Newry - Shops giving £1 for €1

yqtwqxqm

Just back from a shopping trip to Newry.
In the Buttercrane center most of the shops were giving £1 for €1 exchange rate. Some were giving slightly less but if you asked them nicely why you shoud shop there rather than walk a few meters for a better xchange rate they would do 1 - 1 too.

Might be useful to anyone going up there.

Also I was talking to an Irish person in there who was at the outlet in Banbridge and they said its 1 - 1 there if you ask too. I wasny up that far myself though.

brightkane

any shops in perticular?

darrenking

Do you know if Argos is giving € for £?

yqtwqxqm

The other half went on a major shopping spree today. Id say we hit 75% of the shops in there and all did 1 - 1. Boots didnt, but when asked they did. Same with Clarks. I wasnt in Argos though. Give them a ring before you go up and see if they'll do it.

cs5

That must only be in the last few days because when I was up there last week it was €1 = £88p which I thought was quite good at the time.

jennyhayes123

Are supermarkets?

javagal

Does anyone think it'll be for a few weeks ? Thinking of booking a night in belfast and making a start on the big red man if toys r us are doing it.

L1011

jennyhayes123 wrote: »

Are supermarkets?

Profit margins are far too small for that yet.

When they were doing it last time, the rate was ~.95; its ~.86 now. Ditto Argos I'd guess

Its going to be clothes and random tat retailers primarily, which pretty much defines Buttercrane's non-anchor tenants. Food and electronics do not have hefty margins.

yqtwqxqm

Sterling was falling heavily last few days. Seems to have slowed now though just looking at it.
Was talking about it to a friend just there via whatsapp and she said she got 95P to €1 in Sainsburys today. So they arent doing 1 - 1

Worth ringing the shops you are interested to check before going up.

Atlantic Dawn

It will be mainly mickey mouse shops offering it, the major chains won't.

C.O.Y.B.I.B

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

It will be mainly mickey mouse shops offering it, the major chains won't.

Nice one , my kids are big Disney fans ;-)

dubsuperstar

I was in Newry for a short time on Monday and some shops had exchange rate up. None showing pound = euro or even close to it. Will be in Newry and Banbridge tomorrow, will ask the question and see how I get on.

uck51js9zml2yt

Not seen that happening in Newry in a long time

brightkane

dubsuperstar wrote: »

I was in Newry for a short time on Monday and some shops had exchange rate up. None showing pound = euro or even close to it. Will be in Newry and Banbridge tomorrow, will ask the question and see how I get on.

If you could report back it would be much appreciated.

dubsuperstar

brightkane wrote: »

If you could report back it would be much appreciated.

Will do

ImARebel

Sorry for being a half with but I presume you pay I Eur for the sterling equivalent which on some cases is 1 to 1 and in the others they calculate it for you? So you can pay in Euro?

Sorry I'm a Newry virgin.. It's a long way from home for me :-)

The_Conductor

jennyhayes123 wrote: »

Are supermarkets?

Yesterday Sainsburys Newry offered 82p (not 91p as another poster has said).
When I was offered that- I simply paid with my credit card- which gave me an instant rate of just over 85p (and no cross border charge anymore).

Plenty of shops in the Quays offering 90p- however, none of the larger multiples. Best deals seem to be on shops (such as Next/Boots etc) who have operations on both sides of the border- which make comparing the various prices a lot easier (picked up some reasonable items for the kids in Next, that we had put off buying as Next is so bloody expensive- but the sterling prices on the labels bore no cognisance of the collapse in sterling).

Don't assume you're going to get ridiculous bargains- the prices are actually remarkably high up there- was going to book the car in for new tyres which it needs on the Dublin road- but honestly- I can get better prices down here- and as for groceries- the main reason for shopping there was variety/selection- or different special offers (Gillete extra sensitive shaving gel @ 1.99 in Sainsburys)- its by no means a compelling reason to go north.

Anyone travelling north- they're stopping the M50 toll tags on the M1 on the 31st of August- so keep change handy.

All-in-all, if you were up north for another reason (we were taking the kids to the Planetarium at Armagh)- no reason not to pop in for a few minutes- but I honestly couldn't suggest its a good idea to go up on spec expecting to get 'bargains'- any 'bargains' are few and far between.

TimHorton

yqtwqxqm wrote: »

Just back from a shopping trip to Newry.
In the Buttercrane center most of the shops were giving £1 for €1 exchange rate. Some were giving slightly less but if you asked them nicely why you shoud shop there rather than walk a few meters for a better xchange rate they would do 1 - 1 too.

Might be useful to anyone going up there.

Also I was talking to an Irish person in there who was at the outlet in Banbridge and they said its 1 - 1 there if you ask too. I wasny up that far myself though.

"Also I was talking to an Irish person in there" FFS Everyone in Northern Ireland is Irish

testicles

This post has been deleted.

g0g

Can someone please explain to me why this makes sense? Why would shops want to take even more hit on what is already a weak exchange rate for them? Surely the already-attractive rate is enough to bring the bargain hunters North?

Subcomandante Marcos

Jaxen Modern U-boat wrote: »

Not seen that happening in Newry in a long time

Haven't seen sterling fall to €1.16 in a long time either but it's a continuing trend.

L1011

g0g wrote: »

Can someone please explain to me why this makes sense? Why would shops want to take even more hit on what is already a weak exchange rate for them? Surely the already-attractive rate is enough to bring the bargain hunters North?

UK consumer spending is in a ditch so they need to generate sales somehow.

ohnonotgmail

The_Conductor wrote: »

Yesterday Sainsburys Newry offered 82p (not 91p as another poster has said).
When I was offered that- I simply paid with my credit card- which gave me an instant rate of just over 85p (and no cross border charge anymore).

Plenty of shops in the Quays offering 90p- however, none of the larger multiples. Best deals seem to be on shops (such as Next/Boots etc) who have operations on both sides of the border- which make comparing the various prices a lot easier (picked up some reasonable items for the kids in Next, that we had put off buying as Next is so bloody expensive- but the sterling prices on the labels bore no cognisance of the collapse in sterling).

Don't assume you're going to get ridiculous bargains- the prices are actually remarkably high up there- was going to book the car in for new tyres which it needs on the Dublin road- but honestly- I can get better prices down here- and as for groceries- the main reason for shopping there was variety/selection- or different special offers (Gillete extra sensitive shaving gel @ 1.99 in Sainsburys)- its by no means a compelling reason to go north.

Anyone travelling north- they're stopping the M50 toll tags on the M1 on the 31st of August- so keep change handy.

All-in-all, if you were up north for another reason (we were taking the kids to the Planetarium at Armagh)- no reason not to pop in for a few minutes- but I honestly couldn't suggest its a good idea to go up on spec expecting to get 'bargains'- any 'bargains' are few and far between.

Does that not only apply to certain brands of tag? I have an easypass tag and it isnt affected by this.

mel123

Little bit off the topic of the thread, but i wonder is Belfast doing the same, anyone know?

xabi

ImARebel wrote: »

Sorry for being a half with but I presume you pay I Eur for the sterling equivalent which on some cases is 1 to 1 and in the others they calculate it for you? So you can pay in Euro?

Sorry I'm a Newry virgin.. It's a long way from home for me :-)

Said no girl there ever, sorry :P

For Forks Sake

The_Conductor wrote: »

Anyone travelling north- they're stopping the M50 toll tags on the M1 on the 31st of August- so keep change handy.

Only for those using an eFlow tag, most are unaffected http://etoll.ie/news/important-announcement-fo/index.xml

L1011

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Only for those using an eFlow tag, most are unaffected http://etoll.ie/news/important-announcement-fo/index.xml

Most tag vendors - I'd suspect that there could easily be as many or more eflow tags than the rest.

sweetie

mel123 wrote: »

Little bit off the topic of the thread, but i wonder is Belfast doing the same, anyone know?

Up there at the weekend, never saw no heard of anything like this. Felt ripped off more than anything!

yqtwqxqm

Was up there again this morning finishing off some work and popped into the quays for lunch.
I asked in Sainsburys and they were doing 89p - €1
The odd one is doing 1 - 1.

They said it was better yesterday as the pound had been falling for a while, but it has started to go the other direction a little so they are rowing back on the exchange rates.

Was good while it lasted. Still good rates though.

Subcomandante Marcos

yqtwqxqm wrote: »

They said it was better yesterday as the pound had been falling for a while, but it has started to go the other direction a little so they are rowing back on the exchange rates.

Was good while it lasted. Still good rates though.

down to £1.15 today from £1.16 at close last night.

The downward trend will continue.

dubsuperstar

Found no shops in Quays or Buttercrane offering pound for euro. Most offering 85p to €1.00. Picked up a few bargains in sports direct but other than that we bought very little.
Also called up to the Outlet in Banbridge. Place is like a ghost town now. I'd say about 40% of the units are empty, there is now an omniplex taking up at least 6 stores. We browsed around a few shops and had a good look in Nike store and Next, no bargins to be had in fact the Nike store was more expensive for a pair of runners that I recently bought in the Nike store in Blanchardstown SC. It was a waste of a journey going to Banbridge, its dead.

It looks like Mc Donalds is building a new restaurant here so might encourage a few others to move in, it's badly needed!!!

The_Conductor

Try Sprucefield (both the old and new sections)- better range of shops- full sized Boots, M&S, Toys-r-us etc etc (Currys/PC World has closed though)

No great bargains- but if you have a list from here- with current prices- you can get some reasonable enough buys- even from the likes of M&S etc.

dubsuperstar

Was thinking of a trip to junction one outlet tomorrow Is it worth the drive?

The_Conductor

dubsuperstar wrote: »

Was thinking of a trip to junction one outlet tomorrow Is it worth the drive?

Depends really.........
For a day out and a bit of craic- its fine.
If you're expecting a bargain- don't- they're few and far between......

Note- make sure to top up your petrol or diesel before you go north- its about 15% more expensive up there (even after the sterling collapse).

Combine an outing into the trip- perhaps the Planetarium in Armagh- and you've got a reason to go North. It 100% definitely is not worth going just for the sake of shopping..........

If you've kids- the seal sanctuary at Portaferry has reopened?

Geuze

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

down to £1.15 today from £1.16 at close last night.

The downward trend will continue.

Note that this should read 1.15 euro and 1.16 euro to the pound.

Cortina_MK_IV

The_Conductor wrote: »

<snip>
Note- make sure to top up your petrol or diesel before you go north- its about 15% more expensive up there (even after the sterling collapse).

Depends on where you go. The last filling station at Applegreen, Castlebellingham charge 129.8c unleaded. I got petrol on Sunday in Texaco, Fiveways @1.07GBP = 123.5c. If around Portadown, Asda charge £105.7 per L petrol = 122.1c. Diesel is dearer up north than petrol though.

Geuze

Asda in Enniskillen offering 85.6 p today on euro notes.

I saw 85p in another shop.

The_Conductor

Geuze wrote: »

Asda in Enniskillen offering 85.6 p today on euro notes.

I saw 85p in another shop.

Pretty much identical to rates you'll get if you use your credit card- no great reason to use notes......

Geuze

ECB official rate on Fri 19-Aug was 86.537 pence.

Visa rate on Sat 20-Aug was 85.99.

Banks charge typically 1.75%, so a CC rate would be 84.485 pence.

So Asda offering 85.6p is good, over a penny more than a typical bank CC.

karenfennell

anyone know if shops are doing pound to euro at the moment?

The_Conductor

karenfennell wrote: »

anyone know if shops are doing pound to euro at the moment?

Not that I'm aware of- and I was there last week.
Best bet is simply pay on your credit card- you get a 91p give or take rate.
Some shops there are still down at 75-80p even the bigger shops are more 85p....... If you're getting a snack or anything- use your credit card.

I'm sure there will be shops offering parity in due course- they're just not doing it at the moment (by and large).

horse7

Very low now at 85£ = 100€

marrm

Why not get an N26 debit card? They do not add the usual 3.5% currency fee, I use it all the time when buying in foreign currency, no extra currency cost.

Check it out!

N26.com

Use the code michaelm0597 referral code and get €50 bonus off for getting the card!

(OK, I admit it, I would get €50 as well, but that way we'll both be happy).

Stay safe & well

GreenPanda99

They had £1 for €1 in a few shops in The Quays in Newry at the weekend. Looks like a lot of shops were having a closing down sale.