 12 hour shifts during the day or at odd intervals.

Do these people not get days off/lunch breaks/holidays/partners etc to shop? How do they survive? Im pretty sure that 24 hour shopping is demand-driven. None or very little demand means that the shops aint going to do it.

Addle · 11-01-2015 7:35pm

Itzy wrote: »

Hence why 24 hour shopping would be helpful for those working 12 hour shifts during the day or at odd intervals.

Tesco is open 16 hours a day.

L.Jenkins · 11-01-2015 7:36pm

Some people can't tick any of those boxes sadly and in some cases, the weekend could be too long to wait. As for 24 hour shopping, the N6 Centre and Centra out in Baylough is always open.

cena · 12-01-2015 10:08pm

My mum was speak to a friend that works in next, she told eason well only be using upstair part soon. They are down siding. I see there is also some sort of works going on across from the customer service area

veryangryman · 13-01-2015 10:22am

cena wrote: »

My mum was speak to a friend that works in next, she told eason well only be using upstair part soon. They are down siding. I see there is also some sort of works going on across from the customer service area

Strange that they've lasted this long. Stationary asides (and even then only at certain time of year) they don't have much demand.

cena · 13-01-2015 11:13am

veryangryman wrote: »

Strange that they've lasted this long. Stationary asides (and even then only at certain time of year) they don't have much demand.

They should of stayed in golden island

Sunny Dayz · 13-01-2015 11:45am

cena wrote: »

They should of stayed in golden island

Agreed. It was a great place to browse around in Golden Island. I find that where it is located in the Town Centre, you have to think about the store and head towards it, it too out of the way - it's current location doesn't facilitate just wandering in.

nice_guy80 · 13-01-2015 5:55pm

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Agreed. It was a great place to browse around in Golden Island. I find that where it is located in the Town Centre, you have to think about the store and head towards it, it too out of the way - it's current location doesn't facilitate just wandering in.

it is almost opposite the public car park.
easiest side of the poorly designed building to get into quickly

veryangryman · 13-01-2015 5:57pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

it is almost opposite the public car park.
easiest side of the poorly designed building to get into quickly

I guess that its central location in Golden Island was a big pull factor. You have 1 entrance and HAD to pass it to get to Tesco, Boots, Argos or Penneys. In town centre, you can do a complete shop of all the upstairs stores AND leave at the civic centre door downstairs without passing Easons.

Long Gone · 14-01-2015 5:28pm

Agreed - It's tucked well out of the way in the so-called Towncentre.
It was a disasterous decision for them to move from Golden Island - They were always very busy down there. I used to call in a buy a few things almost every time I went to Golden Island. I think I've only been in about three times since they moved to the Towncentre.

roosterman71 · 14-01-2015 6:10pm

Long Gone wrote: »

Agreed - It's tucked well out of the way in the so-called Towncentre.

It's not the "so-called Towncentre"
It iscalled the Towncentre
Or more commonly known as the "new shopping centre"
I prefer to call it "a kip" myself, but each to their own!

veryangryman · 14-01-2015 6:42pm

roosterman71 wrote: »

It's not the "so-called Towncentre"
It iscalled the Towncentre
Or more commonly known as the "new shopping centre"
I prefer to call it "a kip" myself, but each to their own!

Hardly a kip. Overdone a bit yes

cena · 14-01-2015 9:23pm

Would people have preferred if golden island was a two or 3 story building

Long Gone · 15-01-2015 10:13pm

roosterman71 wrote: »

It's not the "so-called Towncentre"
It iscalled the Towncentre

The meaning of using the term "so-called" is to indicate that the development in question is called the Towncentre while simultaneously disputing its right to be referred to as such... :rolleyes:

The developers (see below) typically arrogantly called it the Athlone Towncentre - It never was, is not, and never will be the centre of Athlone town.

Long Gone · 15-01-2015 10:24pm

<snip-deleted post>

This video tells you all you need to know....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koY6kXhQDQo

Every word is says is absolutely true.....

And while I'm at it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHu1kRT6hU

athlonelad · 16-01-2015 10:48am

Long Gone wrote: »

The meaning of using the term "so-called" is to indicate that the development in question is called the Towncentre while simultaneously disputing its right to be referred to as such... :rolleyes:

The developers (see below) typically arrogantly called it the Athlone Towncentre - It never was, is not, and never will be the centre of Athlone town.

Clever marketing. You have to hand it to them.
Tullamore also had a "Main Street" which wasn't really the Main Street in the town and confused people but now its more or less a relic to the Celtic Tiger

veryangryman · 16-01-2015 10:49am

athlonelad wrote: »

You have to hand it to them.

I know. I cant even decide not to (I pay tax and the tax pays NAMA etc etc) :rolleyes:

roosterman71 · 16-01-2015 11:07am

Long Gone wrote: »

This video tells you all you need to know....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koY6kXhQDQo

Every word is says is absolutely true.....

And while I'm at it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHu1kRT6hU

These have nothing to do with this thread.
The place is called the Athlone Towncentre. As in, a name of a shopping centre, not the centre of Athlone. Granted, the naming was cheeky, and pretty smart too.

Sunny Dayz · 16-01-2015 11:16am

roosterman71 wrote: »

These have nothing to do with this thread.
The place is called the Athlone Towncentre. As in, a name of a shopping centre, not the centre of Athlone. Granted, the naming was cheeky, and pretty smart too.

Dundrum did the same - they named the shopping centre Dundrum Town Centre - but I wouldn't have know what the area was like before the centre was built.

veryangryman · 16-01-2015 11:21am

roosterman71 wrote: »

These have nothing to do with this thread.
The place is called the Athlone Towncentre. As in, a name of a shopping centre, not the centre of Athlone. Granted, the naming was cheeky, and pretty smart too.

Athlone Shopping Centre had the same "smart" way of doing it. And it worked pretty well until Diskin built Golden Island and people realised that paying for parking was for losers.

Long Gone · 16-01-2015 4:25pm

roosterman71 wrote: »

These have nothing to do with this thread.
The place is called the Athlone Towncentre. As in, a name of a shopping centre, not the centre of Athlone. Granted, the naming was cheeky, and pretty smart too.

They have everything to do with this thread which is about Athlone Shopping Centre - A bankrupt Celtic Tiger era development for which the debt has been saddled onto the backs of the Irish taxpayers... Clear enough for you ? ?

I am well aware that the place is called the Athlone Towncentre - That is why I originally referred to it as the so-called Athlone Towncentre. :rolleyes:

18-01-2015 12:13pm

cena wrote: »

My mum was speak to a friend that works in next, she told eason well only be using upstair part soon. They are down siding. I see there is also some sort of works going on across from the customer service area

Upstairs only? Wouldn't that make access difficult havig to go through anouter (empty) unit first, or is it possible to open out on to the upper level walkway?

Athlone Towncentre granted new anchor

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