Shopping in Northern Ireland

Racket

RiverWilde wrote: »

How is it bad news for the UK economy? Euro tourists shopping in the UK, exporters in the UK getting more return on their investments, vat receipts rolling in due to higher sales etc.

The bloody reverse of what's happening here in the south - retailers whinging that 'nobody loves them any more and they're off to the garden to eat worms.' Exporters to the UK suffering from the same complaint.

Me? I love it, I get to do my shopping for a whole lot less and I'm not scowled at by southern retailers who try to wring every last penny from my pocket for basic essential items.

Riv

oh I never meant it as overall bad news for the UK, just that all it will take to get it to parity now is another piece of bad news about their economy to weaken the confidence, if any is left at this rate, in the £. But it'll reach parity with or without it now anyway.

And I agree about the whinging retailers, the Castleblayney Chamber of Commerce have been doing their fare bit of whinging, they now have signs up around the town basically saying its not worth going to Newry because of huge tailbacks and to think and shop local.

They won't be seeing any of my money anyway, I now do my weekly shop in Armagh, and thanks to the price difference I'm actually able to save some money just in case the euro ever takes a big slide and shopping trips to the north become worthless. I'd certainly never be able to put cash away if I shopped local with their new hiked prices to pay for the 2 new shopping centres in the town.

I certainly never remember retailers ever turning away people from the north and telling them to go back to their own place with their sterling. I just couldn't be bothered listening to their whinging just because they've lost their security blanket.

daveychavez

Hi all, i'm heading up to the north at the weekend as i need to buy a load of stuff, new sat nav, two phones, a games console and maybe some stuff for the house depending on the bargains and was just wondering where should i go to? - where would have the best and most shops?
is it Belfast or is there somewhere better?

i'm travelling from munster so it doesnt matter which one as far as travel is concerned.

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.

dlambirl

tregan wrote: »

oh gosh you were late there! i'd nearly finished by then but still lots more i could buy! could you not find anything to buy? socks even!

When we arrived we popped into the Quays and then strolled over to Buttercrane. Was only landing back in the quays around 9.45pm!

I dunno just couldnt see anything i wanted :eek: or anything that'd suit wo i had to buy for!! :cool:

Desperate!!

tregan

oh dear, i think it'll be vouchers you'll have to buy or do what i did one year go to www.bothar.ie and buy a few goats, sheep and pigs! we did kris kindle this year and the running joke was that what ever name i got that they could expect another goat!

brndonnie

was listening to the radio today and heard that there is a way to get all your shopping down up north without the trouble of going up there. From what I heard you just give your shopping list and these guys go up and buy it and then deliver it to you...does anyone whether this saviour actually exists or how to contact them...? Give me the bargains without the hassle (€1= £1 soon!!)

Richard

RiverWilde wrote: »

How is it bad news for the UK economy? Euro tourists shopping in the UK, exporters in the UK getting more return on their investments, vat receipts rolling in due to higher sales etc.

But it means that imports are more expensive for us in the UK, especially those from the Eurozone.

kingshankly

Richard wrote: »

But it means that imports are more expensive for us in the UK, especially those from the Eurozone.

but your exports are now more attractive which helps employment in turn drives the economy plus you will get a lot of brittons holidaying at home which also helps. the downside would be importing oil mind you at the moment thats worth as much as sterling

mattman

you would want to be insane to shop here in the south...

beer is half price!

14.60 for a 1 litre of vodka..

I just checked a few web sites ie sansburys and tescos..

its crazy...half price...

im off on monday..any tips ? Was going to banbridge to tescos..

are the car parks full?
good offers?
tips please..


thanks.
m

ps: i made myself some dinner there yesterday..
mince, salsa mix, onion, pepper, jar of mix , paper
13euro in supervalu...rip off...

kingshankly

mattman wrote: »

you would want to be insane to shop here in the south...

beer is half price!

14.60 for a 1 litre of vodka..

I just checked a few web sites ie sansburys and tescos..

its crazy...half price...

im off on monday..any tips ? Was going to banbridge to tescos..

are the car parks full?
good offers?
tips please..


thanks.
m

ps: i made myself some dinner there yesterday..
mince, salsa mix, onion, pepper, jar of mix , paper
13euro in supervalu...rip off...

TESCOS IN BAMBRIDGE IS USUALLY OK MIND YOU YOU STILL HAVE TO GO EARLY TO AVOID THE TRAFFIC INTO NEWRY

meanmachine3

JAMM222 wrote: »

im heading up at lunchtime! just rang bank of ireland to see what there rate is, they quoted 90p to the euro so i asked him for a quote for £500 and he said including commision it will cost me € 559.43

posted at 10.44

weathercheck wrote:

Euro = 95.3p now

posted at 13.00.


just out of curiosity,or more like speculating. lets say i've no credit card and went to withdraw sterling from an A.T.M. in the quays at 13.00 would i get the exchange rate at 95.3p/€1 or would it be closer to the 90p as quoted by jam222 or does it depend on which banks A.T.M. you use up there?. i'm asking this because i've told Mrs. mean not to get me anything for christmas and instead we'll head up north after crimbo to get a few bargains.

the groutch

atm & credit card will both be at about 92.5p - 93p range

kleefarr

Typical, I went up just over a week ago and we got great deals in Sainsbury in Sprucefield with them giving .897 to the € and that was when the rate was .87 or something. Definitely made it worth while paying in Euro cash still.

311

Great savings and all ,but that money we are spending up there is gone for ever.
At least whatever we spend here is spent over and over again at home here:(
We will pay for all this later next year ,when the money is noticed missing:rolleyes:.

Happy christmas!

moany

went up to sainsburys in sprucefield today .arrived around half eleven , parking no problem , the store itself is huge great value on everything , 3 bottles of wine 10 pound, 12 cans guinness 8 pound, 1 ltr baileys 14 pound, food very reasonable , cosmetics deoderants and shampoo,s very cheap, never bought as much in my life , when i got up to till i expected the bill to be around 500 pound but was very surprised when he said 285 pound we paid in euro and was charged 305, and then to top it it off we went into sainsburys cafe and got 2 roast dinners for 8 pound . will definitely be going back

maryjane1

i went to enniskillen this morning for my food shopping. asda was only giving 85 p to 1 euro. didnt see that much of a difference in price between there and sainsburys. tesco though i found much cheaper plus half price sale was a bonus. the difference in the price to things down here is unreal. eg own brand kids juice in a little bottle (like fruit shoot) 1.19 for four pack here up north i paid £1.75 for pack of 12. i didnt check how much the rate was there because i had sterling.

i wouldnt do the drive again it took me 3 hours each way. i got a couple of things frozen and dont know whether to throw them out now because they were in the car so long?

kleefarr

maryjane1 wrote: »

i went to enniskillen this morning for my food shopping. asda was only giving 85 p to 1 euro. didnt see that much of a difference in price between there and sainsburys. tesco though i found much cheaper plus half price sale was a bonus. the difference in the price to things down here is unreal. eg own brand kids juice in a little bottle (like fruit shoot) 1.19 for four pack here up north i paid £1.75 for pack of 12. i didnt check how much the rate was there because i had sterling.

i wouldnt do the drive again it took me 3 hours each way. i got a couple of things frozen and dont know whether to throw them out now because they were in the car so long?

We had the same 3 hours each way. Will definitely be doing it again.

We didn't buy anything perishable. Would need a really cold ice box or something.

Our man in Havana

Freezer bags ftw.

Richard

kingshankly wrote: »

but your exports are now more attractive which helps employment in turn drives the economy plus you will get a lot of brittons holidaying at home which also helps. the downside would be importing oil mind you at the moment thats worth as much as sterling

True, I suppose. Just wish I'd kept my money in Euros from when I used to live in Athlone!

Just checked pumps.ie and www.petrolprices.com and even petrol seems to be more expensive in the Republic. At least compared to Asda. Wow.

muincav

Sainsburys have a Sony Bravia 32 inch TV for £349,, not too bad at all for a good brand, and Stella Artois 24x440ml cans STILL £12.99 so you can have a nice brew whilst watching a good quality TV....:D Sainsburys were giving 92.9 c to the pound today.

Mickeydee

anybody know what time the off-license opens at in sainsburys ?? I know the shop itself opens at 8 but just wondering if they can sell booze up there that early ?????

Our man in Havana

For the nth time, Alcohol may be sold between the hours of 8am and 11pm.

dreamer_ire

daveychavez wrote: »

Hi all, i'm heading up to the north at the weekend as i need to buy a load of stuff, new sat nav, two phones, a games console and maybe some stuff for the house depending on the bargains and was just wondering where should i go to? - where would have the best and most shops?
is it Belfast or is there somewhere better?

i'm travelling from munster so it doesnt matter which one as far as travel is concerned.

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.

Halfords are advertising a 50% sale on sat navs this weekend so it may be worth checking them out. I'd head for Belfast tbh but you will have lots of shoppers about, if you are staying up for the weekend be prepared to get up and out early on Saturday morning. You'll find most of what you need in Belfast and where ever you are staying will be able to guide you to the best centres etc. Two good retail parks outside Belfast - The Outlet which is on the main Dublin to Belfast road at Banbridge and Junstion 1 which is on the M2 out of Belfast. Both are great for clothes etc. Junction 1 has a Sony and a Bose shop if you are looking for that type of gadets.

Enjoy your trip

daveychavez

dreamer_ire wrote: »

Halfords are advertising a 50% sale on sat navs this weekend so it may be worth checking them out. I'd head for Belfast tbh but you will have lots of shoppers about, if you are staying up for the weekend be prepared to get up and out early on Saturday morning. You'll find most of what you need in Belfast and where ever you are staying will be able to guide you to the best centres etc. Two good retail parks outside Belfast - The Outlet which is on the main Dublin to Belfast road at Banbridge and Junstion 1 which is on the M2 out of Belfast. Both are great for clothes etc. Junction 1 has a Sony and a Bose shop if you are looking for that type of gadets.

Enjoy your trip

Thanks very much - you're a legend and the advice is much appreciated.

Guru Maith Agut

Not that you can do anything about it but for those about to go north over the next few days don't be surprised if you aren't quite getting what you should be for your exchange rate. Just got off the phone to Asda in Enniskillen there and they are only giving .87 pence per €1 yet the currency rate is at 94.4 and was at 95 yesterday. I'd sy they will try and hold off getting anywhere near the real target figure and they can make a few quid on all the extra bodies going their direction expecting a bargain. Hardly fair is it, but then life never is.

veryangryman

311 wrote: »

Great savings and all ,but that money we are spending up there is gone for ever.
At least whatever we spend here is spent over and over again at home here:(
We will pay for all this later next year ,when the money is noticed missing:rolleyes:.

Happy christmas!

No we wont. Anything we pay here is being reinvested poorly between government and businesses so as far as im concerned we cant make things any worse

Whats going to happen is that youll see alot of mergers/consolidations of businesses, much focus on innovation and in the long run, this will benefit jobs here. People adjust when the situation isn't suiting them. Customers are doing it by going north - eventually retailers will also start beign more cost effective

These things have a habit of blowing over anyway. I cant see us still going north in 10 years time to do our shopping

dlambirl

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Not that you can do anything about it but for those about to go north over the next few days don't be surprised if you aren't quite getting what you should be for your exchange rate. Just got off the phone to Asda in Enniskillen there and they are only giving .87 pence per €1 yet the currency rate is at 94.4 and was at 95 yesterday. I'd sy they will try and hold off getting anywhere near the real target figure and they can make a few quid on all the extra bodies going their direction expecting a bargain. Hardly fair is it, but then life never is.

People are still thronging the place if the exchange rate is 87p or 97p.....

So in this case, use your credit card or take your money out in sterling at the ATM outside the door

Our man in Havana

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Not that you can do anything about it but for those about to go north over the next few days don't be surprised if you aren't quite getting what you should be for your exchange rate. Just got off the phone to Asda in Enniskillen there and they are only giving .87 pence per €1 yet the currency rate is at 94.4 and was at 95 yesterday. I'd sy they will try and hold off getting anywhere near the real target figure and they can make a few quid on all the extra bodies going their direction expecting a bargain. Hardly fair is it, but then life never is.

It just goes to show that the nordies are taking advantage of the situation. Always pay in sterling or use a card, never euro cash. They want you to pay in euro, now we know why.

Dodge

Myself and Mrs Dodge decided to go to Newry yesterday. Arrived about 3pm (traffic was fine) and found a nice spot in the Quays car park. Went over to Buttercrane. Bought a couple of items of clothing in the British multiples. Best example was a coat for missus that was priced at £50/€80. Decent enough saving. Found that there wasn't substantial differences in prices in places like HMV and Zavvi. Jack & Jones advertised €1=£1. I was buying a top for £30 and the guy asked me which currency I wanted to pay, I said I had a CC and he asked again so I said Euro. He then knocked 10% off so charged £27 to credit card (found this strange…)

Anyway, the stated rate on the door of Sainsbury's was £1=.929 (as we paid by CC it wasn't an issue for us). Fairly busy but could move around and check out lines no more than 1/2 trolleys. Saw one couple buy an obscene amount of drink. At least 20 bottles of Moet champagne. I stuck with the 2x15 cans of Carlsberg (440ml) for £16. One particular tablet Mrs Dodge takes was £8 for 90, she paid €12 for 30 in a pharmacy last week

It seemed to be getting busier as we were leaving but for ourselves, it was a pretty hassle free couple of hours.

Our man in Havana

Jack & Jones advertised €1=£1. I was buying a top for £30 and the guy asked me which currency I wanted to pay, I said I had a CC and he asked again so I said Euro. He then knocked 10% off so charged £27 to credit card (found this strange…)

It is all part of the scam for euros. The real rate they are offering is not €1=£1. It makes the freestater think he is getting a good deal. It is really a marketing strategy.

Racket

The 10% would have been knocked off just so you paid as close to €30 with your CC rate