The old shops..

Sh1tbag OToole

There are plenty of auld man's pubs around the place that are doing well that are often filled with hipsters with big glasses and frizzy hair gloating about the latest version of jQuery but the hip crowd have no such love for the old style shops preferring to go for the more stylish and fairtrade organic upmarket stuff.

Still I think you can't bate walking into a building in the backarse of nowhere with no sign on it that you would never expect to be a shop and suddenly you see tons of sweets laid out infront of you, pick and mix boxes, a ham slicer from the good old days, a normal fridge full of milk without even a transparent door, hand written notices beside the door and a lad shows up a few seconds later out of his living room that is outside the door behind the counter only for him to be disappointed that you're not a local and therefore you have no auld scandal for him.

These are the shops worth preserving, but we are terrible at preserving stuff here in Ireland. The boys next door over in the UK do a better job, usually. That should be sufficient motivation to try and do a bit better. During the tiger all the old shops had to go and become bland, modern flashy chains like Spar with lights that are far too bright.

I was in such a shop the other day and I remembered how it used to be like the shop near me growing up but that went all tacky and modern in about 1999/2000. I really hope these shops don't die out, in fact I think if I live to retirement age I will open one just for the craic, just to see what kind of characters show up to buy stuff from me.

Sheep Lover

I remember when this was all fields.. ..

ratmouse

Reminds me of the sketch in League of Gentlemen with the 'local shop' that is for 'local people'!

Sh1tbag OToole

Sheep Lover wrote: »

I remember when this was all fields.. ..

I remember when it was all shops. Then the tiger came along and turned them into houses and shoved them full of people with massive mortgages they had no hope of paying back

FluffyAngel

There a few of them still preserved down my way ..

Cant imagine they are making bucket loads of money ,i think that its only done for the richness of company and pleasure of humor..

Nothing like a paper bag of sticky boiled sweets to take me back to sand and sun..

kneemos

I know of one or two.Nobody ever goes in or out.

Osborne

ratmouse wrote: »

Reminds me of the sketch in League of Gentlemen with the 'local shop' that is foe 'local people'!

"Tubs? Is that you?"

kneemos

Now that I think of it I wondered into one when I was young and yer man behind the counter says "anything you want we can get it for you ...anything".
Still not quite sure what he meant.

Sh1tbag OToole

kneemos wrote: »

Now that I think of it I wondered into one when I was young and yer man behind the counter says "anything you want we can get it for you ...anything".
Still not quite sure what he meant.

poteen, weed? probably his way of telling you he had more behind the counter than he had on display

Banjo String

kneemos wrote: »

Now that I think of it I wondered into one when I was young and yer man behind the counter says "anything you want we can get it for you ...anything".
Still not quite sure what he meant.

We had one of them round my way too.

I remember the day I went in and asked him if he could get me a jumper for our chicken as it was getting into midst of winter and the weather was awfully cold.


He rummaged in a drawer for a few minutes then handed me a durex.

He just handed me it and said "here". "It's not a jumper for a chicken, but this will do, it's a pullover for a cock".

sammyjo90

we have one of them where I come from in Clare, everything is out of date and the wagon that owns it isn't afraid to stop you for half an hour to ask you how your finances are!

Baggy Trousers

Banjo String wrote: »

We had one of them round my way too.

I remember the day I went in and asked him if he could get me a jumper for our chicken as it was getting into midst of winter and the weather was awfully cold.


He rummaged in a drawer for a few minutes then handed me a durex.

He just handed me it and said "here". "It's not a jumper for a chicken, but this will do, it's a pullover for a cock".

Right...:)...so how long have you been waiting to use that one?

John_Rambo

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

There are plenty of auld man's pubs around the place that are doing well that are often filled with hipsters with big glasses and frizzy hair gloating about the latest version of jQuery but the hip crowd have no such love for the old style shops

They do.

Bitch about them all you want, but hipsters have good taste in retro, used, classics, food, old school, vintage and traditional trade.

I know it's fashionable to be hipster and even more fashionable to moan about them online, but like it or not, they're a fussy bunch, the stuff they like is actually nice and they're responsible for the resurgence of lost of lost things.

My advice; give in to the yearnings, become a hipster and go to a shop that sells whiskey, carbolic soap, beard oil, Daz, good china, pipes and bleach (the proper thin stuff) on the same shelf.


Sh1tbag OToole the hipster

SEPT 23 1989

Dublin souls had Hector Grey

god bless him

Fr_Dougal

John_Rambo wrote: »

They do.

Bitch about them all you want, but hipsters have good taste in retro, used, classics, food, old school, vintage and traditional trade.

I know it's fashionable to be hipster and even more fashionable to moan about them online, but like it or not, they're a fussy bunch, the stuff they like is actually nice and they're responsible for the resurgence of lost of lost things.

My advice; give in to the yearnings, become a hipster and go to a shop that sells whiskey, carbolic soap, beard oil, Daz, good china, pipes and bleach (the proper thin stuff) on the same shelf.


Sh1tbag OToole the hipster

Hipsters are just old people really.

kneemos

Not many places left that you can browse statues of the Virgin Mary in fairness.

mikom

John_Rambo wrote: »

I know it's fashionable to be hipster and even more fashionable to moan about them online, but like it or not, they're a fussy bunch, the stuff they like is actually nice

Glasses with non prescription lenses........

castletownman

A married couple down my way own one and put on a happy front in the presence of customers, but reputedly lamp and abuse the heads off each other when no-one is around. I personally get along well with John and Mary. Shop has everything you could ever want

mikom

castletownman wrote: »

A married couple down my way own one and put on a happy front in the presence of customers, but reputedly lamp and abuse the heads off each other when no-one is around. I personally get along well with John and Mary. Shop has everything you could ever want

Get them feckin' Crunchies out of the van.

kneemos

mikom wrote: »

Glasses with non prescription lenses........

To quote Sean Moncrief the other day"you know you're in a hipster bar if when you walk in you get the pungent smell of irony".

Cookie_Dough

castletownman wrote: »

A married couple down my way own one and put on a happy front in the presence of customers, but reputedly lamp and abuse the heads off each other when no-one is around. I personally get along well with John and Mary. Shop has everything you could ever want

Is that you, father?

ratmouse

Osborne wrote: »

"Tubs? Is that you?"

Are you.....local?

Banjo String

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

Right...:)...so how long have you been waiting to use that one?

Oh boy, a long long time. :pac:

Sh1tbag OToole

John_Rambo wrote: »

They do.

Bitch about them all you want, but hipsters have good taste in retro, used, classics, food, old school, vintage and traditional trade.

I know it's fashionable to be hipster and even more fashionable to moan about them online, but like it or not, they're a fussy bunch, the stuff they like is actually nice and they're responsible for the resurgence of lost of lost things.

My advice; give in to the yearnings, become a hipster and go to a shop that sells whiskey, carbolic soap, beard oil, Daz, good china, pipes and bleach (the proper thin stuff) on the same shelf.


Sh1tbag OToole the hipster

They are fairly useless at preserving the old shops though it must be said. They are definitely slacking in this regard. So I'm hoping they'll change their ways and start calling to the oldschool shops that are still open before tis too late

Aglomerado

ratmouse wrote: »

Are you.....local?

The precious things!!!!!

jimgoose

Quaaares!!

cassid

I never see those shops in Dublin anymore.

But I do when down different parts of the country, my kids think I am nuts when I get excited about the old style shops. The shop keepers says hello and good bye and you can buy anything from fishing nets to ladies knickers. They sell sweets by a weighing scales and meat from an ole slicer.

Del2005

There's one where my Dad is from. Its also the post office and she looks after the church. Was getting the keys for the church off her for my sister's wedding and remembered I'd forgotten shower gel,asked did she have any and she'd never heard of it! Fairly limited selection in most and since they aren't a franchise they are always way more expensive.

There's a small hardware store close to where I'm from the place is tiny but has nearly always had what I needed no matter how strange, would have already checked in the big DIY stores as they are closer.

Ihatecuddles

There's one near my parents house. It's beside a pub and I used to go to the pub with my dad and have blackcurrant squash he'd have Guinness and I'd put a smiley face in it. Then he'd give me a pound and I'd go buy sweets in the shop. Must say that to my dad next time I see him

Shop is still there, horrible lino on the floor, dusty decade old greeting cards, door behind the till that leads to the sitting room. Run by an elderly couple that everybody knows. Really nice area.

Sh1tbag OToole

cassid wrote: »

I never see those shops in Dublin anymore.

But I do when down different parts of the country, my kids think I am nuts when I get excited about the old style shops. The shop keepers says hello and good bye and you can buy anything from fishing nets to ladies knickers. They sell sweets by a weighing scales and meat from an ole slicer.

The ham from the slicer always tastes better than the ould packaged stuff for some reason

DEFTLEFTHAND

A family run pub, shop and undertakers all operating out of the same premises used to be a thing in rural Ireland.