Clerys, Dublin re-opening

Toast4532

Hi,

Does anyone know when Clerys on O'Connell Street is re-opening? Or has it re-opened already?

Thanks.

dudara

Moved to the Dublin City forum - might work best there

dudara

emilyjmc

Still closed when I passed earlier today. I don't think there is an estimated re-opening date made public so far, certainly nothing on their website. There was an article in the Indo earlier in the month where the owner indicated they intended to be open for Christmas but I'm not holding my breath.
It's an awful shame for the staff and must be a really difficult time for them.
As a customer I'd love to see it re-open, working in the area it's like a little oasis of calm walking off Talbot street into the store and I think it had really improved in the last couple of years.
Hoping if/when it re-opens it gets even better

Lad Of Banter

emilyjmc wrote: »

working in the area it's like a little oasis of calm walking off Talbot street into the store

can certainly echo this sentiment

MemEmee

Here's article...

Irish Independent - 05 SEPTEMBER 2013

THE owner of Clerys department store in Dublin has insisted that it remains focused on reopening the store in time for Christmas trading rather than plotting any sale of the business.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/clerys-is-not-for-sale-and-will-be-open-for-christmas-29554085.html

Toast4532

Thanks everyone. I emailed them and they said they are hoping to open mid November and will email me before then to let me know when they are re-opening.

miamee

MemEmee wrote: »

Here's article...

Irish Independent - 05 SEPTEMBER 2013

THE owner of Clerys department store in Dublin has insisted that it remains focused on reopening the store in time for Christmas trading rather than plotting any sale of the business.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/clerys-is-not-for-sale-and-will-be-open-for-christmas-29554085.html

Toast4532 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I emailed them and they said they are hoping to open mid November and will email me before then to let me know when they are re-opening.

Well that is good news, it would be a terrible shame for it not to re-open. There seems to be a lot of work going on inside anyway, I wonder if they took the unexpected closure and damage as an opportunity to revamp the store. I will be delighted to see it open it's doors again.

Davidth88

please god they don't change the restaurant on the top floor

The decor and food reminded me of my childhood ( early 70's ) , they were exactly like Sopers in Harrow .

miss no stars

miamee wrote: »

Well that is good news, it would be a terrible shame for it not to re-open. There seems to be a lot of work going on inside anyway, I wonder if they took the unexpected closure and damage as an opportunity to revamp the store. I will be delighted to see it open it's doors again.

I would be extremely surprised if they didn't. It was purchased recently,iirc the new owners had already said they wanted to overhaul it. Planning renovations, then have to close due to flood damage... Makes sense to cut to the chase and renovate rather than restore to the original state only to close again a couple of months later to renovate.

Slattsy

I heard (from a good source) sometime mid November is the plan.

stargazer 68

Its opening on Thursday 21st. Some shops won't be returning AFIK - Karen Millen included

miamee

Really looking forward to seeing what they have done with the place. Hopefully they have given it a good overhaul, if they have, they should have a bumper Christmas

stargazer 68

miamee wrote: »

Really looking forward to seeing what they have done with the place. Hopefully they have given it a good overhaul, if they have, they should have a bumper Christmas

I will be there tomorrow night so will let you know!

Slattsy

Slattsy wrote: »

I heard (from a good source) sometime mid November is the plan.

I called it first :P

Hootanany

If they have reduced prices and not do the same as the other Dept stores they will do a lot better.

stargazer 68

Was in Clerys last night. Staff 'friends and family' night. Basically to let them learn how to use the new tills etc (hope they are a bit quicker when the shop opens)

Layout is still pretty much the same although not as packed. The mens dept on the LG floor is lovely - really spacious. Thunders cafe down there too

Karen Millen is gone - but Oasis, Warehouse and Mango are still there. Didnt recognise the brand that has taken the Karen Millen spot. McCabes Phamarcy is there too. Ladies upstairs is Jacques Vert etc and the kids department. The top floor is furtniture and household - some lovely stuff.

A few bargains at the moment and they gave 10% staff discount on top of the sale prices last night! Apart from Elverys - miserable gits :mad:

It isn't a shop I really went to and to be honest it still isn't.

lordRothery

I couldn't believe it closed for so long over water damage ?

I was back home in August and it had just closed, and its only reopening now ?

did the liffey redirect in there or what ?



But good to see it reopen, I have fond memories of the place.

Ciaran_B

lordRothery wrote: »

I couldn't believe it closed for so long over water damage ?

I was back home in August and it had just closed, and its only reopening now ?

did the liffey redirect in there or what ?



But good to see it reopen, I have fond memories of the place.

There was an interview with the shop manager on Drivetime last night. He said the rain caused some massive girder to collapse that pulled the roof in and dumped half a million gallons of water through the whole building. Sounded a bit worse than some soggy carpets!

As an aside. The feature on Drivetime was some pretty sweet free advertising. 10 minutes singing the praises of the shop on national radio at primetime.

ProudDUB

lordRothery wrote: »

I couldn't believe it closed for so long over water damage ?

I was back home in August and it had just closed, and its only reopening now ?

did the liffey redirect in there or what ?



But good to see it reopen, I have fond memories of the place.

I heard that all the electrical wiring in the building had to be checked and a lot of it redone, because of all the water damage. So all the wiring & sockets for all of the cash registers, computers, lights, display cases, appliances in the electrical goods dept, all the cooking equipment in restaurants and cafes, all the office equipment etc etc all had to be checked and rechecked. Then there is the buildings heating, ventilation and security systems, that had to be checked too. Seeing as a lot of it that stuff would be buried in structurally unsound walls, ceilings and under floor boards that were badly damaged, that is an awful lot of work. Multiply it all by six stories & it is no wonder it took as long as it did imo.

ibarelycare

I wonder how much it all cost :eek: I have to say, the outside of it looks fantastic at the moment.

Mr Simpson

I dropped in there earlier, only got as far as Carphone Warehouse, looks great though, think I'll drop in for a proper look after payday!

tomboylady

I peeped in yesterday. It was crazy busy so I didn't stay. I'll go back again in a week or two when the initial rush has died down for a proper look.

ProudDUB

What is new about the place that warrants a look? I'll have an elderly relation in town with me next week, who is very, very unsteady on her feet. She'd love to have an aul mooch about the place, but I am not sure if the sheer effort and stress of getting her there would make it worthwhile. Is the lovely, waitress service tea rooms (the one beside the stairs) on the first floor still there? She doesn't do well in crowed, cramped, self service cafes/restaurants.

Simply Red

ProudDUB wrote: »

What is new about the place that warrants a look? I'll have an elderly relation in town with me next week, who is very, very unsteady on her feet. She'd love to have an aul mooch about the place, but I am not sure if the sheer effort and stress of getting her there would make it worthwhile. Is the lovely, waitress service tea rooms (the one beside the stairs) on the first floor still there? She doesn't do well in crowed, cramped, self service cafes/restaurants.

Tea rooms are still there yes, i'd recommend going in early as it has gotten very busy from the afternoon on the last 3 days, the rush to see the place should have died down by then too. If you come in the north earl street entrance, there's a lift just inside the door that will take you to the first floor, tea rooms is just a short walk from there then

bbbbb

They need to 'reopen' the website also.
On sat the site said closing was 8, the notice on the door said 9, but they closed at 7

The higher ceilings look good, otherwise I would say similar to before

skimpydoo

bbbbb wrote: »

They need to 'reopen' the website also.
On sat the site said closing was 8, the notice on the door said 9, but they closed at 7

The higher ceilings look good, otherwise I would say similar to before

The website has not been updated in months. It lists brands that are not sold anymore and the coffee shop in the basement is now a Thunders Cafe.

Ben D Bus

lordRothery wrote: »

I couldn't believe it closed for so long over water damage ?

I was back home in August and it had just closed, and its only reopening now ?

did the liffey redirect in there or what ?

In the museum on the 2nd floor there are some photos taken the morning after the storm. What was the roof was just a pile of mangled girders. Something pretty severe must have happened to cause that damage.

miamee

I went in on Saturday for a look at the new Clerys...there was a great buzz in there. Honestly, every oul wan in Dublin was there in her finest having a good look around - it was actually brilliant One lady nabbed me to try on a hat for her, a lovely leopard print thing with feathers - of course I obliged, how could I not? :pac:

I bought some nice Newbridge decorations for gifts and some smelly candles for myself. I didn't make it as far as the 2nd floor or the basement, I must check them out this weekend - big sale on this weekend according the today's Metro. Better get the elbows ready

ProudDUB

Was in there yesterday. It looked fab. The first floor ladies dept looked especially well laid out. It's not somewhere I'd ever go to buy clothes, but I saw loads of nice things on display and on models that I would definitely buy. I think some real thought has gone into the floor displays. It doesn't seem quite so cramped. You can really see what they have now.

The top floor restaurant is still closed, so the only food options are the ground floor cafe and the first floor tea rooms. The cafe is way too cramped for the space, and only serve sambos and what not. The first floor tea rooms stop serving proper hot food at 4pm. They only do afternoon teas and cakes and what not from then on. Bit mad that, not serving real food after 4pm, seeing as the restaurant is still closed & the area in general is not exactly over flowing with proper sit down restaurants. Any hoo, even though we wanted proper hot food, we had afternoon tea and it was fab.

Only other complaint was the heat. It was like a bloody sauna in there. I took my winter coat off as soon as we arrived and, I still had sweat trickling down my back within 5 mins. Carrying a heavy coat over my arm was a total pain when I was trying to look at clothes. I mentioned this to two different staff members and they both agreed. One of them told us we were lucky, we could leave, but they were stuck in there roasting all day. Not too good for staff morale imo.

I know this may seem overly nit picky, but a pet peeve of mine at this time of year, is shopping centres that have their heat on at full blast, when the building is packed with people & those people are probably going to have heavy coats on. The intense heat has made me leave more than one shopping centre or shop in the past. It did so again yesterday. We bought what we went there to buy and we left straight away. We didn't do any browsing, even though we wanted too. How on earth can that be good for business?

miamee

Yes! The heat was shocking. I kind of assumed that it was due to all of the lights they now have everywhere, it is very brightly lit. It could be the heating on and the fact the place was bustling with customers too.

I have never been into the Tea Rooms, I must go in at some point.

SHOVELLER

Anyone know if they are doing the St Stephen's Day sales?

ProudDUB

miamee wrote: »

Yes! The heat was shocking. I kind of assumed that it was due to all of the lights they now have everywhere, it is very brightly lit. It could be the heating on and the fact the place was bustling with customers too.

I have never been into the Tea Rooms, I must go in at some point.

I'm sure the numbers of people there and all the lights didn't help with the heat, but I don't think they were the main cause of it. I think it was mainly the heat being on at full blast. When we were up in the tearooms, we had to move away from our seats beside the wall, as they were beside an old fashioned radiator that was scalding hot to the touch. The place was roasting.

It must cost them an arm and a leg to heat a big old building like that to such a degree. Seeing as city centre department stores are always complaining how hard it is for them to turn a profit, you'd think they'd put a big of thought into overheads like that. They can be such a terrible drain on profits. If there is someone there that is paid to figure out the most economic way to do it, he needs to figure something else out, as the current set up is costing them a fortune, losing them customers and pissing off their staff.

SHOVELLER

Had a quick look today and overall it doesnt seem to have changed that much. However the second floor looks a lot more spacious and the views of O'Connell Street are a welcome change.

Also on the second floor is the customer service desk. At first I thought this was odd as surely any customer service desks should be on the ground floor. But behind the desk is a fascinating pictorial history of this iconic store. Pictures of the Guineys, various sales over the years and even a small cinema type venue to watch the history of Clerys makes this very worthwhile.

Hootanany

Had a look yesterday nice & airy but the finish on the overall new Construction is abysmal Who did the job?