Shopping in Northern Ireland

Cicero

For those weary Newry shoppers who are willing to venture beyond the two main shopping malls, I can't recommend enough 'The Shelbourne' cafe & bakery (sorry, not sure what street but it's along one of the main shopping streets in the town )....it is apparently over 100 years old...staff couldn't have done enough for us when we were there...food is simple and good and excellent value..excellent bakery also...felt like the old kylemore bakery in Galway of the late 70s/80s...or Bewleys..

Luckycharm

Well made my first trip up north since time last year was staying up there for the w/end. Went to Tesco in Banbridge and the outlets. Have to say that the price diff in Tesco has come down a huge amount and prices are pretty similar now both north and south since they brought them down in the south. Banbridge there were some good bargains but not quite as good a last year- obviously your Euro is not as strong as it was last year as well.

Dooish

asda enniskillen is under going a extension and is not trading 24 hours until it is over in early march, opening hours 8 to 10 mon to fri

johnniekipper

In Armagh on business on Thursday. Thinking of popping into the quays,newry on the way down between 7pm to 9pm. Is it still mad there or has it calmed down a bit.
Thanks

dlambirl

yeah its calmed down a bit.

I even found that evening shopping at christmas wasnt over hectic

horse7

i heard there was a car park charge in newry sainsburys,has anyone some info as the last time i was there you could park up to 4 hours free.

The Guvnor

Yes there is.
2hrs free if in Sainsbury and 3hrs if cinema thereafter £1 per hour.

horse7

thanks guv

The Guvnor

What with the snow and sainsbury doing a £5M refit the store is not so busy atm.

It is dark in the store due to less lighting but it is definitely quieter. I think more locals park in the buttercrane and walk across rather than fork out for the cost of the parking.

Now don't hold me to this as timing as ever appears to be everything!

horse7

ta,plenty of parking in sainsburys,and you take a ticket as you drive in to the carpark,which has the time on it,you get the ticket stamped in sainsburys and that gives you 2 hours free from the time you got your car park ticket.buttercrane fairly full,just got a spot on the 5 th floor.the stock in sainsburys very low on sainsbury items and specials out of stock.

Dionysus

Anybody know the cheapest place in the north to buy a case of Peroni beer from?

Birra Moretti could be a good alternative.

In_tuition

Sainsburys in Newry isn't closing down until March, taking a week off then to revamp the entire inside. Losing the sit-down eating area and having a food bar. Far greater room in the isles, hopefully be something similar to Kennedy Way with the width of the isles, although nowhere near as large in total.

Cicero

I was there yesterday...I must be simply blind....you could have fooled me that it was refurbished....I obviously just don't notice these things...only that you say it now, on reflection I thought there were a few changes here and there...:o

hatetherain!

No posts here for a while!
Am thinking of going to Newry, and or the Outlet in Banbridge tomorrow.
As I've never been before, was just looking to see if its worth going, or if anyone has any advice or tips.
Was told by a friend of a friend not to go to Banbridge with a car with southern plates, now I thought he was joking but he said he wasnt?
Surely in this day and age it isnt an issue???

Any help appreciated!
Thanks

mickoneill30

hatetherain! wrote: »

No posts here for a while!
Am thinking of going to Newry, and or the Outlet in Banbridge tomorrow.
As I've never been before, was just looking to see if its worth going, or if anyone has any advice or tips.
Was told by a friend of a friend not to go to Banbridge with a car with southern plates, now I thought he was joking but he said he wasnt?
Surely in this day and age it isnt an issue???

Any help appreciated!
Thanks

No idea about current offers in the Outlet, it's been a long time since I've been up there too. In general I've found it to be pretty good. Shoes and shirts were cheap for me the last time I went up. For my missus she's normally more patient and spend hoooooooours looking through every shop and is more interested in brand names so normally she came away happy.
When I was last in the Outlet half the cars in the car park had southern plates. I've never had a problem up there. Actually I've found the people to be very friendly (Newry, Armagh, Banbridge are the places I've been in the last couple of years).

hatetherain!

Thanks Mick!

He defo must have been joking!
Think I'm a bit like ur wife!...am on the lookout for some designer labels!

Thanks Again!

wait4me

hatetherain! wrote: »

No posts here for a while!
Am thinking of going to Newry, and or the Outlet in Banbridge tomorrow.
As I've never been before, was just looking to see if its worth going, or if anyone has any advice or tips.
Was told by a friend of a friend not to go to Banbridge with a car with southern plates, now I thought he was joking but he said he wasnt?
Surely in this day and age it isnt an issue???

Any help appreciated!
Thanks

First thing to remember is that shops open late on Sunday. Secondly I would be surprised to see a NI-reg'ed car at the Outlet which, by the way, is outside of Banbridge. Most of the cars I saw when last there were D-reg'ed.
oops - post crossed with Mick's

signman12

hatetherain! wrote: »

No posts here for a while!
Am thinking of going to Newry, and or the Outlet in Banbridge tomorrow.
As I've never been before, was just looking to see if its worth going, or if anyone has any advice or tips.
Was told by a friend of a friend not to go to Banbridge with a car with southern plates, now I thought he was joking but he said he wasnt?
Surely in this day and age it isnt an issue???

Any help appreciated!
Thanks

going to the outlet is'nt a problem with southern plates, your friend of a friend must be a complete idiot.
I go to a lot of places up north with my van & never have any problems

hatetherain!

signman12 wrote: »

going to the outlet is'nt a problem with southern plates, your friend of a friend must be a complete idiot.
I go to a lot of places up north with my van & never have any problems

Thanks for the replies. We're definately going now, have booked a hotel in Dundalk as we travelling from Cork.

And Signman...yes hes has been know to be quiet idiotic at times!!! Think I'll just ignore him from now on!

DublinWriter

hatetherain! wrote: »

Was told by a friend of a friend not to go to Banbridge with a car with southern plates, now I thought he was joking but he said he wasnt?

I go up to Tescos in Banbridge Town and the Outlet every couple of weeks in my southern reg car and I've never had any bother.

Atlantic Dawn

I've been in Banbridge a couple of times and nobody ever looked sideways at me, plenty of southern cars. I'd say if the kerbs are blue maybe avoid area with a southern car but to be honest nobody really cares anymore. Perhaps around 12th July going might not be best, otherwise fine.

91011

hatetherain! wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. We're definately going now, have booked a hotel in Dundalk as we travelling from Cork.

And Signman...yes hes has been know to be quiet idiotic at times!!! Think I'll just ignore him from now on!

if its designer gear, banbridge may not have everything you want. It has a few high end stores, but most are quite ordinary high street stores albeit at discounted prices.

another option would be on the way up, drop into kildare outlets (on top of kildare exit on M7) - smaller selection of stores (56) but far greater selection of high end stores (dkny, 7even, molton brown, all saints, radley, ralph lauren etc www.kildarevillage.com )

bladespin

Used to travell through the North quite a bit with work, even around the 12th :eek:, southern plates on the car, never had any problems, the pmurals and kerb paint can intimidate but that's about it.

I did work with a guy who reckoned the union jack hanging from lampposts was frightening.

g32

91011 wrote: »

if its designer gear, banbridge may not have everything you want. It has a few high end stores, but most are quite ordinary high street stores albeit at discounted prices.

another option would be on the way up, drop into kildare outlets (on top of kildare exit on M7) - smaller selection of stores (56) but far greater selection of high end stores (dkny, 7even, molton brown, all saints, radley, ralph lauren etc www.kildarevillage.com )

Kildare Outlet Village are a complete rip-off as regards prices. Even during the sales, prices remained high, there were clumbsy offers also.

91011

g32 wrote: »

Kildare Outlet Village are a complete rip-off as regards prices. Even during the sales, prices remained high, there were clumbsy offers also.

Yet another g32 false statement without any back-up whatsoever. - You seem to have a habit of this! - Still no answer to queries raised on rip-off ireland thread? - Truth hurts.

Kildare Village has seen sales rise 18% this year ontop of a 22% increase last year. - Every other centre in Ireland has seen sales drop by up to 30%.

Here's just a sample of everyday prices

LK Bennet - Ladies shoes reduced from €189 to €109, ladies dresses reduced from €240 to €130.

Cath Kidston - Table cloths reduced from €66 (stg price £60) to €40. Aprons reduced from €28 (stg £25) to €13.50.

Ralph Lauren - Polo tops reduced from €75 to €34.95, shirts reduced from €95 to €44.95

Molton brown 33% to 50% off their everyday ranges.

Northface - utterly superb reductions if you need good hiking gear. Usually 40% but up to 70% on some lines.

Nike - huge range of sports shoes at average 40% off - and seems to be cheaper than the banbridge outlet last time I checked (about 8 months ago).

Thomas Pink shirts - average 40% off retail prices. shirts starting at €25.

Bally - always have additional discounts in addition to thier 30% - 40% off.

DKNY - mostly 40% - 50% off

Lacoste - Mostly 40% off retail prices

Don't get me wrong - Banbridge has plenty of offers & deal too as does chester & bicester in England and every other real outlet centre (rathdowney does not count). Banbridge is disappointing for designer gear but excellent for everyday gear. Kildare Village is the same company that operates Bicester & other European outlets and the parent company operates all the Premium Outlet malls in the USA.

Our man in Havana

UK VAT is rising to 20% in January. That will kill off the boom in NI from shopping.

g32

Haddockman wrote: »

UK VAT is rising to 20% in January. That will kill off the boom in NI from shopping.

Online shopping will continue growing. There is always a way around having to pay more here.

noodler

To be honest the exchange rate was the main reason for the cross-border shopping.

Atlantic Dawn

Haddockman wrote: »

UK VAT is rising to 20% in January. That will kill off the boom in NI from shopping.

That equats to £2.50 on every £100 and is not really going to make any difference for zero VAT items like food and childrens clothes. When savings on some items like a bottle of spirits is normally €10 or more it's still worth a trip. Grocery items have got very competitive between here and the north and this is a direct result of people shopping in the north.

91011

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

When savings on some items like a bottle of spirits is normally €10 or more it's still worth a trip. .

Current standard price for smirnoff 70cl in NI is £13.48
Current standard price in Ireland is €18.99
Current exchage rate is €1.238 per £stg (Ulster Bank buy rate as of 5pm today)
Saving = €2.20

Lets look at special offers

Asda for smirnoff - £11 until 13th July. = €13.64
Molloys of licences - €16.99

so absolutely max saving based on 2 special offers in NI & ROI is €3.35 - is it really worth the hassle??? specailly when the cost of fuel up north is up to 30% more expensive!