Get shoppers back into town

Liam79

So the Council/Business owners are giving out yards about people shopping in the suburbs (many cases in the county ie Dooradoyle) and not coming into town and they cant seem to figure out how to fix it....

any suggestions lads?
Heres a few simple but i guarantee you effective ways to get them back

1. Free parking for the month of December. Simple!
2. More outdoor and central car parks like the one in the Market.
3. More proper places to eat on a Sunday afternoon. If you have a small family and you want to go shopping on a Sunday and get some lunch while your at it....town is useless. Unless you wanna go to McDonalds/BK which many people dont want. Food options on a Sunday afternoon in town, are chronic bad. Incl the place upstaris Arthurs Quay.

Pikasso

Get the beggars and on-every-bloody-corner-charity collectors off the streets!
I like going to the Crescent because I'm not constantly asked for money (that and the free parking, roof to keep off the rain and cold etc)

Firefox10

Improve Security. More Garda on the beat.
Improve shop fronts/footpaths that have been slowly degraded.

Berty

Liam79 wrote: »

1. Free parking for the month of December. Simple!

Parking is free after 2pm and before 8:00am Friday and Saturday and parking is free on street all day Sunday.

http://www.limerick.ie/Press/FREEon-streetparkingforChristmasshoppersinLimerickCity/#d.en.15782

Henry Ford III

Cut prices and drive down costs. A lot. Limerick is a long journey from N.I. but people are prepared to travel for much better value, and business is being lost hand over fist.

the dufi

Liam79 wrote: »

So the Council/Business owners are giving out yards about people shopping in the suburbs (many cases in the county ie Dooradoyle) and not coming into town and they cant seem to figure out how to fix it....

any suggestions lads?
Heres a few simple but i guarantee you effective ways to get them back

1. Free parking for the month of December. Simple!
2. More outdoor and central car parks like the one in the Market.
3. More proper places to eat on a Sunday afternoon. If you have a small family and you want to go shopping on a Sunday and get some lunch while your at it....town is useless. Unless you wanna go to McDonalds/BK which many people dont want. Food options on a Sunday afternoon in town, are chronic bad. Incl the place upstaris Arthurs Quay.

Cornstore do sunday lunch and I think they lay on entertainment for the kids too. Might be worth a try.

Kess73

Limerick town centre does not have the variety or number of quality retail stores to draw in consistent crowds.

Unlike many of the town and city centres around Ireland, Limerick has no set up in it's centre that can compete with shopping areas on it's outskirts.


It has been a glaring issue for years and years, but until the local city authorities make rates and services attractive to retail chains, then the city centre will continue to see more and more vacant units.

Just compare it with walking down Patrick Street in Cork. That street has a mix of all the big name outlets, mixed with long term local businesses, and the retail names are there in big numbers rather that the smattering of names that are in Limerick city centre.

Discounted or free parking at Xmas is a great idea, but only if people have the range of shops to draw them into the centre in the first place.

DOC09UNAM

the dufi wrote: »

Cornstore do sunday lunch and I think they lay on entertainment for the kids too. Might be worth a try.

Was there once before, they took a long time to bring out the food, and one of them was cold.

they sorted the problem, gave us that part of the meal for free, and then discounted the meal as a whole.

Food was unbelievable though, will be going back.

Liam79

the dufi wrote: »

Cornstore do sunday lunch and I think they lay on entertainment for the kids too. Might be worth a try.

2 adults 3 kids, cornstore....i'd say it would cost the GDP of a small country!

Cheers for the suggestion tho mate

LB6

I went into town yesterday just to have a nosey round the shops. Like it's been said before - nothing of great interest there. The shops were either closed down, closed or there was no decent choices. Called into some jewelery stores - one in particular on the corner of William St and O'Connell St. We just wanted to look around in peace and quiet and just happened to ask a question of the sales lady - she turned out to be pushy and that was quite off-putting. Needless to say - they didn't get the sale! Started to feel the pangs of hunger and wanted something fast and nice. The other half fancied an omlette and said we'd pop over to Enzo's - closed! Lots of places closed! Ended up in the Jasmine Palace for the buffet - bingo - nice lunch, bit dear but that was it for town then - back to the Crescent for the groceries, bits and bobs. Bliss, even though it was thronged!:D

DemoniK

Berty wrote: »

Parking is free after 2pm and before 8:00am Friday and Saturday and parking is free on street all day Sunday.

http://www.limerick.ie/Press/FREEon-streetparkingforChristmasshoppersinLimerickCity/#d.en.15782

on street parking only - just 3000 spaces. And most consumed by those working in town.
Parking is expensive, the one on roches street is now €2 an hour. Hardly encourages you to park there.
Most shops need to get their act together. No great encouragement, and lots of unhelpful pushy staff (probably since not many coming into town). That said Country basket on thomas St. doing free 1hr parking if you spend €25 in shop. At least 1 store trying to do business..

I don't go in much - but was in on satuarday. Most depressing december shopping I've ever done - no xmas spirit, shops not making any effort, and what's with the grumpy attitude of other shoppers. I only just managed to get out with ankles, elbows, and ribs in one piece - lots of shoving, not looking and generally ignorant behaviour!

krudler

Its ironic the council is whinging about people not shopping in town after building all those retail parks, what did they expect to happen? as for parking, if you dont want to pay just park in the crescent and get the bus into town for the day, problem solved

bazz26

• City Council need to reduce the retail rates encouraging retailers to make it worth their while setting up shop in the city centre.
• Get rid of most of the loading bays during business hours to allow people to park. Make retailers do their loading/unloading outside of these times like they do in other countries.
• Car parks need to reduce their hourly rates. The rates some of them charge are disgraceful.
• Christmas lights are pathetic and give the impression of could not be bothered, citry centre doesn't have any Christmas cheer about it, it has the look of decay. Retailers as well as City Council need to invest more if they want to attract people onto the streets.
• Better Traffic Management - traffic is generally a joke, emply someone who actually knows what they are doing, even shopping centres are a disaster in this area. Maybe more park n ride facilities which offer discounts to get people to use it.

RonMexico

I think the lights this year are nice in fairness.

iguana

krudler wrote: »

Its ironic the council is whinging about people not shopping in town after building all those retail parks, what did they expect to happen? as for parking, if you dont want to pay just park in the crescent and get the bus into town for the day, problem solved

They didn't build most of the retail parks, they are in the county and have nothing to with the city council. The county council has pursued a policy of allowing retail parks to be built in the county but right by the city boundary. They get the rates and by keeping them as close to the city as possible they get the city population as customers.

FutureGuy

Berty wrote: »

Parking is free after 2pm and before 8:00am Friday and Saturday and parking is free on street all day Sunday.

http://www.limerick.ie/Press/FREEon-streetparkingforChristmasshoppersinLimerickCity/#d.en.15782

The problem is, whats the point in doing this when no-one has heard about it!

I'm going to be doing all my Christmas shopping in town this year. The last thing I want is to be walking through a city centre full of closed down stores.

Honestly, you can't beat walking down O Connell street on a chilly Saturday evening with all those Christmas lights on. I went to the Cresent on Sunday and I left after about 30 minutes. The place was swarming with scum-one guy took a swipe for my iPhone and I saw a woman being terrorized by 3 scumbags.

irishvamp90

FutureGuy wrote: »

The problem is, whats the point in doing this when no-one has heard about it!

I'm going to be doing all my Christmas shopping in town this year. The last thing I want is to be walking through a city centre full of closed down stores.

Honestly, you can't beat walking down O Connell street on a chilly Saturday evening with all those Christmas lights on. I went to the Cresent on Sunday and I left after about 30 minutes. The place was swarming with scum-one guy took a swipe for my iPhone and I saw a woman being terrorized by 3 scumbags.

god sorry to hear that.Where was the woman getting terrorized?

krudler

RonMexico wrote: »

I think the lights this year are nice in fairness.

Arent they the same as the past few years? around thomas st looks nice alright, although "Hap y Christm as from L merick" greeting you as you drive into the city isnt the most professional use of lights:D

snowman707

i think that shops like mccarthys furniture, clancy's & vincent finuance electrical to name just a few moving from the city centre were a major loss, herself and meself hit town this am to do a bit of business and shop around for a few household items.

went out of our way to call to clancy's at the parkaway round about to price a kitchen appliance . the model she was interested in was out of stock ( luckily) but was due next weekend at a reduced price of €479.

We have just bought the same item on line from DID electrical with free delivery for €399. ???

We have bought items from Clancy for 30 years but if they think we will continue to support them with their present inflated prices they better think again.

Personally there is nothing in the city to interest me. maybe I am getting old and grumpy ( no comments please) but TBH I would much prefer go to Nenagh or Ennis.

ninty9er

Build 3 park and rides on the approaches to town and ban all cars in the city centre would do the job for me. It's a pain in the hole to negotiate the traffic, can't imagine what it's like with a buggy or in a wheelchair.

Firefox10

So today is December 8th. Traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Is the city centre thronged with shoppers this morning??

Kess73

Firefox10 wrote: »

So today is December 8th. Traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Is the city centre thronged with shoppers this morning??

That would be a no so far.

Kess73

Actually I expected business in Limerick centre and the surrounding shopping centres to be improved this year due to the flooding in Cork, Clare, and Galway.

A lot of people get a big chunk of their Xmas shopping done in November, and with many of the shops in those counties closed, it seemed logical that people may be forced to travel to Limerick to shop.

Does not seem to have worked out that way though from what many businesses are reporting of sales figures so far.

krudler

Firefox10 wrote: »

So today is December 8th. Traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Is the city centre thronged with shoppers this morning??

I completely forgot about farmers day, god i used to hate working in retail on that day, all the muck savages into the big shmoke for the day for shopping for "the christmas" :rolleyes: "Have ye got deh new D'Unbelievables vidjo?!" many a peak capped simpleton screamed at me over the years

Firefox10

krudler wrote: »

I completely forgot about farmers day, god i used to hate working in retail on that day, all the muck savages into the big shmoke for the day for shopping for "the christmas" :rolleyes: "Have ye got deh new D'Unbelievables vidjo?!" many a peak capped simpleton screamed at me over the years

Looks like they have gone to bother people up north this year.:)

Run_to_da_hills

Place black sacks over the Garda CCTV cameras in the city ctr in the run up to Christmas.

Some people may be paranoid about going into the city.

snowman707

krudler wrote: »

I completely forgot about farmers day, god i used to hate working in retail on that day, all the muck savages into the big shmoke for the day for shopping for "the christmas" :rolleyes: "Have ye got deh new D'Unbelievables vidjo?!" many a peak capped simpleton screamed at me over the years

take a look at the scum that you are producing in the city before you start mocking the culchies

Firefox10 wrote: »

Looks like they have gone to bother people up north this year.:)

with the prices Limerick shops are charging it is cheaper and SAFER to shop anywhere else.

4tothefloor

krudler wrote: »

I completely forgot about farmers day, god i used to hate working in retail on that day, all the muck savages into the big shmoke for the day for shopping for "the christmas" :rolleyes: "Have ye got deh new D'Unbelievables vidjo?!" many a peak capped simpleton screamed at me over the years

I'd take them ahead of the city vermin that are ten a penny any day of the week.

Liam79

Feic off back to Wesht Limerick so farmers :cool:

iguana

krudler wrote: »

I completely forgot about farmers day, god i used to hate working in retail on that day, all the muck savages into the big shmoke for the day for shopping for "the christmas" :rolleyes: "Have ye got deh new D'Unbelievables vidjo?!" many a peak capped simpleton screamed at me over the years

Our family tradition was always to put up the christmas decorations on the 8th so we could avoid the farmers in town.

grenache

Disc Parking is the single biggest obstacle to attracting shoppers into the city centre. Its the biggest con of our time. Of the big towns/cities, only Limerick and Cork persist with this blatant rip off. In Galway, Waterford and Dublin, you pay for the amount of time you park. So if you only want to spend 20 mins parked, you pay for twenty mins. And you pay on the spot at the meter. In Limerick its a minimum 2 euro for a minimum hour, no option for those who only want to park for a short amount of time. And then of course you must run from shop to shop looking for these elusive parking discs. What a farce and total rip-off. I work in the city centre at weekends but i'd never go further than the Crescent for my shopping, i'd be crazy to! The lack of decent shops along O'Connell St and William St is astounding. The corporation genuinely dont have the foggiest idea!

timbertime

I went into town yesterday to try do some of the Christmas shopping. Every second shop on Cruises Street is closed down same on Bedford Row. There was no buzz about the place. When is the proposed Oprea Centre getting going? Every second person I met was begging or a charity collector. Then you had the gangs of scumbags hanging around aswell. (do these kids not have to be in school?)

Ended up going out to the Cresent it's not the best but at least all the shops are open and parking is free.

tierney2

Anyone know the opening hours in town these days? Are all the shops doing late night?

Lapsed Catholic

Grenache, ever hear of Park Magic? No discs needed, top up by mobile phone. Check it out.

Timber, every second shop closed is a slight fib.

Give me the city centre any day. Shopping centres are soulless.

Stab*City

I think there arent enough 2 euro shops in town at the moment.. myself and the GF were in town the other day and we only counted 19 discount stores all in 5 mins walk from each other..

Reason town is empty of shoppers is because if you dont want a munster jersey/hat/scarf/t shirt or a €2 toy or 5 mars bars for €2 then there is F**K all in there.. debenhams and bt dont make a shopping mecca!

campo

Stab*City wrote: »

I think there arent enough 2 euro shops in town at the moment.. myself and the GF were in town the other day and we only counted 19 discount stores all in 5 mins walk from each other..

Reason town is empty of shoppers is because if you dont want a munster jersey/hat/scarf/t shirt or a €2 toy or 5 mars bars for €2 then there is F**K all in there.. debenhams and bt dont make a shopping mecca!

could not agree more basically tack tack and more tack

grenache

Lapsed Catholic wrote: »

Grenache, ever hear of Park Magic? No discs needed, top up by mobile phone. Check it out.

Timber, every second shop closed is a slight fib.

Give me the city centre any day. Shopping centres are soulless.

its still €2 an hour though - complete rip off!

FutureGuy

Stab*City wrote: »

I think there arent enough 2 euro shops in town at the moment.. myself and the GF were in town the other day and we only counted 19 discount stores all in 5 mins walk from each other..

Reason town is empty of shoppers is because if you dont want a munster jersey/hat/scarf/t shirt or a €2 toy or 5 mars bars for €2 then there is F**K all in there.. debenhams and bt dont make a shopping mecca!

There are plenty of shops on Cruises Street and along the new pedestrian area including Pamela Scotts which is a great store according to the missus.

PaddyThai

Several new businesses have opened recently on Thomas street (Food shop, Wine shop, Thai massage, Polish shop and Internet cafe).
It seems to me the centre of town has moved from Cruises street to Thomas and Catherine street.