Athlone Town Centre - did we need it?

lt_cmdr_worf

With HMV opening new stores in Sligo and Kilkenny and once again snubbing Athlone, and these days with rather low footfall, it poses a not-so age old question: did the town really need it?

746watts

nope not needed with Golden Island in operation too. Only enough business in town for 1 shopping centre I reckon.

mr_edge_to_you

don't think it really needed it. i think they were trying to model it on dundrum but its nowhere near that level. zavvi pulling out was a big blow to it. i think it interesting thing is that argos, penney's and boots didn't go near it. they are massive companies who know what is going in the economy, the fact the none of them went the road speaks volumes in my opinion. it needed better restaurants too!

cena

golden island is always busy not like the other one. i do miss eason in golden island

veryangryman

Golden Island has space, free parking and a decent value anchor store

If ATC made parking free and managed to drag Dunnes over, the tide may turn, but why would they go? Like Penneys etc, they know that the smart money is in GI. Easons must feel like right muppets moving

746watts

cena wrote: »

golden island is always busy not like the other one. i do miss eason in golden island

i agree, easons shouldn't have moved, and the new location lacks the relaxed atmosphere the GI store had.

AckwelFoley

ive been in the new shopping centre no more than 4 or 5 times since it opened.

Why?

Parking. I aint paying for it.

time lord

Dont shoot the mesanger but I prefer the new Town Center.

The toilets are free and streets ahead of G.Island.
Since Tes*o took over G.Island the center it is far dirtier.
There is more variety for male shopping in the new Town Center.
I guarantee when Tes*o sell of the center again paid parking will happen.
The Town Center is far better for lunch.
Vending machines on site are also somtimes appreciated..

just my opinion.

demanufactured

snyper wrote: »

ive been in the new shopping centre no more than 4 or 5 times since it opened.

Why?

Parking. I aint paying for it.

I agree lad , pay parking is for dubs....and suckers.

emcc

lt_cmdr_worf wrote: »

With HMV opening new stores in Sligo and Kilkenny and once again snubbing Athlone, and these days with rather low footfall, it poses a not-so age old question: did the town really need it?

HMV are taking over the Zavvi site in Sligo, and that's in a new centre that's dead on its arse already.

veryangryman

The few times i do go to ATC, i just park the car in GI or Dunnes. Its a 3 minute walk

And no, Athlone is not a big/important enough town to warrant having to pay to park.

As George Costanze once said in Seinfeld,


"Parking is like sex. I could be lazy and pay for it, or i could make a little effort and get it for free"

Tweenas

I prefer the athlone shopping centre to Golden island it is brighter and cleaner than Golden Island and there are nicer places to eat. I especially like the Harvest Cafe.

Saruman

I have never been very impressed with the town centre. I can't believe it is supposed to be the largest shopping centre outside of Dublin, that is simply not the case from what I can see. Every shop is tiny and it is not a patch on Mahon point in Cork to name but one.

On the other hand, it is nice for Athlone to have it though since Mullingar is much closer to me, I would prefer a decent shopping centre in Mullingar.

carolluke1

I can never find my way out of the carpark, the signage is very bad IMO. Of course I've only been in it four times since it opened. Mostly because of the carparking.

athlonelad

they should take a leaf outta the yanks books here folks. in some shopping centres in the US they "validate'' your parking when you purchase in one of the stores or if you are under a certain time in the parking lot. not really any store in there that would interset me anyways but if i got free parking id have a look. im too lazy to walk and dont want to spend money just to park my car so il be going to GI for the foreseeable future :cool:

Saruman

There are plenty of shopping centres here that give 2 or 3 hours free parking and after that you pay. That would be a good idea for there.

athlonelad

im presuming they dont offer free parking because they have the parking lot leased out to one of those parking or clamping companies.
in an unrelated matter they have started clamping down by o'briens offy now too....:eek:

lt_cmdr_worf

Any activity in it on Monday for the Modern Warfare 2 launch?

Pokerpro

Nope Athlone didnt really need a new Shopping Center or a new Hotel for that matter but glad it came for the employment factor if nothing else.

BambooBob

Athlone is well overshopped so in that sense ATC wasn't needed. However it has cleaned up a sizeable chunk of the town centre and brought new retail life to the town centre. It is a classy centre and one of the best outside Dublin in terms of layout and visual appeal. My only gripe is that when you leave the center the town streets look lifeless in visual appeal, lighting (night times) and vibrancy. Love to seen the town itself spruced up and shopping kept in the town centre which, despite its drawbacks, is more atmospheric than retail parks.

stapolinhosting

I think part of the idea was that if they built a shopping center in the middle of town, it would encourage other shops to clean up a bit and gain some of the extra passing trade. Unfortunately that didn't work too well, I know of at least 2 shops who have been loosing business and are thinking of shutting their doors because they are not getting the trade they were expecting.

One of those shop owners has put everything he had into the shop, but once the ATC opened, business dropped. I feel sorry for him because he has put so much work into building his business, and now he will end up with nothing for all his time and money put into it. For that and other reasons I don't go near the new shopping center. Besides, every shop in their is way too expensive for what they offer.

Park in GI, do your shopping, 3 minutes walk into town for the other shops... whats the point in going to ATC, it just gonna cost ye more!

mr_edge_to_you

No we didn't need it. I think it speaks volumes that the three biggest UK retailers didn't take up units. Every major shopping centre in the country has Boots or Argos, ATC has none.

Similarly, the fact that HMV didn't take over Zavvi store suggests to me the companies who know what they are at, don't think it is a worthwhile investment.

The M&S is crap when you compare it to it's flagship store in Liffey Valley.

A month after the aTC opened there was tiles falling off the walls in the toilets and you could see there was intention of maintenance.

holyhead

My frustration with the ATC is the lack of setting for it. Really they needed to clear all the buildings on Mardyke St and Gleeson St to give the centre a chance to have a sense of impact. As it is you get the feeling that it is squeezed in around existing units. As for M & S it was never feasible to have a liffey valley size unit as the population they are catering for in LV is around 1/4 of a million versus 50'000 in the Athlone hinterland. It's a beautiful centre though and well laid out.

neaideabh

Pre recession there were meant to be regenerating the streetscapes adjoining the centre! This is still in the pipeline. When this is done it will change the face and the image of the centre!

Nope we didn't.

In anyway shape or form.

Waste of now-precious money.

slave1

I go there maybe twice a year, have a peek into M&S/Easons/Next then leave without buying anything, so for me..a big waste, Liffey Valley is about an hour away if I want a decent shop, continues to mystify me how it survives