Athlone Towncentre granted new anchor

cena · 18-01-2015 4:29pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

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?

Could be two stores in one

whyulittle · 18-01-2015 7:37pm

Easons are supposed to be moving altogether to someone near the Mardyke St. entrance.

Both levels of the current Easons and the unused outside units are supposed to be amalgamated to make space for TK Maxx or whoever.

ongarboy · 11-02-2015 9:54am

Confirmed in today's Irish times commercial property section that TK Maxx will be moving into centre later this year.

Sunny Dayz · 11-02-2015 11:57am

Has Togo gone from the centre?

cena · 11-02-2015 2:24pm

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Has Togo gone from the centre?

It was there two weeks ago

D Trent · 11-02-2015 2:58pm

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/six-provincial-shopping-centres-on-market-for-115m-1.2098630
Athlone Town Centre is for sale

L.Jenkins · 11-02-2015 4:30pm

That's some drop in value for the centre.

cena · 11-02-2015 10:52pm

I would to see the glass roof to be cleaned. Does the car park get used much these days?

tubos · 12-02-2015 10:36am

cena wrote: »

I would to see the glass roof to be cleaned. Does the car park get used much these days?

Car park is usually jammed whenever I go there.

veryangryman · 12-02-2015 10:39am

tubos wrote: »

Car park is usually jammed whenever I go there.

Hotel staff, residents in the adjoining apartments (who get free parking). I wouldn't say that many paying in there are going shopping. Although i could be wrong - paying for parking when there's a free car park 2 minutes away suits people with more money than sense.

Mearings · 12-02-2015 3:44pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Hotel staff, residents in the adjoining apartments (who get free parking). I wouldn't say that many paying in there are going shopping. Although i could be wrong - paying for parking when there's a free car park 2 minutes away suits people with more money than sense.

I guess you are referring the Golden Island carpark. If you can leave GI & arrive at ATC in 2 minutes you don't really need a car.

athlonelad · 12-02-2015 4:23pm

Mearings wrote: »

I guess you are referring the Golden Island carpark. If you can leave GI & arrive at ATC in 2 minutes you don't really need a car.

He should change his name to veryFASTman

12-02-2015 10:01pm

This is more appropriate, I can only do that when I'm in a real rush!

athlonelad wrote: »

He should change his name to veryFASTman

DG Leixlip · 12-02-2015 10:36pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Hotel staff, residents in the adjoining apartments (who get free parking). I wouldn't say that many paying in there are going shopping. Although i could be wrong - paying for parking when there's a free car park 2 minutes away suits people with more money than sense.

The underground car park suits people who have young kids who don't want to run the risk of kids getting drenched going to and from the shops! I happily pay the 2 - 4 euro charge for peace of mind knowing I don't have to worry about the weather!!!!

Hardly breaks the bank now! I am a mother of young kids and I assure you I have lots of sense!!

Lt J.R. Bell · 03-03-2015 1:55pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

It has gone from being a nice town, to the centre of town being a hole

all the business has gone to shopping centres or the edge of town retail parks
Well done Westmeath Co Council

You would swear that the Town Centre SC was in the middle of Mongolia. It is still in Church Street area

Shure what was every in Church Street thats not there now?

Heatons (okay a big blow), Easons/Xtra Vision - Now have a decent Centra and Paddy Powers, Old ESB Shop - hey do it online or Post Office, a couple of shoe shoes (thats a big blow fair enough) and Music World, oh and the Joke Shop . Butchers might not be there either but thats more Butchers v Supermarkets . Like it or not, McGodricks for Men is no huge loss (well, no one wants to see a local go out of business) . The chemists are still within 5 minutes of each other. Burgess and Sheffield are still there (just about) The Pound Shop was crap. Coopers could / should have cleaned up for customers but failed

Church Street has always being a bit crap for shopping, even before Golden Island SC. Sean Costello Street had the paint crowd, Dolan's and Super Valu/Dunnes thats it. Irish Town still has Dunnes.

ongarboy · 04-03-2015 2:40pm

Westmeath Independent saying Starbucks to move into the Cafe Togo unit in the Town Centre.

http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2015/03/04/4036134-in-this-weeks-westmeath-independent/

afkasurfjunkie · 04-03-2015 6:44pm

Starbucks? Yeuch. Worst coffee ever, but might pull in customers. Then again I doubt it. Gloria jeans is right beside it and is never that busy.

Any chance of a BBs? Their muffins are yummy!

BoB_BoT · 04-03-2015 8:18pm

Novelty of a Starbucks would be a big draw. I'd kill for one of their White Mochas with cream, however, I only drink them for the chocolate and whipped cream. If I want coffee I'll make my own :P

Also departing with the guts of €5 for a novelty drink won't happen too often, but there is a crowd who like to be seen at Starbucks and seen drinking Starbucks, so it's a hard call.

Couldn't even tell you if there was one elsewhere in Westmeath.

L.Jenkins · 05-03-2015 9:47am

BoB_BoT wrote: »

....Couldn't even tell you if there was one elsewhere in Westmeath.

Not that I've seen myself and I travel quite a bit. It would be a novelty, but not somewhere I'd be inclined to buy Coffee. I wouldn't even buy it from Costa.

BoB_BoT · 05-03-2015 1:51pm

Ah, maybe I'm still living in the past, where there were only two Starbucks in Dublin :P

cena · 06-03-2015 12:04am

Doesn't galway have a Starbucks.

athlonelad · 06-03-2015 9:53am

cena wrote: »

Doesn't galway have a Starbucks.

No thats buckfast

nice_guy80 · 07-03-2015 1:08pm

Starbucks - overpriced crap coffee.

Anesthetize · 07-03-2015 3:04pm

I've never drank a Starbucks coffee so I can't comment on the quality of it. But what I don't like is how Starbucks seem to be slowly taking over the coffee shop market. I hope the independents can hold their own against them.

nice_guy80 · 09-03-2015 9:14pm

Anesthetize wrote: »

I've never drank a Starbucks coffee so I can't comment on the quality of it. But what I don't like is how Starbucks seem to be slowly taking over the coffee shop market. I hope the independents can hold their own against them.

Ireland will soon be like Canada or Washington state.
Starbucks everywhere.

Anesthetize · 09-03-2015 10:40pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Ireland will soon be like Canada or Washington state.
Starbucks everywhere.

Not a thought that appeals to me. Less competition in any market is never a good thing from a consumer point of view.

L.Jenkins · 09-03-2015 11:22pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Ireland will soon be like Canada or Washington state.
Starbucks everywhere.

You could have said that 25 years ago and replaced Starbucks with McDonalds/Burger King.

nice_guy80 · 10-03-2015 9:01am

Itzy wrote: »

You could have said that 25 years ago and replaced Starbucks with McDonalds/Burger King.

very few McDonalds in Ireland.
go to australia. they are everywhere.

peterc1991 · 10-03-2015 7:09pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

very few McDonalds in Ireland.
go to australia. they are everywhere.

Whats the story with that?

Surely a Mcdonalds in the town centre would bring in people. There's nowhere really that cheap in the Town centre so most lower spenders go to Golden Island and spend there money in Tesco, burger king, penneys.

Zubeneschamali · 10-03-2015 9:01pm

peterc1991 wrote: »

Surely a Mcdonalds in the town centre would bring in people.

There was one here: it didn't.

cena · 10-03-2015 10:04pm

That's long gone. I would it was the rough type it brought that closed it off

BoB_BoT · 11-03-2015 11:31am

Yeah, the one that was in Irishtown was fairly scummy towards the end. With some well known locals constantly blocking the entrance.

Lt J.R. Bell · 19-03-2015 7:06pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

very few McDonalds in Ireland.
go to australia. they are everywhere.

You can thank the might Supermacs for that.

Speaking of which, what ever happened to the McDonalds down near (the old SC) Golden Island? (I know its a bank now)

L.Jenkins · 19-03-2015 11:21pm

Lt J.R. Bell wrote: »

You can thank the might Supermacs for that.

Speaking of which, what ever happened to the McDonalds down near (the old SC) Golden Island? (I know its a bank now)

They closed up shop. The only left is out at the N6 Centre.

19-03-2015 11:32pm

Itzy wrote: »

They closed up shop. The only left is out at the N6 Centre.

I seem to remember that when the closure was announced it was because the trade was insufficient to justify it staying open (more likely the rent was too high, so they voted with their feet)

Lt J.R. Bell · 20-03-2015 12:54am

Itzy wrote: »

They closed up shop. The only left is out at the N6 Centre.

Jaysus I forgot we once had two McDonald's

Lt J.R. Bell · 20-03-2015 12:57am

Deleted User wrote: »

I seem to remember that when the closure was announced it was because the trade was insufficient to justify it staying open (more likely the rent was too high, so they voted with their feet)

It wasn't in a great spot, especially after 6 pm and they were competing with Supermac, Burger King and even Alfredo s.

Surprised they didn't try to get the old Xtra vision unit in Church St

L.Jenkins · 20-03-2015 9:19am

The one thing we do have is a blast of is Supermacs. There's around 4 in the town alone as far as I'm aware (Centre of Town, Tuam Road, Roscommon Road and the Ballymahon Road). I'm not complaining as I never liked the food in BK or McDonalds anyway.

Anesthetize · 20-03-2015 9:23am

Itzy wrote: »

The one thing we do have is a blast of is Supermacs. There's around 4 in the town alone as far as I'm aware (Centre of Town, Tuam Road, Roscommon Road and the Ballymahon Road). I'm not complaining as I never liked the food in BK or McDonalds anyway.

There used to be one in MacNeill's shop across from the college a few years ago as well.

L.Jenkins · 20-03-2015 12:57pm

Anesthetize wrote: »

There used to be one in MacNeill's shop across from the college a few years ago as well.

I know only too well. I'm surprised they weren't able to do business with the number of people in the area.

veryangryman · 20-03-2015 3:32pm

Itzy wrote: »

I know only too well. I'm surprised they weren't able to do business with the number of people in the area.

Very competitive there - the college canteen, scribes, diner, sandwich shop beside it, charlies and chinese PLUS the takeaway beside pharmacy.

And thats before you consider Kilmartins or town.

L.Jenkins · 20-03-2015 3:55pm

They set themselve up to fail by setting up in McNeill's to be honest. An Uncle of mine had a take away across from the College when there were roughly 2000 students out in AIT. He's kicking himself now.

Steven81 · 20-03-2015 7:32pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Very competitive there - the college canteen, scribes, diner, sandwich shop beside it, charlies and chinese PLUS the takeaway beside pharmacy.

And thats before you consider Kilmartins or town.

Well you can remove scribes, i think it was partly due to all the athletics that they are promoting and then having college bar 100m away, take away is Luigis

http://www.advertiser.ie/athlone/article/68512/end-of-an-era-as-ait-student-bar-scribes-closes

L.Jenkins · 20-03-2015 7:36pm

Steven81 wrote: »

Well you can remove scribes, i think it was partly due to all the athletics that they are promoting and then having college bar 100m away, take away is Luigis

http://www.advertiser.ie/athlone/article/68512/end-of-an-era-as-ait-student-bar-scribes-closes

They closed the bar? That's disappointing.

Anesthetize · 20-03-2015 7:53pm

Steven81 wrote: »

Well you can remove scribes, i think it was partly due to all the athletics that they are promoting and then having college bar 100m away, take away is Luigis

http://www.advertiser.ie/athlone/article/68512/end-of-an-era-as-ait-student-bar-scribes-closes

Scribes was doing poorly towards the end of it's life. The last night I was in there was over a year ago on a Thursday night and the place was dead. Very different to 9 years ago when I was a fresher in AIT and the place would be hopping.

L.Jenkins · 20-03-2015 8:02pm

I started in 2003 and left in 2009. Loved the Ham and Cheese Toasties with a cup of tea.

ongarboy · 15-04-2015 1:46pm

TK Maxx officially confirmed as opening in the Autumn.

http://www.shannonside.ie/news/tk-maxx-outlet-to-open-in-athlone-towncentre-late-autumn/

holyhead · 15-04-2015 11:37pm

While its nice to see TK Maxx opening in the town centre the amount of places which have closed, indeed many opened and closed, since 2005 is staggering. Indeed on the north side of Church St only Allens and the Genoa Cafe are still there since 2005. Every other unit has changed or is vacant. The south side of the street has been marginally more stable anchored by Burgess, Sheffields and Centra all lasting the pace since 2005.

L.Jenkins · 16-04-2015 4:27pm

holyhead wrote: »

While its nice to see TK Maxx opening in the town centre the amount of places which have closed, indeed many opened and closed, since 2005 is staggering. Indeed on the north side of Church St only Allens and the Genoa Cafe are still there since 2005. Every other unit has changed or is vacant. The south side of the street has been marginally more stable anchored by Burgess, Sheffields and Centra all lasting the pace since 2005.

When I was a child, nearly every unit was in use and Connaught street was fairly lively as well. It's gone both have gone down hill some what in the last 10 years.

Steven81 · 17-04-2015 7:58am

Easons new shop is progressing nicely, it is in a better location for them now and should be a lot better than hidden away on the bottom floor corner. Also rather than seeing an empty shop or two on entering the centre on RHS you now see a name you know, giving a passer by a much better first impression.

I wonder how much bigger its new location is to its old Golden Island location, always loved going in there as a young lad.

Athlone Towncentre granted new anchor

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