New Dunnes Patrick Street

flo8s967qjh0nd

I think the new Dunnes on Patrick Street is opening on Thursday. Haven't heard much about it to be honest. Anybody heard whether there's going to be an opening bash or something? Any celebs going to be there?

mudokon

The only thing I heard about was a competition on 96fm where they were looking for 65 people who's birthday was the same day as the stores opening. Each person got a €65 Dunnes voucher & one person would win a €650 voucher.

Vinta81

I've a few friends working their, I'll ask them later. They open at 11 I think?

deRanged

Vinta81 wrote: »

I've a few friends working their, I'll ask them later. They open at 11 I think?

thurs 10th at 11 am.

Funsterdelux

I can't wait, I'm gonna be there for it!

Donagh_mc

I never realised that the Dunnes on Patrick St was the first Dunes in Ireland! I must compliment them on the design from the outside! A job well done!

They gave away €65,000 worth of prizes on the Late Late so there's surely a load of offers on opening day!

CorkMan

Brendan Cool Writer wrote: »

I think the new Dunnes on Patrick Street is opening on Thursday. Haven't heard much about it to be honest. Anybody heard whether there's going to be an opening bash or something? Any celebs going to be there?

Fiddy Cent is due to make an appearance.

rebel.ranter

CorkMan wrote: »

Fiddy Cent is due to make an appearance.

Also €9.99.

I think it is great that they (Dunnes) are investing so much in the centre of town. The retail parks & satellite shopping centres have really killed the city centre. However I am a bit disappointed at how much of Patrick Street will be moving into the new Academy Street complex though....

flo8s967qjh0nd

While its great to see the academy street/half moon street coming along, I'd also be worried that it would suck some of the life out of Patrick Street.
In fairness to Boots, while they are opening a giant new store there, they are also keeping their Merchants Quay shopping centre shop and the Patrick Street shop open.
Topshop are opening there, which presumably means that they will close their concession store in Debenhams - so no major loss there. NEXT are leaving merchants quay to take up a large new store in the new centre. As their merchants quay was always just a temporary solution, that won't be much of a problem. H&M are new to Cork, so thats good.

So, while the stores announced so far won't have a direct effect on Patrick Street, its hard to say what else will go in there. I'm really hoping for some more announcements for academy street - those so far have been well flagged in advance.

It seems Merchants Quay shopping centre will feel the pinch most severely. MQ really needs an overhaul and a refurbishment of the outside. It looks horrible from the quays and is slowly loosing tenants.

Oafley Jones

Brendan Cool Writer wrote: »

It seems Merchants Quay shopping centre will feel the pinch most severely. MQ really needs an overhaul and a refurbishment of the outside. It looks horrible from the quays and is slowly loosing tenants.

It's a bit depressing in there. Lots of empty units in MQ. Although, it's not as bad as it was a months backs when the entire ground floor seemed to be unoccupied. Rates must be through the roof there.

star.chaser

Donagh_mc wrote: »

I never realised that the Dunnes on Patrick St was the first Dunes in Ireland!

you know on the dunnes stores bag, theirs a little old corner shop with the better value sign. thats the one on patrick street that was just rebuilt. it's been merged with the other three building next to it but still exactly the same as origionally. still has the better value ****e on the side wall too. now, i bet thats brightened up your day. and heres another bit of uninteresting guff i thought you might like to know. directly across the road is the first roches store. aka, debenhams

flo8s967qjh0nd

Fair play to Dunnes, they refurbished no.105 (the original Dunnes Store) to look like it did back when it opened. They could have just ignored the history and built a bland shopfront instead.

Interestingly, I've just heard that the groceries section of the new store will be in the basement. Womenswear will be on ground and 1st floor; childrens on the 2nd floor with Mens, Home and a Cafe on the 3rd floor.

JP Liz

There probably will be prizes galore at the opening

kingtut

It is great that it is re-opening! I'm curious though is it going to be much different than before? Like am I going to walk in and go wow this is amazing, I'm never going to the other supermarkets again.

First thing I'll be checking is the prices and whether they are trying to be competitive.

I think it looks like on the outside anyway but I won't see the inside until Friday.

kingtut

kingtut wrote: »

It is great that it is re-opening! I'm curious though is it going to be much different than before? Like am I going to walk in and go wow this is amazing, I'm never going to the other supermarkets again.

First thing I'll be checking is the prices and whether they are trying to be competitive.

I think it looks like on the outside anyway but I won't see the inside until Friday.

The prices will be the same as every other dunnes I'd imagine.

kingtut

Deleted User wrote: »

The prices will be the same as every other dunnes I'd imagine.

I meant compare their price to Tescos and the likes because I hardly ever use Dunnes Stores. Can you tell me if their prices are similar to the other shops?

I'd imagine they will have a few deals to start with in order to get the crowds in and all that

deRanged

they were getting ready for the grand reopening this morning:

JP Liz

It was jointed this morning

They have a pay and swipe competition going on for valueclub cardholders

simu

kingtut wrote: »

It is great that it is re-opening! I'm curious though is it going to be much different than before? Like am I going to walk in and go wow this is amazing, I'm never going to the other supermarkets again.

I'm hoping it'll be a pleasant, tidy environment for grocery shopping. Tesco in town (the shop I usually use) always looks a bit dirty and it's gone to the dogs altogether in recent weeks - they rearranged all the products, reduced their stock and there are hoardings around the escalator that give the place a cramped, Soviet-style vibe. Supervalu in MQ just doesn't have a wide enough selection of stuff - if you're getting the ingredients for a recipe, they're guaranteed to lack anything that's any way unusual.

Although, I'm not that keen on a basement for food

Fabio

Feck Tesco now, Dunnes all the way if I ever need anything in town.

Dankoozy

People queuing up outside Dunnes.. madness

Dankoozy

simu wrote: »

Soviet-style vibe.

blame "Back in the USSR" for that

kingtut

Well just went for a trip outside the new Dunnes and can't say I am all that impressed.

Positives:
Created 200 jobs!
Great location

Negatives:
Really dirty! - perhaps it is a once off seeing as they had an extraordinary amount of people through their doors.
Although there are a few 'opening day offers' in the food part on average they are no cheaper than anywhere else.

I'll continue doing my food shopping in the cheaper supermarkets, as for clothing, I'll shop around also but will certainly add Dunnes Stores to the list (for boxers / socks etc).

Donagh_mc

Called in yesterday after work. It's pretty nice in there although the stock is the exact same as every other Dunnes

They were giving away a Wii Sport when I was in there. Didn't win though

Surprised it's all clothes and no food! Looks like I'll still be going to Tesco for that!

kingtut

Donagh_mc wrote: »

They were giving away a Wii Sport when I was in there. Didn't win though

Were they giving away just wii sports or a wii with wii sports? I'm guessing you mean the console and game. Hard luck with not winning

Donagh_mc wrote: »

Surprised it's all clothes and no food! Looks like I'll still be going to Tesco for that!

Umm the food is in the basement, escalators are over to the left when you walk in

Funsterdelux

Donagh_mc wrote: »

Surprised it's all clothes and no food! Looks like I'll still be going to Tesco for that!

Foods down in the basement!

Down in the basement!

Snap!

Donagh_mc

Ya I meant a Wii + Wii Sport. Some woman walking in the door won it just 2 minutes after I walked in

Basement? Ah I missed that! It was jammed in there in my own defence

kingtut

Donagh_mc wrote: »

Ya I meant a Wii + Wii Sport. Some woman walking in the door won it just 2 minutes after I walked in

Basement? Ah I missed that! It was jammed in there in my own defence

I already have a wii so if I won I would have given it to a friend or something, mind you I was not actually at the opening and had no intention of being at it.

flo8s967qjh0nd

kingtut wrote: »

I already have a wii so if I won I would have given it to a friend or something, mind you I was not actually at the opening and had no intention of being at it.

So, you weren't there, so you couldn't win and you didn't want to win anyway....intriguing

Haven't been in there yet, but I hear its very well laid out. I'm not convinced about groceries in the basement but I guess its the only way they could have got around the old problem they had of checkouts blocking the front of the store.

Are there any entrances to the store besides the front (Patrick Street) and the rear (Bowling Green Street)? A major problem could be that the side streets remain underused and a "no-go" area. Contrast that to the very active street that is being created on Faulkners Lane due to the new Opera Lane development.

MunsterCycling

Brendan Cool Writer wrote: »

Fair play to Dunnes, they refurbished no.105 (the original Dunnes Store) to look like it did back when it opened. They could have just ignored the history and built a bland shopfront instead.

Interestingly, I've just heard that the groceries section of the new store will be in the basement. Womenswear will be on ground and 1st floor; childrens on the 2nd floor with Mens, Home and a Cafe on the 3rd floor.

Nope the buildings facade had a preservation order on them so they had no choice on the look of the front, it couldn't be changed but fair dues to them for investing in the city centre.

MC

440Hz

I popped in there briefly yesterday. I love the job they did on the 'old' building, from the front, but that was about it. Inside it feels more like Pennys then Dunnes, and the quality of the clothing/homeware is pretty much the same. Although, a friend of mine is a buyer for Dunnes, and he said that they are actually aiming to compete with Pennys now, so they are trying to put the emphasis on price rather than quality.

I must say though, I'm not a fan. I may drop in there for food, but that will be it!

simu

440Hz wrote: »

I popped in there briefly yesterday. I love the job they did on the 'old' building, from the front, but that was about it. Inside it feels more like Pennys then Dunnes, and the quality of the clothing/homeware is pretty much the same. Although, a friend of mine is a buyer for Dunnes, and he said that they are actually aiming to compete with Pennys now, so they are trying to put the emphasis on price rather than quality.

I went for a look yesterday evening and I must agree - the quality of the clothes and shoes is shockingly bad. Baskets full of crappy €2 ballerinas! I never used to buy clothes in Dunnes anyway but I thought they used to be a bit better quality than that. The food section looks clean although a bit narrow - I'll have to do an actual shop there before I can judge it properly!

sunnyside

440Hz wrote: »

Inside it feels more like Pennys then Dunnes, and the quality of the clothing/homeware is pretty much the same. Although, a friend of mine is a buyer for Dunnes, and he said that they are actually aiming to compete with Pennys now, so they are trying to put the emphasis on price rather than quality.
!

That's what I thought, it's like Penneys with food. In fact it's cheaper than Penneys. The most expensive item of clothing I saw was €30 and that was a coat. I prefer TK Maxx myself but there's definitely a market for what they are selling.

The restaurant doesn't look great, I was expecting it to be like the restaurant in Henry Street Dublin.

sunnyside

I was in there again today, it's even busier than last week. Difficult to shop with the crowds.

Dankoozy

all old biddies with their Dunnes Value Cards?

sunnyside

Dankoozy wrote: »

all old biddies with their Dunnes Value Cards?

Some but definitely not all. Barrys teabags for €1 in every single basket but apart from the odd offer like that Tesco is probably still cheaper and there's no parking so I don't know how people are managing with the trollies.

It looks like the worst place to work.