Church St, Athlone

holyhead

Sad to see Gift & Design closing down. Looks like the clothes shop next door is relocating. The stretch from Allens to The Prince of Wales will have only two retail units operating ie Allens the homewares and gift shop and McGorisks for Men clothes shop. That leaves four empty retail units in one row. Scary.

Saint_Mel

I always thought they actually owned that premesis so they wouldnt have had massive overheads.

Jesus Shaves

It's the councils fault

demanufactured

The Palace Bar Closed its doors this week aswell

Saint_Mel

darokane wrote: »

It's the councils fault

In Gift & Design case I'd have thought the fault would be with pricing of stock.
Never had need to buy anything there meself but from people I know who have, they reckoned it was a bit of a rip off

Saint_Mel

demanufactured wrote: »

The Palace Bar Closed its doors this week aswell

For good or for a break? Hearing nearly every week for the past 6 months that it was closing. Thought it was gonna be like that JeansScene place in Golden Island that seemed to be advertising closing down sales for a year or so!

holyhead

I think its closure is a combination of factors. The footfall on Church St isn't great. Certainly not for a street that is by my understanding apparently the main street in Athlone. Yeah council rates are quite hefty. Its apparently based on size of unit instead of turnover. Parking would be another issue. With parking free in retail parks paying for parking in a town centre seems off limits to most people. Never mind the traffic in the town centre. Not sure about their prices. I only bought one item there. It was good quality and seemed a fair price for what it was. Needless to say the downturn in the economy would not have helped their cause. Sad.

flazio

Dare I say they were wrong about the one way system being the problem?

holyhead

I think the one way thing was a load of cobblers myself. Lack of parking, alternative out of town options etc, difficulty of access to the town etc. In terms of difficulty of access I don't recall the one way system making a jot of difference. Sad to see them go.

tubos

Could never understand how the one way system was a deterrant to shoppers, I thought it was great. I'd never drive up along the main street anyway no matter where I was going to.

demanufactured

One way system was the best thing ever to happen to athlone.

IPushButtons

darokane wrote: »

It's the councils fault

How so ?

athlonelad

demanufactured wrote: »

One way system was the best thing ever to happen to athlone.

But they need a one way in the opposite direction to keep traffic flowing. That was the fault. Everyone got held up on station road

Onikage

Holding out for the pedestrian zone!

Offy

Saint_Mel wrote: »

In Gift & Design case I'd have thought the fault would be with pricing of stock.
Never had need to buy anything there meself but from people I know who have, they reckoned it was a bit of a rip off

I disagree, some of the nicest things I have in my home come from there. They tend to last for years whereas cheaper products from, say for example Tesco dont tend to last near as long IMO. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. I for one am sorry to see them close their doors.