Where are the real sports shops gone?

CountryWise

Quite simply are there any real sports shops left?

Went to to 3 Dublin city centre well known sports shops today ( Grafton St) and i could not find an ankle support between the 3 of them I was advised to go to a pharmacy!!!!!! and thats just for starters, I have been having this problem for weeks with differnt things.

they are basically just clothes shops these days with boots and runners.
Oh ya they'l sell those skin tight rugby/soccer tops alright for people who might get a little chilly during a game but not anything for people who need proper equipment for sport.

so bloody irritating!!!!!!

Oriel

I miss them too. There are a few knocking about, you just have to look.
The rest have turned into clothes shops for scangers.

Orange69

Use ebay!

Kimbot

Lifestlye seem to be the only ones that have the supports but not as much as you would expect! Once there is money to be made in selling the clothes that will be their main focus!

CountryWise

Oriel wrote:

I miss them too. There are a few knocking about, you just have to look.
The rest have turned into clothes shops for scangers.

you hit the nail on the head there, it seems to be all scanger gear!

Elverys is the closest I have seen in a while that actually stocks some decent gear and thats saying something!

Id say if you went into *****ion on Grafton St and asked for a hurl they'd look at you like you have two heads

CountryWise

Orange69 wrote:

Use ebay!

My sprained ankle cant wait for delivery times from Ebay unfortunatley although i use it when possible for other stuff!

Lifestyle today had nothing either, although once again they had those shoulder supports that also keep you warm.......FFS

Dragan

It's gonna be the internet, to be honest.

Sports shops these days are about jersey sales and the latest 200 euro Nikes.

After spending last week in about 10 of them looking for something i can only assume that 90% of the people who walk in the doors don't actually partake in any kind of sport.

Heaven forbid.

Dun laoire

If you live near Dun Laoghaire you could try Lifestyle sports. I got an ankle support there a while back. Cant remember how much or even what make but it done the trick. Elvery sports should be able to supply them.

Leeby

CountryWise wrote:

My sprained ankle cant wait for delivery times from Ebay unfortunatley although i use it when possible for other stuff!

Lifestyle today had nothing either, although once again they had those shoulder supports that also keep you warm.......FFS

You've already been advised to go to a pharmacy, why are you looking in Lifestyle? Just go to the pharmacy!

CountryWise

No wonder the national sports are in such a state

CountryWise

Leeby wrote:

You've already been advised to go to a pharmacy, why are you looking in Lifestyle? Just go to the pharmacy!

I actually gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and didnt laugh in his face and looked in the pharmacy......more fool me......not a thing to be found

Ph3n0m

Argos catalogue carries such items

CountryWise

Ph3n0m wrote:

Argos catalogue carries such items

I alwasy forget about Argos

de5p0i1er

There should be a law against these places calling them sports shops.

An Citeog

There's a good sports shop on Cathedral Street, just off Upper O'Connell Street beside the Burger King. It's not the biggest but it's always had everything I've ever needed. Arnotts should have ankle-supports aswell.

Id say if you went into *****ion on Grafton St and asked for a hurl they'd look at you like you have two heads

Nobody ever buys/should ever buy hurls in these shops. They're absolute planks!

mise_me_fein

Elvery's and JJB are pretty good in Dundalk.

CountryWise

An Citeog wrote:

There's a good sports shop on Cathedral Street, just off Upper O'Connell Street beside the Burger King. It's not the biggest but it's always had everything I've ever needed. Arnotts should have ankle-supports aswell.



Nobody ever buys/should ever buy hurls in these shops. They're absolute planks!

I agree and true but you SHOULD ( good or bad) be able to get them in these shops after all its our national sport, i know most get them off their clubs but not everyone is a member of a club

gucci

in fairness the best place to get an ankle support if ur in the early days of recovery from ankle sprain is a pharmacy, you'll need one of the lace up types like featured here
they are expensive though, i paid about 45 euro for one about 2years ago, but they are well worth it. as you progress you can go onto something more light weight and flexible.

back on the original topic, its crazy the lack of decent sports equipment in some sports shops these days, then again the shop should be called sportstyle instead of lifestyle

KamiKazi

An Citeog wrote:

Nobody ever buys/should ever buy hurls in these shops. They're absolute planks!

i see what you did there...

ejmaztec

I suppose the big problem is that most of the shops have very high overheads. Space is always at a premium and they don't want slow-moving stock clogging up their available square metres and hogging their cashflow. It seems to be the rare old family-run places that can sell you anything that you're looking for. This doesn't just cover sporting goods, but every other commodity.

We had a hardware store in our nearby town. You could walk in there looking for a spare part for something that you would expect to find in a museum. Ten minutes later you would walk out with that same spare part in your hands. Unfortunately, the place burned to the ground one day and the source was gone.

Retro, wherefore art thou Retro?

Leeby

CountryWise wrote:

I actually gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and didnt laugh in his face and looked in the pharmacy......more fool me......not a thing to be found

You should try another pharmacy then, most of them have ankle supports.

Fighting Irish

de5p0i1er wrote:

There should be a law against these places calling them sports shops.

I agree with the OP, but what you just said is total :rolleyes:

Healio

An Citeog wrote:

There's a good sports shop on Cathedral Street, just off Upper O'Connell Street beside the Burger King. It's not the biggest but it's always had everything I've ever needed. Arnotts should have ankle-supports aswell.

Sportsmith??

An Citeog

Healio wrote:

Sportsmith??

Yeah, that's the one!

I actually came in here to direct the OP towards Sportsmith. It's the only decent one in town TBH.

Actually, there used to be one on Mary St. (down opposite all them camping shops) but i don't know if it's still there. It was called.......em.......er....something. Think there were 3 letters in it. Something like JFK sports or something.

Deffo wasn't JJB.