First time northern shopper

Travellerinterp

First time potential northern shopper here, just looking for the heads up.

Heading north on Friday morn, where exactly I don’t know, coming from Dublin area.

Anyhow, following items wanted
-socks, jocks, jeans etc, shirts
-razor blades, toiletries etc.
-gym gear, shorts, socks, tee-shirts..
-few presents for niece and nephew for Christmas
-few nice bottles of win for the Christmas
-sheets/duvets for beds.

Is there really much of a savings on the items listed?

If people could post where I should pick up the above items?

And more importantly, where to go and are there likely to caught in traffic?

Tipsy Mac

For a first time visitor Newry is the place to go. If it was me with the schools off down south this week I would leave Dublin at 7am with an aim to be in Newry for 8am when Sainsburys opens, in there buy all your groceries and alcohol so you are all done with that stage and can then hit the other shops which all open at 9, it's a much more productive time spent shopping between 8 and 9 rather than getting there after 9 and spending half an hour getting into Newry, another half an hour parking and stressed out navigating your way around a crowded Sainsburys.

For razor blades and toiletries either get them in Sainsburys or Semi Chem which is right at the main Quays shopping centres entrance to Sainsburys. Spirits and Wines are a lot cheaper but some beers like Corona or Heineken you might find as cheap or cheaper down South so check prices. Before you go check out these websites so you know what specials to go load up on www.sainsburystoyou.co.uk
www.semichem.co.uk
www.boots.co.uk

It would be worth checking out www.argos.co.uk and www.hmv.co.uk for prices on presents, there's an Argos and HMV shop in the Quays Shopping Centre. The Buttercrane shopping centre which is across the road from the Quays has a Game and a Zavvi store.

The range of clothing shops in Newry isn't great, if it was me I would head another 15 minutes drive in the direction of Belfast and go to Outlet Centre in Banbridge, an ok range of stuff www.the-outlet.co.uk

keano_afc

Maybe the above info shold be stickied to stop so many people asking the same questions in the shopping in northern ireland thread??

skywalker_208

keano_afc wrote: »

Maybe the above info shold be stickied to stop so many people asking the same questions in the shopping in northern ireland thread??

Good idea.
Tipsy Mac has it mostly covered there.

The main street in Newry has a few nice shops to visit also. Theres a bakery (soda breads for 60p etc), veg shop across the road from this where you can get a large basket of stuff for under a tenner, shop called Boyds which is like a pound shop - handy for picking up various bits n pieces (I get doggie stuff very cheap)
Dunnes Stores is also on the corner there as well as a market with a few stalls.

You can park at the back of Boyds which is kind of past the lights at Sainsburys, up the hill, round to the left and I think its on the left there somewhere (cant remember exactly )

tmdsurvey

Travellerinterp wrote: »

Is there really much of a savings on the items listed?

Yes there are significant savings to be made shopping in the North compared to the Republic. Particularly regarding toiletries and cleaning products. The margin has reduced to a certain extent in recent months as prices have been forced down in the Republic and have risen slightly in the North but its still much cheaper.

Roisinmor

Hi there, alcohol is always a product you save a lot on. In addition, there is a supermarket called Supervalu in Hill Street, cheapest sugar in town (69p I think). Across from that is fairly big pound shop, lots of savings to be made here. On the outskirts of town, there is a great pet shop. Best selection I've ever seen - lots of savings to be made in pet food. Their website is www.petconnection.ie and you can great directions to it on the site.
Other shops worth checking out is peacocks, tkmaxx, poundstretcher, b&m, argos and savers all beside each other just off Monaghan St. Turn into the left at Dunnes Stores and go on round the road. These shops are all great and can save you a lot of money on lots of items. You can also normally get free parking there.

skywalker_208

Roisinmor wrote: »

On the outskirts of town, there is a great pet shop. Best selection I've ever seen - lots of savings to be made in pet food. Their website is www.petconnection.ie and you can great directions to it on the site.

Hmm checked out my dogfood: Red Mills Leader Puppy 15kg bag is £40.49.
Its €43 down here in Pet Mania.
Pity - I have been looking for somewhere up North that supplies Red Mills. Its an Irish brand so maybe thats why its so hard to find.

Jollys in Newry/Enniskillen dont do it either

sinead30

yea the prices up north are better alright but dont think i could handle the drive and traffic this close to christmas. have recently used a company called DealHunter. I got all my grocery shopping from ASDA online and then just had it delivered to dealhunter's base in belfast, they then delivered it down to me in wicklow the same day. Of course they add on an extra charge for the delivery but i reckon its still loads cheaper than actually driving up yourself. they also offer a service whereby they will actually go into shops in the north for you and pick up whatever items you need if the shop doesn't offer a delivery service, haven't tried this part of the service yet but sounds like a handy option!

Roisinmor

Hi there, just checked out the site www.petconnection.ie, they are running a special on red mills leader puppy, buy 4kg, get 4kg free. This means that 16kg will cost you £28.98. If you add the postage this will work out at £35.98 and you could order more as the postage will cover 30kg. Even better if you're going to Newry anyway and you don't have to pay the postage.

Roisinmor

Sorry, forgot to mention you have to go to the specials page, the offer isn't on the main red mills page.

bellucio

Hi all
We will be heading up to the north for first time on Friday but it looks like we wont be able to leave Mallow untill 8am. We are heading to Dubin anyway for the rugby game on sat so decided to head day early and chek things out..Looking to get a few things like Nappies (loads and loads ) baby wipes, lots of the non perishable(within a few months) baby food such as juices, liga etc. And defo a good amount of Christmas drink such as Bud, Carlsberg, Erdinger, Leffe Hoegarden!!Maybe some clothes as well and a couple of pairs of runners..
I am thinking of bypassing Newry altogether and just heading nearer to Belfast. What I am wondering is 1pm to late to be getting up there on a Friday and whch of centres would be best to head to at this time
Cheers:)

emobama

Hi

It's hard to say except expect to be in your car for a long time on the way home. Regarding the shopping rush, its always insane up there
no matter where and when you go, for example last year we thought we would be cute and go up on a tuesday morning, when we got there we soon learned everyone there thought they would also be cute and go on a tuesday morning as well!!!!! So, It's a gamble really.

5500

I was up there this morning and it was insane,stuck in a tailback for an hour from jonesbouragh into newry itself at that was at about 10am. In sainsburys for just after 11and half the drink was sold out and the staff said no more stocks due in for the day,same old ques half way down the isles too!They were giving 85p to your euro too.

It was the busiest i've ever seen it up there today compared to the past few year's i've been going up, you'd really want to be getting there for 8/8.30 if its specifically drink your after.

Watch out for jack&jones and there £1 for €1 too, I bought a hoody in dublin for €20 on saturday and the same one was €/£30 up there, if you check the prices on the tags in the shops in Dublin you'l see the euro and sterling price match, but in newry they have it covered over with there own sticker

Also watch out

emobama

By any chance did you notice if they sold conemara whiskey? they used to sell it but it's not on their web site anymore????

bellucio

emobama wrote: »

Hi

It's hard to say except expect to be in your car for a long time on the way home. Regarding the shopping rush, its always insane up there
no matter where and when you go, for example last year we thought we would be cute and go up on a tuesday morning, when we got there we soon learned everyone there thought they would also be cute and go on a tuesday morning as well!!!!! So, It's a gamble really.

Sounds like fun.:eek:I am willing to take the chance this one time and see how things work out...If they dont its a lesson learned anyway..Either way I should (hopefully) have made some good savings!!