Mac Donagh Station Shopping Centre

fitzyshea

Right now that its open what do you think? I was ther eon Saturday. The palce was empty and I was there at 3.30. Very surprised. Not many shops open and another Dunnes? How many Dunnes can you fit into KK? TBH I wasnt very impressed witht he place at all. Id say Dunnes put the pressure on to be open befor exmas even if the place is empty. It should be good however when all the units are up and running.

road_high

fitzyshea wrote: »

Right now that its open what do you think? I was ther eon Saturday. The palce was empty and I was there at 3.30. Very surprised. Not many shops open and another Dunnes? How many Dunnes can you fit into KK? TBH I wasnt very impressed witht he place at all. Id say Dunnes put the pressure on to be open befor exmas even if the place is empty. It should be good however when all the units are up and running.

It's a very fine building but way too many "opening soon" signs everywhere. Will be good when it's full I reckon.
But the food court is dissapointing. I mean all crappy coffee places and bagel rubbish. How about a real restaurant or even a nice tastey Burger King!!

Firetrap

Agreed. I'll reserve judgement til the place is fully opened. I'd still rather have a Tesco though.

wellboy1976

Have one of ours, getting a 4th in Tramore now! Too many

Sully

Ah Wellboy dont say that! Super Value have us ripped off, Lidl is a different marker. So we have competition betweeen three now. Nice prices hopefully! Anyway, thats for a different topic.

Back onto topic.. always wondered why they opened centers early, with big adverts etc. and we go in to find a handful of shops open. All the buildup for nothing

Cabaal

wellboy1976 wrote: »

Have one of ours, getting a 4th in Tramore now! Too many

Since you don't post anything helpful why bother posting in the Kilkenny?

just-wonderin

it will be an asset to kk when its finally opened fully, but right now there is a total lack of cash points, places to sit, bins, and the place could do with a few plants or tree's, the old work house square is good but if you dont drink coffee your fecked, needs a nice restraunt where ya can have your lunch or dinner,, just my thought's

just-wonderin

anyone know when espirt or tom tailor will open in kilkenny,

JohnMc1

Does anyone know whe the rest of the shops will be open? The 3 store looks like it should be open but it isn't.

trishw78

the next time your in workhouse square look up, all that glass roofing is going to be replaced. Why? I hear you ask if you look at the panels you'll see a 2" line running through them. When they were putting on the UV Filter they overlapped it in the factory and the owners don't like it. So as each panel has a unique bend in it. It all has to be remade & replaced, this is going to happen next year sometime.

Stephen

I was in to Virgin/Zavvi/whatever there on Sunday. Fine shop. Their range of stuff and prices seems to beat the hell out of the existing competition in Kilkenny.

They nearly tempted me with Guitar Hero 3 for the xbox 360 for €99 with the wireless guitar

JohnC.

Made it up there myself this morning for the first time, mainly to see Virgin. Nice place on the inside and I like the idea of that square with the glass roof.

trishw78

Actually I found it all a little disorintating. I was working for one of the sub-contractor up there so I remember seeing it differently

oriain

yeah, I was in there on Saturday to check out Virgin, it was buzzing (no surprise there) but the rest of the centre was pretty dead. and in the run up to Christmas that's a bad sign. Ended up buying the sopranos box-set....

Anywho, I prefer shopping on High Street. Much better!

Stephen

When i was there on Sunday the place was pretty busy. People all over the concourse area and shops like Next and Virgin looked fairly crammed.

Firetrap

Has anyone tried having something to eat in that workhouse square? I know it's winter time but it's kinda chilly in there. I wouldn't fancy sitting down and having a hot drink in there - I could see it going cold very quickly.

Virgin/Zavvi is the one shop I could see myself visiting a lot. I like the ones in Dublin so it's so nice to be able to go into one locally

Nightwish

Apparently Dunnes Stores in McDonagh have let go 11 staff, as business is slower than expected.

cargo

What's the lineup like in there now? Did many shops get to open yet?

Nightwish

A few more shops have opened including Virgin, Next, Gloria Jeans. Still its not enough to warrant the walk up there from town.

ztoical

Nightwish wrote: »

A few more shops have opened including Virgin, Next, Gloria Jeans. Still its not enough to warrant the walk up there from town.

is that not everything? how many more shops have still to open? other then the book store which i havent seen any signs for

Stephen

There's a few more poxy clothes shops that I have no interest in still to open.
Tom Tailor, Esprit etc. That bookshop is supposed to be going in beside one of the cafes in the courtyard part.

More importantly, does anybody know what's the status of the bowling alley that's listed in the shopping centre map?

cargo

What's the website for the place? Google search seems to miss it. I know it's something like the name but all the variations I try fail.

Deliverance XXV

cargo wrote: »

What's the website for the place? Google search seems to miss it. I know it's something like the name but all the variations I try fail.

LINK

road_high

Nightwish wrote: »

Apparently Dunnes Stores in McDonagh have let go 11 staff, as business is slower than expected.

Not that surprised by that. It brings little new to KK and isn't an exceptional store by any means. They give you "an hour free parking" when you spend a tenner; they give back a euro whereas the carpark is 1.50 an hour ! Superquinn in the heart of town give you 2 free hours (fully free) when you spend the same. Far better deal.

Also the "food court" is rubbish in myopinon; how many poncy cafes does one shopping centre need!!? Find the lack of a proper restaurant dissapointing.

Firetrap

You'd want to have a hardy constitution to eat in the food court in this weather. It's feckin' freezing!

fricatus

In there myself yesterday for the first time. Really nice building I must say, but it was quite empty, both of people and shops... but then again that's maybe because everyone's spent their paycheques after Christmas!

There wasn't all that much that I'd specifically go there for, except for Virgin, always an excellent shop! I find TK Maxx is only any good if you're passing by there every day and run in to see what they have. The odd time you'll find a fantastic shirt of pair of jeans for nothing.

Esprit hasn't opened yet... maybe they'll have a men's section like in Dundrum, though not all the Esprit shops do. That Tom Tailor place is a menswear shop, right?, but it's got all those naked male mannequins in the window. That might attract women in, but it would put me off, to be honest!

Costa Coffee and the bagel place are really nice, but that square is too damn cold for sitting out in during winter! Even a few pub patio heaters would help!

And Dunnes... ffs... it's a good shop, but is it the only big shop they're allowed to build in KK? Why didn't they go after Debenhams, M&S or something like that? Even a Tesco would have given the good people of KK some sort of choice :mad:

zootroid

fricatus wrote: »

And Dunnes... ffs... it's a good shop, but is it the only big shop they're allowed to build in KK? Why didn't they go after Debenhams, M&S or something like that? Even a Tesco would have given the good people of KK some sort of choice :mad:

yeah id really liked to have seen M&S go in there, something different at least! there aren't too many M&S stores in Ireland, whereas it seems Tesco is everywhere (except Kilkenny, of course)

JohnMc1

Isn't Debenhems and M&S supposed to go into CitiMart where the barracks amd Cattle Mart is?

Da Bomber

Whats with the big courtyard am i the only person who thinks it looks completely retarded?!

Deliverance XXV

I think it's functional but badly implemented.

ztoical

wandered in today and there a good few people but it was mainly big groups of young ones spending hours drinking one smoothie and taking up all the center seats [all two of them]

The people eating out in the court yard all had big thick coats on so I didn't even venture out there.

I thought I'd use the center more as its just down the road from me but I don't like dunnes - their own brand stuff is blah. I'd rather drive to tesscos in carlow. Eurospar doesn't seem any less busy as a result of the macdonagh opening.

Firetrap

Eurospar's really convenient. The parking's free, with luck you get to drop the car close to the door and you can be in and out of there in a few minutes. Going to Dunnes in McDoughnut Junction is just too much hassle unless you're on for a big shop.

zootroid

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Isn't Debenhems and M&S supposed to go into CitiMart where the barracks amd Cattle Mart is?

i know M&S is, but think it was refused planning permission as the infrastructure isn't there to support it. think it's going to an bord pleanalla (sp?) in april, but until the relief road is built i can't see that development going ahead

fricatus

zootroid wrote: »

but until the relief road is built i can't see that development going ahead

What relief road is that? I thought the only new road in planning in KK city was the one that just opened. Are they extending it further, or is it some other road that you're referring to?

cargo

The "Inner Relief Road" as it's called is in the pipeline in Kilkenny also. It's not an extension of the current "Ring Road" but takes a more central line down to the Waterbarracks along Dean St. and cuts straight out at the back of the Brewery's property over a new bridge downstream from Greensbridge and on up by the back of this proposed mart development site.

It has undergone a few revisions as it originally it was more of a mini Ring Road back around the City edge from the Waterbarracks but now they've included the spur in through the City I mention above.

Details of the old route and the new variation contained in this link;

http://www.kilkennycoco.ie/cdp/cdpvol3/vol3/variation2.htm

Not sure what the current status of it is as it has had it's fair share of false starts and revisions.

Pigletlover

I was there after Christmas, have to say I thought it was very disappointing. The building is lovely but the range of shops isn't great and there's nowhere to eat. We went into Quigley's (only because it was the best of a bad lot) and they had no wraps, paninis or ciabattas, only bread, so I ordered a toasted special but they had no ham. FFS, there's a Dunnes next door! I'm sure it's not always that bad but there is another food outlet needed.

JohnMc1

zootroid wrote: »

i know M&S is, but think it was refused planning permission as the infrastructure isn't there to support it. think it's going to an bord pleanalla (sp?) in april, but until the relief road is built i can't see that development going ahead

Thanks zootroid. I should of known not to get my hopes up for a second shopping centre in Kilkenny. Callan can't even get a Tescos thanks to that prat Phil Hogan.

kleefarr

I think McDoughnut junction must be hemorrhaging money. I or anyone we know haven't been there since it opened.

Does anyone go on a regular basis?

Deliverance XXV

I only live five minutes away from it and only being in there three times.
I can assure you if it were Tesco or Marks and Spencers in there the outcome would have been different. Shame really.

PhilipMarlowe

Exactly, if M&S were there, I'd likely be in it 3+ times a week...
As it is, I use Dunnes as a convenience shop basically, and only really would be interested in Virgin and Next occasionally.
I wouldn't make an effort to go there - the place lacks a decent restaurant and a decent bookshop etc.

just-wonderin

it allway's seem's quite busy to me whenever i'm in there, which is every other day haven't been to town since christmas, it's handy out but its a pity a few more of the shops wouldn't open up soon.. i think the problem is the management never to been seen and total lack of seating around the place no bins few plants would help it look bit better,,, is the bowling alley opening this month anyone know..

JohnMc1

I have no idea when the Bowling Alley will open. Not even the website lists the Bowling Alley.

I myself go a couple times a week to go to Champions and/or Zavvi. Like Licksy I only use Dunnes as a convenience store. I think Dunnes only wnet in there to block some other store from going in there. For the store as big as it is its practically empty compared to the Kieran St branch.

If it wasn't for the fact I live so close to the Junction [Maudlin St] I would hardly go there at all]

PhilipMarlowe

You see a lot of 'fresh' products marked down in dunnes as they come close to their use-by date. Obviously they need a certain amount of the products for a facing and to make the store looked stocked but there's no way they are selling them! Lots of wastage I guess.
Also, the food dept has probably close on 20 checkout lanes?
Even on a thursday evening which I'd imagine would be busy, you wouldn't have to queue with only 3 or 4 lanes open.
Madness, dog in the manger stuff by dunnes, I hope they are suffering to some extent.

Firetrap

You'd really want to watch the dates of food in there alright. I learned that the hard way when I accidentally bought ham in there which was about 5 days past its use by date You'd also want to be careful about the bread you buy from the bakery as well - they're not above trying to flog stale stuff. Milk as well - I saw 2l containers on the shelves that were a day off their use by date. Usually in a supermarket, you wouldn't have to be watching the dates of perishable food as much as you have to in there.

Sully

Anyone know of any website / phone number for this place?

kensutz

Sully wrote: »

Anyone know of any website / phone number for this place?

Posted on the second page

Sully

Thanks for the useful post kensutz

Was there yesterday. I like the way its designed but is there not to much space for each store? Its got one floor of shops - and its already half full by the looks of it and that's with feck all shops. One of them apparently closed down - Claires. The whole shopping center has LOTS of space, and each store has a pretty big unit to themselves. There is a few places with "To Let" or "Coming Soon" but then its full..

Seems to have been a big flaw in the design. For such a big building, there is only one floor of shops and at that they have only limited units for shops.

JohnC.

I got that impression too. Not a lot there for the size of it and was very surprised there was only one floor.

kensutz

Sully wrote: »

Thanks for the useful post kensutz

No problem, I was looking for a website myself but went to the trouble of actually searching the thread.

trishw78

there might only be one floor but tk maxx, next and river island are on two floors

Sully

kensutz wrote: »

No problem, I was looking for a website myself but went to the trouble of actually searching the thread.

lol. I just searched for a URL in the thread, skimming over posts. I didn't spot the "LINKY" bit. Search Engines are avoiding it, wonder how much they paid for the site.

trishw78 wrote: »

there might only be one floor but tk maxx, next and river island are on two floors

Nothing major though. A few good stores, and that's about it. Never liked TK Maxx myself, was in the one in Dublin (cant recall where) and it was just awful.

I just think its pretty badly designed - huge amount of space, lots of room allocated to stores but far to much room so little units left.