[Req] What's worth going North to buy.

FrCrilly

Hi All,

I’m planning a shopping trip to the North possibly checking out the below 2 shopping centres

www.the-outlet.co.uk

www.sprucefieldcentre.co.uk

I’m just wondering what are “bargain alert” peoples opinions on what is better value for money up North compared to the South. (What are the best items to stock up on????)

All opinions and experiences welcome.

Thanks In Advance

indiewindy

Spirits are a lot cheaper in the north, so if your a drinker you will save a good bit of money by buying a few bottles:D

TheDriver

Alcopops also

5500

Ive always traveled to newry to get the booze in,normally good specials to be had but of late with the deals in tesco and dunnes they seem cheaper than the north so not really worth the spin up.

adox

I was in the outlet a few weeks ago and bought loads of stuff,clothes,suitcases,coffee mugs/plungers etc.

Moorsie

Nappies & Babyfood. Sainsburys in Newry. About 40% more expensive in South.

Rashers72

Been there twice. Did not think much of it. Went to M+S. Prices were good, but lots of the same sizes - XS, XL, XXL, all the stuff in the sizes they could not sell in the main stores.
Nothing to fit your Mr or Mrs Average! Also same with runners/shoes etc.
Not sure about kids stuff - Nike shop looked good for kids.

vibrant

I went to the Outlet and I loved it. It was at the start of the summer. The Gap outlet was great - lots of tops for 2.99. Oasis was good, dresses and trousers for £5 - £10 - these would be €70+ in the shops here. Same goes for Principles and Warehouse. They had "last season's" stuff (it was early summer, so it was Spring fashions....)

I didn't think much of the M&S, the stuff was flung all over the place, but if you rooted around I'm sure you would get some good stuff.

The Jaeger shop is wonderful *but only* if you have a wedding or something to go to. It's about 70% cheaper than their shops.

The Nike and Puma outlets are very good, IIRC they are bigger there than in the Kildare outlet.

Finally, Whittard of Chelsea was much cheaper there than I've seen in the UK.

My advice: drive up to Banbridge to be there when it opens. Shop, have lunch, then head down to the Quays in Newry. Go to Sainsbury's, stock up on your cheapies you're all set.

(The Quays isn't an outlet - its a shopping centre. There is a big Debenhams there - I've found it to be an awful lot cheaper than their ROI shops, particularly during their Blue Cross Sales - keep an eye on Sainsbury's and Debenhams websites for info on upcoming sales/deals).

pedroj

with d exchange rate at moment wouldnt think dr b 2 many huge deals at d mo in uk/against sterling...altho great deals 2 b had in US €1=$1.38 plus everythin much cheaper even before conversion could prob fly over with empty bags...buy years worth of clothes/electronics n fly back all for less then buyin d stuff over here including d flight/accom (free holiday )

grahamo

stock up on aspirin, paracetamol,cough syrup cold remedies etc. They are a hell of a lot cheaper up North than down here! e.g. a pack of aspirin in Sainsbury's in Newry is 16p compared to a couple of Euro down here.

BendiBus

Bags of ground coffee.

nice1franko

edit- forgot this was bargain alerts and not AH (removed 'balaclavas')

anotherlostie

I love taking a trip up to Sainsbury every couple of months. Their selection of food is way better than in Tesco. The one in Newry is good, but the Sprucefield branch is much bigger. Veg is fresh, well presented, and always a good display.

As already mentioned, things like branded paracetamol and ibuprofen costs pence (although you are limited in what you can buy, like down here), and they also have their own version of Berocca at a fraction of the price.

Foodwise, the own brand tortilla chips and dips are nice (unlike the Tesco cardboard) and they have loads of variety in rice, pastas, beans/ pulses, couscous etc. One of my favourite products is a Moroccan tagine sauce - 5 mins to prep, an hour in the oven, and one of the nicest things you can eat with minimal hassle!

Their wine is cheaper too; I remember getting a few bottles of White Cloud (NZ) for £4.99, when it was €10.99 in Tesco.

And when in Newry, I would always advise a trip down to the HMV; they often have great bargains down there. I got seasons 1 and 2 of House for £15 each several months ago - season 2 was selling in Dublin for over €60.

But the final thing to remember is that EVERYTHING seems cheap because it is in sterling. Not everything is. But generally you get far better quality

FrCrilly

vibrant wrote:

I went to the Outlet and I loved it. It was at the start of the summer. The Gap outlet was great - lots of tops for 2.99. Oasis was good, dresses and trousers for £5 - £10 - these would be €70+ in the shops here. Same goes for Principles and Warehouse. They had "last season's" stuff (it was early summer, so it was Spring fashions....)

I didn't think much of the M&S, the stuff was flung all over the place, but if you rooted around I'm sure you would get some good stuff.

The Jaeger shop is wonderful *but only* if you have a wedding or something to go to. It's about 70% cheaper than their shops.

The Nike and Puma outlets are very good, IIRC they are bigger there than in the Kildare outlet.

Finally, Whittard of Chelsea was much cheaper there than I've seen in the UK.

My advice: drive up to Banbridge to be there when it opens. Shop, have lunch, then head down to the Quays in Newry. Go to Sainsbury's, stock up on your cheapies you're all set.

(The Quays isn't an outlet - its a shopping centre. There is a big Debenhams there - I've found it to be an awful lot cheaper than their ROI shops, particularly during their Blue Cross Sales - keep an eye on Sainsbury's and Debenhams websites for info on upcoming sales/deals).

Feedback.

In the end I went to the Outlet in Banbridge to buy office clothing. After walking into a number of shops I chose to buy everything at a very snazzy place called Jeff Banks. All the clothes were very fashionable & high quality and were tagged with a special “Outlet” price which was 30% cheaper than the main UK highstreet price. I paid approx 47.50 euro per shirt and would be optimistic that you could pay 80 to 100 euro in places south of the border for a similar product. (have not been able to locate the exact same brand so difficult to compare with certainty). Overall, I thought it was well worth the drive up.

jimmychin

i think you can get jeff banks in debenhams

sprinkles

The outlet seems to be hit and miss. I didn't like it but my brother was up there yesterday and loved it. There's also another uotlet complex - "junction 1" a bit further up the road. I preferred that to the outlet.

Cheap things in Newry - Beer beer and more beer. Sainsburys have the best deals usually - if you're going to the outlet just keep on the A1 all the way to sprucefield - a bit sainsburys there with plenty of parking. Also a big B&Q and currys which have some good deals.

texas star

Pork scrathings yummy havnt seen them down here.I always stock up.:)

HashSlinging

new teeth, apparently its much cheaper up there to get them done.

TarfHead

sprinkles wrote:

The outlet seems to be hit and miss. I didn't like it but my brother was up there yesterday and loved it. There's also another uotlet complex - "junction 1" a bit further up the road. I preferred that to the outlet.

Cheap things in Newry - Beer beer and more beer. Sainsburys have the best deals usually - if you're going to the outlet just keep on the A1 all the way to sprucefield - a bit sainsburys there with plenty of parking. Also a big B&Q and currys which have some good deals.

The Outlet gets my vote. I went there on the June Bank Holiday (not a BH in NI) and bought loads. Not necessarily great value, but a great selection of the shops I would shop in.

AFAIK Junction One is north of Belfast so may not be "a bit further up the road" ?

If going as far as The Outlet and you wish to include a trip to Sainsburys, I recommend Sprucefield ahead of Newry. It's much bigger with a wider selection of goods.

I'm always wary of buying beer in NI. You have to be sure of the alcohol content and convert upwards to get a price per 50cl or litre to do a fair comparison.

LostinBlanch

HashSlinging wrote:

new teeth, apparently its much cheaper up there to get them done.

True, dentists are a lot cheaper up north.

Don't know about going up to buy teeth though!

copacetic

jimmychin wrote:

i think you can get jeff banks in debenhams

you can and in general it is pretty cheap.

vibrant

Does Sprucefield only have 5 retailers? These are the only ones mentioned on their website.... http://www.sprucefieldcentre.co.uk/retailers/ (I'm sure there are more, but wonder why they're reluctant to name and advertise them?)

Also how far Sprucefield from Banbridge/Newry? I'm going up next week for personal stuff, and I might as well suss out the Sainsbury's while I'm up there.

DubDani

Sprucefield only has Sainsbury, Currys (or was it Dixons?), Toys R us, Argos, B&Q and M&S, JJB and some furniture shop on the opposite side of the street.

Lisburn itself has a few nice shops, but most are closed on Sundays. They also have a decent sized shopping centre, but IMO nothing special in there.

BTW. Newry has the Quays Shopping Centre, Buttercrane Centre and the old Creamery for a few more shops.

maryjane1

hey sorry for dragging up old posts but its that mad shopping time of year again. was just wondering about sprucfield shopping centre.first of all can anyone tell me do they take euro in there like they do in newry? and if so is the rate as ggod or should i cahnge before i go? also is it worth my hwile going here or would i be just as well to stick with newry? is the toys'r'us good value? sorry for so many questions thanks in advance of any responses!

The_Conductor

maryjane1 wrote:

hey sorry for dragging up old posts but its that mad shopping time of year again. was just wondering about sprucfield shopping centre.first of all can anyone tell me do they take euro in there like they do in newry? and if so is the rate as ggod or should i cahnge before i go? also is it worth my hwile going here or would i be just as well to stick with newry? is the toys'r'us good value? sorry for so many questions thanks in advance of any responses!

The rate is usually 1.5 to 1 - its a handy conversion and its feck all different from the bank. Personally I would recommend sticking with Newry- its not worth the extra miles just to go to Sprucefield. Toys-r-us might be a bit cheaper, but to be honest if you go hunting on the internet you'll probably find similar products cheaper. Have a look at their internet site, which has all their prices for info link here.

Re: cheap booze- several of the supermarket chains down here have been using booze as a loss leader recently- if you get the 30% back in Dunnes or 25% off in Superquinn offers, there is nothing to say that you are getting a significantly cheaper bargain in Newry (Spirits and beer may be a bit cheaper there- half decent drinkable wine tends to be a lot cheaper down here for some reason).

Finally- make sure you have a full tank of petrol/diesel before you set off, fuel up North is roughly 50% more expensive than down South (its about 98p a litre for unleaded and 1.01 for diesel).

S.

okidoki987

do they take euro in there like they do in newry? and if so is the rate as ggod or should i cahnge before i go

Exchange rates are not as good as they used (Sainsburys) to be but there's no bank charges.

Our man in Havana

I recommend using sterling or use a credit card. The rates they give euros is poor enough and all change is in sterling.

vibrant

Hmm, I won't bother with Sprucefield then - I'd really only be going there from The Outlet for the Sainsbury's, and if there's one at the Quays then that'll just do fine.

By the way, anyone else get the HUGE ad for the Outlet free with yesterday's Sunday Times? No money off vouchers in it though, bah humbug

5500

Has anyone been up in the past few weeks?Wondering if sainsburys have any specials going on the drink.

The_Conductor

eireal wrote: »

Has anyone been up in the past few weeks?Wondering if sainsburys have any specials going on the drink.

Morrisons have 1litre bottles of Baileys at £10 a pop.

maryjane1

we went on saturday there was nothing spectacular considering the specials we have down here at the minute