O'Conners Nenagh closed

tipptom

Just heard on the radio that this has closed,presume its the supermarket,staff just told this morning,long established buisness.

littlesthobo

tipptom wrote: »

Just heard on the radio that this has closed,presume its the supermarket,staff just told this morning,long established buisness.

Just back from there now. Its very sad for all concerned.

Its just the supermarket in the shopping centre.

Its important to stress that all the other business are open, the florist the chemist etc and the o connors shop on the main street in town is also still open.

Downlinz

Got my first job there, like a lot of people from around here I'm sure.

Even working there about 5 years ago, even then it was apparent they were struggling to compete with Dunnes and Tesco, the customer base was mostly older people and I think they were trying to carve out a niche with the foreign market.

Felt like it was a matter of when not if they'd shut down, sad to see and the end of an era.

Are there any plans for something else to move onto that site?

littlesthobo

Downlinz wrote: »

Got my first job there, like a lot of people from around here I'm sure.

Even working there about 5 years ago, even then it was apparent they were struggling to compete with Dunnes and Tesco, the customer base was mostly older people and I think they were trying to carve out a niche with the foreign market.

Felt like it was a matter of when not if they'd shut down, sad to see and the end of an era.

Are there any plans for something else to move onto that site?

Agree about the mainly older customer base. It was pretty run down and struggled to put out a decent selection of products. I reckon that a well run Supervalu might do well in that location.

Probably too early to say whats going to happen. Hope people support the other store and other local stores so that the town isn't left with just the big forieign multinational stores doing most of the trade.

mikemac

Good riddance

Yeah I have a grudge after one of the sons accused me of shoplifting and searched my bag in front of everyone.
Never went in there again.

The store was run down and not well kept even back then.

And Joe O'Connors dire predictions of the bypass making Nenagh a ghost town when he was a councillor and being named and shamed as a tax dodger by Revenue didn't help business

I feel sorry for the staff and suppliers, definitely not the O'Connors.

Yep, Supervalu might be a good option here. It's still more central then Dunnes or Tesco, it's a good site.
And they need someone to take the clothes section, Pennys maybe?

Downlinz

In truth the actual building could do with being knocked down and rebuilt, its a real Frankenstein job of old and new interiors with a warehouse like appearance from outside.

Its a really odd built place in this day an age if you've ever seen the staff areas in particular.

Berty

It is very sad for all concerned, especially their suppliers LIKE ME!!

They lied to me for the past 2 months and refused to pay their outstanding invoices. I was lied to and lied to. Where is my money? :mad:

Oh well, to the creditors meeting with me to join a, highly probable. long long queue of suppliers are being screwed. :rolleyes:

I hear he was shaking customers hands this morning informing them. Is he still there? Should I go up and put my hand out???

Sad for the staff, angry about the lies.

tipptom

Downlinz wrote: »

In truth the actual building could do with being knocked down and rebuilt, its a real Frankenstein job of old and new interiors with a warehouse like appearance from outside.

Its a really odd built place in this day an age if you've ever seen the staff areas in particular.

Does smoky joe own that whole site there and renting out units or does he just own the supermarket,Id that site would have been valuble back a few years ago,agree about the 70s structure,it would be tough get it past insurance guide lines.

littlesthobo

Owns the whole site according to RTE.
Link to RTE news story.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0526/jobs-business.html

Never would have thought that they had 70 people working there.

Mc Love

I know it probably isnt quite the same market but another family run retailer (JC's in swords) does really well when up against the likes of superquinn and dunnes right on its doorstep. Maybe they could have taken a few ideas/inspiration from there.

tipptom

Mc Love wrote: »

I know it probably isnt quite the same market but another family run retailer (JC's in swords) does really well when up against the likes of superquinn and dunnes right on its doorstep. Maybe they could have taken a few ideas/inspiration from there.

Isnt that the store that Fergal Quinn went in to revamp on his trouble shooting series on RTE,i think the father in that died fairly recently.To be honest i dont know how these stores can keep going even the ones likes of supervalu in Tipp Town with tescos,dunnes,lidl and another supevalu against it,i know they have a big franchise behind them but i would find a big rise in my shopping bill if i done my complete shopping in them.

mikemac

What's going on with Nenagh?
O'Connors on a massive site closing down.
The area across the road is pretty much wastleland though Sheehans use it for storage.

And all the new building and supermarkets are going outside the town while the town centre has closures

But then some say Limerick is doing the same

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^

people's shopping habits are changing, more and more are going to business parks instead of going into town centres

Mc Love

tipptom wrote: »

Isnt that the store that Fergal Quinn went in to revamp on his trouble shooting series on RTE,i think the father in that died fairly recently.To be honest i dont know how these stores can keep going even the ones likes of supervalu in Tipp Town with tescos,dunnes,lidl and another supevalu against it,i know they have a big franchise behind them but i would find a big rise in my shopping bill if i done my complete shopping in them.

Really? I doubt it - they make an absolute fortune and is always busy!

tipptom

Mc Love wrote: »

Really? I doubt it - they make an absolute fortune and is always busy!

i think they have got an older demogrphic though which is going to dieing of the whole time,cant see them chasing of their rivals.

SARZY

mikemac wrote: »

What's going on with Nenagh?
O'Connors on a massive site closing down.
The area across the road is pretty much wastleland though Sheehans use it for storage.

And all the new building and supermarkets are going outside the town while the town centre has closures

But then some say Limerick is doing the same

The councillors and planners gave the go ahead for large out of town shops, they insist on top dollar in the town centre car parks with wardens to nab you if you take a chance.
What can people do, free parking in Tesco, Dunnes and at Woodies.
By the way, O 'Connors were clamping cars who had not paid the fee in their carpark.
That might explain something. As business decisions go, thats a real stinker.

mikep

I recently drove past the shopping "centre" and was struck by the dilapidated condition of the buildings etc, looks to me like no money has been spent maintaining the place, let alone upgrading it!!

Perhaps people voted with their feet, as the saying goes....

I certainly wouldn't have gone near the place judiging by the appearance..

road_high

SARZY wrote: »

The councillors and planners gave the go ahead for large out of town shops, they insist on top dollar in the town centre car parks with wardens to nab you if you take a chance.
What can people do, free parking in Tesco, Dunnes and at Woodies.
By the way, O 'Connors were clamping cars who had not paid the fee in their carpark.
That might explain something. As business decisions go, thats a real stinker.

I don't know anything much about O'Connors or Nenagh but bloody hell that jumps out at me. Christ ya wouldn't do that to customers in your private car park in the centre of Dublin let alone a small country town. Crazy stuff.

tipptom

mfitzy wrote: »

I don't know anything much about O'Connors or Nenagh but bloody hell that jumps out at me. Christ ya wouldn't do that to customers in your private car park in the centre of Dublin let alone a small country town. Crazy stuff.

I see Caulfields supervalu in tipp town are doing the same with the parking.

Lady Chatterton

mikemac wrote: »

Good riddance

The store was run down and not well kept even back then.

And Joe O'Connors dire predictions of the bypass making Nenagh a ghost town when he was a councillor and being named and shamed as a tax dodger by Revenue didn't help business

I feel sorry for the staff and suppliers, definitely not the O'Connors.

Yep, Supervalu might be a good option here. It's still more central then Dunnes or Tesco, it's a good site.
And they need someone to take the clothes section, Pennys maybe?

Supervalu already had a store in the Springfield Retail Park. I used to love shopping there, the staff were very friendly and the store used to have great offers. However, the store closed down last year.

http://www.tipperarystar.ie/news/local/nenagh_chamber_refutes_criticism_over_super_valu_closure_1_2274830

Aldi were meant to open a store in the same retail park but that seems to have been put on hold too. I have been in Dunnes a few times recently and it has been awful quite, which is very worrying. From what I can see, Tesco and Lidl are the only businesses that seem to be thriving in Nenagh.

grumpymunster

To be honest Nenagh is dying a death, and not that slow anymore. It really needs an Aldi preferably out by Woodies and a Penneys where O'Connors used to be to breath some life back into the town. At least they would attract footfall.

tippguy

nenagh obviously doesn't need another supermarket..it's not big enough for everyone to survive. if aldi come in they'll create 12-15 jobs...those 12-15 jobs will lead to double that being lost between tesco, dunnes & mulqueens..look what happened the last time a new supermarket came to nenagh ie tesco it forced the closure of super valu and now o'conners

gabbytheking

Re: The parking. Rather than being a bad business decision it was bad PR and signage many people thought as you did that clamping was in operation To my knowlege however the area infront of the shop was actually free. Its only beside Premier Prices is paid parking!

meoklmrk91

tipptom wrote: »

I see Caulfields supervalu in tipp town are doing the same with the parking.

Really? When did that start? Haven't been in the actual shop for years but if I going to brudairs I will use them sometimes for parking. The last time I was actually in there was 2-3 years ago place looked very run down, dirty, dark products I hadn't seen for years on the shelves. The fact that it is still open is a miracle, no town needs two supervalus anyway. Come to think of it I know no one who shops there, must be the older folks who are propping it up.

tipptom

They put in all the ticket machines and all that but it stopped very soon after,it must have hit the bottom line very quickly.Lidl was the same across the road but they soon left the barrier back up but I had some sympathy for them becuase their car park is three quarters full and they would only have customers inside for about ten cars,its a tough one for them to manage.

popebenny16

Aldi has been up and running down at woodies for a while. seems a big store and seems busy.

o'connors is a very sad place, looking at the old ads - and it was a great place for ads about itself which i loved about it - about new toys in for christmas and paintings of santa from years gone by, made me a little nostalgic.

i used to shop there on a friday evening, they had the oddest version of some beers (they always had the stronger 5% version of bud in cans and very low prices for wheatbeer) and you never know what cheap but very nice frozen meals would be in the presses.

in a world that has become so homogenised, it was a great stand out place.