Stores Closing in Sligo **mod warning post #720**

For Forks Sake

dingding wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/heatons-sale-to-sports-direct-court-papers-reveal-bustup-before-48m-deal-34192080.html

And that has what do with the unsubstantiated rumour of store closure being thrown around?

T-Bird

I was in there last week, thought it was strange that the window bays were empty. Perhaps they were in the middle of putting on a new display.

maryishere

butterfly28 wrote: »

Just heard that Heatons are more than likely closing after Christmas.....

Heatons are the wrong side of the town centre anyway. Narrow footpaths getting there, not much car parking, car parking too expensive in Sligo etc.

Shops in Sligo are struggling due to over development of out of town centres. More and cheaper car parking - and bus parking - in Sligo town centre should help solve that. There is no easy place for coaches of tourists to park now when they come off the inner relief road.

TireeTerror

maryishere wrote: »

Heatons are the wrong side of the town centre anyway. Narrow footpaths getting there, not much car parking, car parking too expensive in Sligo etc.

Shops in Sligo are struggling due to over development of out of town centres. More and cheaper car parking - and bus parking - in Sligo town centre should help solve that. There is no easy place for coaches of tourists to park now when they come off the inner relief road.

Where are you seeing the development out of town? In my eyes its struggling because there is no development anywhere. We should call in the IRA and ask them to do us a favour and blow up Tesco and maybe then the commerce crooks will have to get out of the way.

I was an advocate for the town when i first moved here 7 months ago, but its actually gotten worse since I arrived. The town is clean and tidy, that much is good. However there is very little when you have piles of cash in your bank to burn like I have, and as a result Ive done most shopping online because I just get bored going round the same few shops over and over. There isn't even anywhere great to go close to Sligo, so I'm leaving this place. 2 more days!

red sean

WOW! With piles of cash in the bank, we must not allow someone as valuable as you to leave. :eek:
Aw, please dont go! :rolleyes:

Buford T Justice

TireeTerror wrote: »

Where are you seeing the development out of town? In my eyes its struggling because there is no development anywhere. We should call in the IRA and ask them to do us a favour and blow up Tesco and maybe then the commerce crooks will have to get out of the way.

I was an advocate for the town when i first moved here 7 months ago, but its actually gotten worse since I arrived. The town is clean and tidy, that much is good. However there is very little when you have piles of cash in your bank to burn like I have, and as a result Ive done most shopping online because I just get bored going round the same few shops over and over. There isn't even anywhere great to go close to Sligo, so I'm leaving this place. 2 more days!

Despite what the politicians say, this is a small town in the west of Ireland. What exactly were you expecting?

TireeTerror

red sean wrote: »

WOW! With piles of cash in the bank, we must not allow someone as valuable as you to leave. :eek:
Aw, please dont go! :rolleyes:

Too late, I am off tomorrow and taking my bundles of cash with me. I do not know how you guys will survive without me, I wish you all the best though!

TireeTerror

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Despite what the politicians say, this is a small town in the west of Ireland. What exactly were you expecting?

I was not expecting anything in particular to be honest. When you look at the town, population around 20,000 and with no big towns anywhere near, it had the potential to have a decent amount of shops. The way the retail parks have been stunted, the embarrassing Tesco, the bizarre layout of the shopping centre with TK Maxx in it, potential closure of Heatons and with the attitude shown to Home Store + More regarding kitchen items, it does not indicate things are heading in the right direction. I was up at Letterkenny a while back and the difference there was staggering. It was so much better, especially the choice and layout of the retail parks. That is even taking into account the fact it has to compete on a certain level with Londonderry which obviously has a lot of shops due to its size.

I will always remember Sligo for a fantastic Fleadh, that was amazing, and how tidy the place is, its impressive how little litter there is laying about. Things I will be glad to forget are the obsession with all things Yeats and the over reliance on it as a selling point to the place. I will also remember how safe it feels to be on a night out there, I was maybe lucky, but I never felt danger ever.

I guess the main thing pushing me out is that there is not really anywhere to go thats got anything within 30 minutes of Sligo. Places like Ballina, Manorhamilton dont have anything in particular worth going out for.

maryishere

TireeTerror wrote: »

Where are you seeing the development out of town?

The over development of out of town centres has ruined Sligo. It should never have been allowed to happen. In the tiger years places like Cleveragh "retail park "were built, its now half empty, with only a few shops. Unlike surrounding towns ( Enniskillen, Castlebar, L'Kenny etc ) its Argos is not within walking distance of the town cente. In the other direction, again too far to walk to, Duncans island was built...I heard its now half empty, with only a few shops. In the other direction, again too far to walk to, Carraroe retail park, a few miles from Sligo town centre was built, and its now half empty too. They have taken business from the town centre....for example, the anchor tenant fast food business at the entrance to the retail park moved from the town centre. The lidl and aldi are not within walking distance of any of the above 4 areas and are not even on a main route.

Lessons should have been learned from England. Development should have been from the centre out. Most people who come in to Sligo come in via inner relief road. There should be more and cheaper and accessible parking in Sligo. There needs to be a "critical mass" of shops / attractions in one place.

sligono1

Where would put Argos aldi lidl etc in the town centre??

Duncan's island was focused on furniture,stoves heavy good's you don't put them slap bang in the middle of a town.

Buford T Justice

**Cough cough** chamber of commerce will have none of those sort of things in this town, lest they affect their own interests.

After all, they've done away with homestore and more didn't they?

mountainy man

I have been trying to think of something positive about Sligo town (not a city!) but I can't, It is a disaster, its grim, cluttered, footpaths too narrow with water from the downspouts spilling out over them, bollards and beggars to trip over, its not a happy tale to tell. Look up some day on our main shopping street and see the grass and trees growing from gutters and chimneys and the peeling paint on the upper stories of these shops, it looks very neglected and has done for many years.

It is a difficult place to navigate by car even when you know your way about, I would hate to hear what tourists/strangers think about it, parking is utterly inadequate and expensive and the tesco carpark is pocked with holes and the surface is so rough it is a pain to push a trolley across it.

Much of Sligo needs to be knocked and started again and I would tie up the Chamber of Crooks and leave them in a basement in the demolition zone.

I have given up on Sligo and now shop in Carrick on Shannon which is a much more pleasant place to be even when parts are under water.

MM

topmanamillion

mountainy man wrote: »

I have given up on Sligo and now shop in Carrick on Shannon which is a much more pleasant place to be even when parts are under water.

As bad as Sligo is Carrick is a complete and utter right off. The bridge creates a Bottle neck which funnels you on a slope straight into a very dangerous round about.
Then if they even put on a small circus or a car boot sale the traffic is left queuing 2 mile out the Boyle road. I wouldn't touch the place with a barge pole and that's without ever mentioning the regular flooding.

As for Sligo the reason the industrial estates were built in the first place is because there's so little parking in the town and it would have been madness to bring more traffic into the town centre. There just isn't anywhere to build more carparks and there's no way to widen mainstreet roads with buildings on bot sides.
At the time the industrial estates were built it made sense. They had purpose built buildings and ample free car parking. It's just hindsight to say they shouldn't have been built because subsequently the economy went into recession and many of the businesses that were ear marked went out of business or were unable to move in or when they did move in business wasn't as good as envisaged.

johnire

Brodericks and The Irish House in OConnell St are closing in Jsnuary.

hobosoap

Buford T Justice wrote: »

**Cough cough** chamber of commerce will have none of those sort of things in this town, lest they affect their own interests.

After all, they've done away with homestore and more didn't they?

Homestore and more was not in the town it was in the retail park. Getting stores into Sligo town is exactly what the Chamber of Commerce has been trying to do. You seem to be very confused about the situation given you think they will 'have none of those sort of things in this town" as that is precisely what they are putting their necks on the line trying to make happen.

As @maryishere has pointed out, out of town development is the ruination of vast numbers of small regional towns throughout the UK and Ireland. Sligo has done reasonably well to minimise this effect by strictly adhering to the already existing planning laws on which type of stores can move out of town.

There is a firm plan of what to do with the Sligo town centre (Tesco/Pennys/Dunnes + car park). It include lots of new shopping, apartments and a multi-storey car park just off the mid-block dual carriage way. It has been a firm plan for over a decade. You'd have to look at local government to see why it hasn't been delivered for Sligo during the past boom and then the economic crash for why it hasn't moved forward since 2008. Hopefully it will happen in the near future given the improving economy.

One thing is for sure, if further out of town development was allowed, or if some of the stores who tried to move to retail parks were allowed to go there in past years, you can kiss goodbye to any hope of the planned Sligo town centre redevelopment happening and providing a vibrant, pleasant place for the people of Sligo in the future. Or ask any student in first year of a planning degree or simply look at any of the multitude of towns in the UK and Ireland that were destroyed and have never recovered due to out of town development in the 90s and 00s. This is not rocket science, all you have to do is take note of mistakes already made many times elsewhere. Hopefully Sligo stays the course in order to deliver the town centre we all deserve.

Andy From Sligo

topmanamillion wrote: »

.... At the time the industrial estates were built it made sense. They had purpose built buildings and ample free car parking. It's just hindsight to say they shouldn't have been built because subsequently the economy went into recession and many of the businesses that were ear marked went out of business or were unable to move in or when they did move in business wasn't as good as envisaged.

So wouldnt it have been better to have 'forced' the likes of Lidl / Aldi /Argos down where taheny electrical is that road (is that called duncans island?) that would a a more ideal place to walk to get to rather than where they are at the moment no?

redarmyblues

Lots of towns and cities have similar streetscapes to Sligo, they just don't build bypasses through their centres. In 2004 when that road opened there wasn't an empty unit with any sort of footfall for rent in Sligo. There was an option for a western bypass with an access road to Sligo along the quays where you could have had your Aldis, Lidls, Homebases, Homestores and More etc all within walking distance of the town centre but also easy to get to by car from the bypass.

topmanamillion

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

So wouldnt it have been better to have 'forced' the likes of Lidl / Aldi /Argos down where taheny electrical is that road (is that called duncans island?) that would a a more ideal place to walk to get to rather than where they are at the moment no?

Walk? Aldi/lidl are there to cater for people driving in/coming from outside of the town centre doing the weekly shop. That's why they build carparks. Foot traffic is a tiny portion of their trade.
If your looking for milk and bread you go to the local filling station or corner shop.

Andy From Sligo

topmanamillion wrote: »

Walk? Aldi/lidl are there to cater for people driving in/coming from outside of the town centre doing the weekly shop. That's why they build carparks. Foot traffic is a tiny portion of their trade.
If your looking for milk and bread you go to the local filling station or corner shop.

but most other towns have Lidl and aldi where you can reach them easily by foot and by car from the town centre haven't they?

worlds goodest teecher

topmanamillion wrote: »

Walk? Aldi/lidl are there to cater for people driving in/coming from outside of the town centre doing the weekly shop. That's why they build carparks. Foot traffic is a tiny portion of their trade.
If your looking for milk and bread you go to the local filling station or corner shop.

Not being smart but Aldi only built half a car park.

Andy From Sligo

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Not being smart but Aldi only built half a car park.

did anyone try tackling the Sligo Aldi 'car park' today? - its a bloody joke that! - and they shouldnt have put the chemist there, the rest of the Aldi car park should be where the chemist is! - why does Sligo get it so wrong most of the time in planning?

whatswhat

hobosoap wrote: »

Homestore and more was not in the town it was in the retail park. Getting stores into Sligo town is exactly what the Chamber of Commerce has been trying to do. You seem to be very confused about the situation given you think they will 'have none of those sort of things in this town" as that is precisely what they are putting their necks on the line trying to make happen.

As @maryishere has pointed out, out of town development is the ruination of vast numbers of small regional towns throughout the UK and Ireland. Sligo has done reasonably well to minimise this effect by strictly adhering to the already existing planning laws on which type of stores can move out of town.

There is a firm plan of what to do with the Sligo town centre (Tesco/Pennys/Dunnes + car park). It include lots of new shopping, apartments and a multi-storey car park just off the mid-block dual carriage way. It has been a firm plan for over a decade. You'd have to look at local government to see why it hasn't been delivered for Sligo during the past boom and then the economic crash for why it hasn't moved forward since 2008. Hopefully it will happen in the near future given the improving economy.

One thing is for sure, if further out of town development was allowed, or if some of the stores who tried to move to retail parks were allowed to go there in past years, you can kiss goodbye to any hope of the planned Sligo town centre redevelopment happening and providing a vibrant, pleasant place for the people of Sligo in the future. Or ask any student in first year of a planning degree or simply look at any of the multitude of towns in the UK and Ireland that were destroyed and have never recovered due to out of town development in the 90s and 00s. This is not rocket science, all you have to do is take note of mistakes already made many times elsewhere. Hopefully Sligo stays the course in order to deliver the town centre we all deserve.

Whilst I agree with some points you make "Having a Firm Plan for over a decade" and nothing whatsoever has progressed during that time, does not cut it. In fact in my opinion it would be screaming "It will never happen" and in fairness,it probably won't. Whoever is at fault for this, I do not know but certainly opportunities have been missed and the ship may have altogether
now sailed!

Regarding your reference to "out of town development" and the destruction of town centres in the UK & Ireland, there will always be a certain element of expansion that you will never halt, some call that progress, some would not agree but sadly, that's life. I lived in the UK for over 30 years and saw what happened to a lot of towns, for better or for worse. Places that faired better [even though they had out of town Retail Parks on their doorsteps] were places like York, places that had listed buildings and places of beauty like lakes, castles, Abbeys, Rivers and lots of interesting things to do and see whilst visiting or living there. That said, not one and I mean not one, had as much to offer in one basket, the whole package, that in my eyes, Sligo has.

We need to wake up and smell the coffee, start to focus on working in unison with Retail and Tourism working side by side together, to promote Sligo and its town shops, out of town shops, whatever, to just get folk to come on a regular basis and improve its economy, so that every retailer wants a business here. The more you can offer, the more folk it attracts repeatedly and this is key.

Andy From Sligo

I wonder (statistically) how many people who live in or very near to Sligo dont any longer shop in Sligo and prefer travelling that little bit further for better choice of shops, better, ample, more value for money parking, better pavements, maybe pedestrianised - and spend all that extra money on top of shopping, what is associated with a day out (you know like food . refreshments and snacks) - i mean how long can a town sustain seeing so much business being lost with people shopping in other nearby areas?

I have to bite my tongue sometimes when some people frown upon people that shop out of the area and dont shop locally because im like 'well if Sligo was better and more like how other towns have advanced and modernised and moved with the times and have made an effort to make people shop in their towns by making it more attractive and allowing choices of shops (without petty rules or preventing shops from setting up business and actually welcoming new shops and businesses to the area) - then I am pretty sure that people who live in or around Sligo would have no need to go to other nearby towns and spend their money!'

yes the Town centre of sligo is a weird one, you cannot flatten it and start all over again as much as some people would like , so you got to get experts in to look at it in its present state and look at areas where it could be improved and get some more chains interested maybe the likes of marks and sparks and iceland , New look, a decent size supermarket (decent Tesco or Dunnes actually on the main street or just off it) ARGOS (again on the high street - not where it is) big toyshop in the actual town centre like toymaster or Smyths. I am sure there are more good shops that would be an asset to the town.

Yes I know these places need substantive car parks and entrances to delivery lorries but I bet with road planning experts (looking at the town on the whole and where extra car parks could be fitted in) and the co-operation of the council to grant where the extra car parking can go and at reasonable rates for parking (like other towns have) - i bet its do-able .

worlds goodest teecher

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Not being smart but Aldi only built half a car park.

Nor is there actually pedestrian access/footpath from Cranmore Rd into Aldi car park, you have to either cross gravel or walk through the vehicle access. How was that permitted? Not wheelchair friendly. Not exactly related to where this thread was going but just pointing it out.

Kevin3

hobosoap wrote: »

As @maryishere has pointed out, out of town development is the ruination of vast numbers of small regional towns throughout the UK and Ireland. Sligo has done reasonably well to minimise this effect by strictly adhering to the already existing planning laws on which type of stores can move out of town.

Good post with interesting views but I have to ask which towns in Ireland have been badly affected by out of town development? To be honest I can't think of any. I can only think of towns that have been improved by their presence other than Sligo of course, but that's because of Sligo's inexplicable restriction of large anchor stores/supermarkets.

easkey

Kevin3 wrote: »

Good post with interesting views but I have to ask which towns in Ireland have been badly affected by out of town development? To be honest I can't think of any. I can only think of towns that have been improved by their presence other than Sligo of course, but that's because of Sligo's inexplicable restriction of large anchor stores/supermarkets.

YES - exactly.....

"KEEP ALL THE BUSINESS FOR OURSELVES" :mad::mad::mad::mad:

maryishere

Kevin3 wrote: »

... Sligo's inexplicable restriction of large anchor stores/supermarkets.

There is plenty of room on brown field sites close to the town centre / inner relief road. There are plenty of sites for large anchor stores / supermarkets within walking distance of the town centre, and where large car parks could be developed too. There is a disused timber yard for example, just off the inner relief road and yet within 5 minutes walk of the town centre. There are lots of other brown field sites even closer to the town centre. As someone else said, there "is a firm plan of what to do with the Sligo town centre (Tesco/Pennys/Dunnes + car park). It include lots of new shopping, apartments and a multi-storey car park just off the mid-block dual carriage way." More parking, and cheaper parking, would help the town centre a lot.

hobosoap wrote: »

One thing is for sure, if further out of town development was allowed, or if some of the stores who tried to move to retail parks were allowed to go there in past years, you can kiss goodbye to any hope of the planned Sligo town centre redevelopment happening and providing a vibrant, pleasant place for the people of Sligo in the future. Or ask any student in first year of a planning degree or simply look at any of the multitude of towns in the UK and Ireland that were destroyed and have never recovered due to out of town development in the 90s and 00s. This is not rocket science, all you have to do is take note of mistakes already made many times elsewhere. Hopefully Sligo stays the course in order to deliver the town centre we all deserve.

+1. Well said.

Kevin3 wrote: »

which towns in Ireland have been badly affected by out of town development?

Sligo springs to mind the most because I cannot think of any other small town which has allowed so many out of town developments which are so far away / not within walking distance in hard to find places. Try describing how to find any , or get to any, to a visitor or tourist. For example, someone who arrives at the bus or train station. Send them in a taxi!

TireeTerror

maryishere wrote: »

There is plenty of room on brown field sites close to the town centre / inner relief road. There are plenty of sites for large anchor stores / supermarkets within walking distance of the town centre, and where large car parks could be developed too. There is a disused timber yard for example, just off the inner relief road and yet within 5 minutes walk of the town centre. There are lots of other brown field sites even closer to the town centre. As someone else said, there "is a firm plan of what to do with the Sligo town centre (Tesco/Pennys/Dunnes + car park). It include lots of new shopping, apartments and a multi-storey car park just off the mid-block dual carriage way." More parking, and cheaper parking, would help the town centre a lot.


+1. Well said.

Sligo springs to mind the most because I cannot think of any other small town which has allowed so many out of town developments which are so far away / not within walking distance in hard to find places. Try describing how to find any , or get to any, to a visitor or tourist. For example, someone who arrives at the bus or train station. Send them in a taxi!

Drogheda. The M1 retail park is not even close to the town centre. It also has a town centre crippled by one way traffic. In fact the town centre is so annoying to go through and so time consuming, that often I found myself going from one retail park to the other by going onto the motorway and paying the toll to cross the bridge.

maryishere

TireeTerror wrote: »

.. I found myself going from one retail park to the other by going onto the motorway and paying the toll to cross the bridge.

So in Drogheda you end up having to use a car to get from one shop to another?Does not sound like being very sustainable , stress free or environmentally friendly. And what about those who do not have a car, or are too old or too young to drive a car, or are visiting without a car, or who cannot afford a car?

All town planners would agree Sligo needs to develop from the centre out. There needs to be more cheap car parking at the entry point in to Sligo, for cars and also coaches. More tourist coaches now just bypass Sligo on the Inner Relief road. The money and opportunities Sligo is losing is just unbelieveable.

mojopin10

Maybe if everyone is so miserable in Sligo you could all leave? It's not perfect but certainly not as horrific as everyone here makes it out to be.