Alfie Hale relocation

JohnC.

Just noticed a To Let sign and a closer look revealed a relocation sale. Anyone know where it's moving to?

dzilla

JohnC. wrote: »

Just noticed a To Let sign and a closer look revealed a relocation sale. Anyone know where it's moving to?

Opposite the cinema

BBM77

Into the old Zip yard premises.

iseegirls

BBM77 wrote: »

Into the old Zip yard premises.

Very odd move. Were they forced out? Do City Square own that as well.
Wouldn't a move to that vacant corner site across from them be better.

Zip yard premises seem small, and they do have that bit of a hill to get to it.

BBM77

iseegirls wrote: »

Very odd move. Were they forced out? Do City Square own that as well.
Wouldn't a move to that vacant corner site across from them be better.

Zip yard premises seem small, and they do have that bit of a hill to get to it.

They were not forced out, city square did not own Alfie Hales present shop. They sold it to the new owners of city square.

Don’t know why they choose the old Zip yard premises.

Aquos76

BBM77 wrote: »

They were not forced out, city square did not own Alfie Hales present shop. They sold it to the new owners of city square.

Don’t know why they choose the old Zip yard premises.

Are you sure about that, I've heard the opposite to be honest, word going around was new owners wanted to renegotiate their rent and the increases were not acceptable to them, if that is actually the case, then technically they were forced out because of increased rent. The new premises is a strange choice alright but they would have built up a very good customer base over the years so I'm sure they'll be ok as long as they kept a city centre presence.

shockwave

Probably the best location they could get, theres not many empty units to choose from in the city centre.

Max Powers

Anyone recall city square mgt saying they wanted to move entrance to in the middle there by sullys/alfies. Think it was not long after latest people bought it.

BBM77

Aquos76 wrote: »

Are you sure about that, I've heard the opposite to be honest, word going around was new owners wanted to renegotiate their rent and the increases were not acceptable to them, if that is actually the case, then technically they were forced out because of increased rent. The new premises is a strange choice alright but they would have built up a very good customer base over the years so I'm sure they'll be ok as long as they kept a city centre presence.

Waterford is a great place for stories going around alright. But what I wrote was what I read in the local papers. That they sold the shop to the new owners of city square.

dzilla

I think Alfies will be ok in their new premises. I have noticed in recent years that all sports shops bar Elverys and Alfies don't really cater for sports they just sell trendy sports clothes as a fashion item like Lifestyle and JD. The last few times I have been in to alfies its genuinely busy with people looking for expert advise on runners etc so I def think they have a loyal market.

Max Powers

BBM77 wrote: »

Waterford is a great place for stories going around alright. But what I wrote was what I read in the local papers. That they sold the shop to the new owners of city square.

You're right, voluntarily moved/sold not as gossip worthy.you can imagine inaccurate word already gone around that they were kicked out by big business or the banks.best of luck in their new premises, as one said already, loyal base, would always be first on my list of sport shops.

deisemum

Max Powers wrote: »

Anyone recall city square mgt saying they wanted to move entrance to in the middle there by sullys/alfies. Think it was not long after latest people bought it.

I remember hearing that.

Flow Motion

Agree with supporting local business. Alfies is a Waterford institution. You can keep your trendy Lifestyles and JD Sports. Alfies have the personal touch. In the mid 80's as a young fella I supported Man Utd. I wanted their kit. The real thing not the O'Neills knock off copy. It wasnt as easy to source replica kits back in those day. It was to be my Christmas present. Alfie himself had trouble getting one from Adidas. Meanwhile Christmas was fast approaching. My mother knew Alfie from her childhood years and he was going the extra mile to get me a kit. The week before Christmas still no sign. I was resigned to not getting it and was trying to come up with an alternative Xmas present. But.. behind the scenes Alfie had contacted his sister who lived in Manchester and she went to the (much smaller at the time) Club shop and posted it over to him. It arrived in the shop on The Quay (beside BOI, theres an Indian there now) on the day we finished up for the Xmas hols in primary school. To me Alfie = Santa!
And for those not familar with the mid 80's. Man Utd were not the force they would go on to be, football wise and commercially. They were a big name not the brand they have become. Indeed football was not the mainstream commodity the "premiership (sic), premier league" would make it.
So end the story of why Alfies will always be my No 1 choice of sports shop. Pure class and customer drive. Come on d'Blues!

dzilla

Flow Motion wrote: »

Agree with supporting local business. Alfies is a Waterford institution. You can keep your trendy Lifestyles and JD Sports. Alfies have the personal touch. In the mid 80's as a young fella I supported Man Utd. I wanted their kit. The real thing not the O'Neills knock off copy. It wasnt as easy to source replica kits back in those day. It was to be my Christmas present. Alfie himself had trouble getting one from Adidas. Meanwhile Christmas was fast approaching. My mother knew Alfie from her childhood years and he was going the extra mile to get me a kit. The week before Christmas still no sign. I was resigned to not getting it and was trying to come up with an alternative Xmas present. But.. behind the scenes Alfie had contacted his sister who lived in Manchester and she went to the (much smaller at the time) Club shop and posted it over to him. It arrived in the shop on The Quay (beside BOI, theres an Indian there now) on the day we finished up for the Xmas hols in primary school. To me Alfie = Santa!
And for those not familar with the mid 80's. Man Utd were not the force they would go on to be, football wise and commercially. They were a big name not the brand they have become. Indeed football was not the mainstream commodity the "premiership (sic), premier league" would make it.
So end the story of why Alfies will always be my No 1 choice of sports shop. Pure class and customer drive. Come on d'Blues!

Brilliant love the story!

As an occasional runner when it suits i alway find the advice in their regarding my running shoe fantastic.

You can go online and buy them probably cheaper but I can never be sure if they are the right shoe for me

Alfies never put you wrong

Max Powers

Flow Motion wrote: »

Agree with supporting local business. Alfies is a Waterford institution. You can keep your trendy Lifestyles and JD Sports. Alfies have the personal touch. In the mid 80's as a young fella I supported Man Utd. I wanted their kit. The real thing not the O'Neills knock off copy. It wasnt as easy to source replica kits back in those day. It was to be my Christmas present. Alfie himself had trouble getting one from Adidas. Meanwhile Christmas was fast approaching. My mother knew Alfie from her childhood years and he was going the extra mile to get me a kit. The week before Christmas still no sign. I was resigned to not getting it and was trying to come up with an alternative Xmas present. But.. behind the scenes Alfie had contacted his sister who lived in Manchester and she went to the (much smaller at the time) Club shop and posted it over to him. It arrived in the shop on The Quay (beside BOI, theres an Indian there now) on the day we finished up for the Xmas hols in primary school. To me Alfie = Santa!
And for those not familar with the mid 80's. Man Utd were not the force they would go on to be, football wise and commercially. They were a big name not the brand they have become. Indeed football was not the mainstream commodity the "premiership (sic), premier league" would make it.
So end the story of why Alfies will always be my No 1 choice of sports shop. Pure class and customer drive. Come on d'Blues!

Brilliant, remember too when it was on the quay, I remember getting away Waterford United jersey for my birthday donkeys years ago, complete with hoffmans lager on front in red lettering.

PTH2009

amazing how the place can still survive with so many sports shops in the city

mostly get jerseys and stuff Elverlys or Lifestyle cause i have various 3plus discounts and stuff, cant beat sports direct online for sportwear

savic04

Flow Motion wrote: »

Agree with supporting local business. Alfies is a Waterford institution. You can keep your trendy Lifestyles and JD Sports. Alfies have the personal touch. In the mid 80's as a young fella I supported Man Utd. I wanted their kit. The real thing not the O'Neills knock off copy. It wasnt as easy to source replica kits back in those day. It was to be my Christmas present. Alfie himself had trouble getting one from Adidas. Meanwhile Christmas was fast approaching. My mother knew Alfie from her childhood years and he was going the extra mile to get me a kit. The week before Christmas still no sign. I was resigned to not getting it and was trying to come up with an alternative Xmas present. But.. behind the scenes Alfie had contacted his sister who lived in Manchester and she went to the (much smaller at the time) Club shop and posted it over to him. It arrived in the shop on The Quay (beside BOI, theres an Indian there now) on the day we finished up for the Xmas hols in primary school. To me Alfie = Santa!
And for those not familar with the mid 80's. Man Utd were not the force they would go on to be, football wise and commercially. They were a big name not the brand they have become. Indeed football was not the mainstream commodity the "premiership (sic), premier league" would make it.
So end the story of why Alfies will always be my No 1 choice of sports shop. Pure class and customer drive. Come on d'Blues!

I went to OT in 87 as a kid with my father and luckily got Home , away and Blue 3rd strip (adidas originals) but i grew out of them a year or so later.. then they were so hard to get and Manchester wasnt as easy to get to as now...

more or less same thing, alfie got Shay brennan(RIP) to bring back a few kids replicas sizes as adults were only ones.. Also got the CCCP Soviet shirt and an Argie one Alfies always had that special ring to it for football shirts

deisemum

Alfie Hale's very good for restringing rackets, staff who are very knowledgeable on more specialist things like wetsuits to suit your needs, putting name and numbers on replica shirts etc. plus they don't have the headwrecking music blaring that other sports shops have, yes I'm getting old. :rolleyes:

robtri

Rocky is the man when it comes to runners and helping you out... an absolute legend and is the reason i keep going back for my runners for the last 5 years

Jamie2k9

shockwave wrote: »

Probably the best location they could get, theres not many empty units to choose from in the city centre.

Old sports savers but they were looking for 100,000 a year.

Aquos76

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Old sports savers but they were looking for 100,000 a year.

That premises is falling a part, how they can expect rent of €100k per year is unbelievable.

Deisegodeo

Arundel Square has been home to Alfie's a while now, but they have had a few moves over the years... werent they in Georges Court for a while, and I think they were in the current Michael Guineys when it was a small shopping centre...

As for that former Sports Savers building, it should be knocked and a decent building put in there. Would help the area with City Square upgrade and urban renewal works due to begin soon.

CeilingFly

Aquos76 wrote: »

Are you sure about that, I've heard the opposite to be honest, word going around was new owners wanted to renegotiate their rent and the increases were not acceptable to them, if that is actually the case, then technically they were forced out because of increased rent. The new premises is a strange choice alright but they would have built up a very good customer base over the years so I'm sure they'll be ok as long as they kept a city centre presence.

There are rules and regulations on leases and rents. If parties don't agree there is binding arbitration.

Alfie Hale's is a specialist "sports" shop as opposed to a fashion sports shop that the likes of lifestyle / jd etc are.

They don't need a big 3300 sq ft premises to offer the services they are so well known for and much better to have a smaller specialised business than one competing with the big multinationals.

Unit is available at €70,000 per year + rates. Probably go for about 60-65k.

Zip yard unit was quoting 20k a year.

Aquos76

CeilingFly wrote: »

There are rules and regulations on leases and rents. If parties don't agree there is binding arbitration.

Alfie Hale's is a specialist "sports" shop as opposed to a fashion sports shop that the likes of lifestyle / jd etc are.

They don't need a big 3300 sq ft premises to offer the services they are so well known for and much better to have a smaller specialised business than one competing with the big multinationals.

Unit is available at €70,000 per year + rates. Probably go for about 60-65k.

Zip yard unit was quoting 20k a year.

That 3300 sq ft unit was actually 100k a year earlier this year, I get what your saying about arbitration between both parties, but was this not the case that the actual building where AH occupied changed ownership recently and when the current lease was up, the new owner set out new terms which were obviously not acceptable to Alfie Hales. Again, this may well. E just speculation and 2nd hand information which may well be incorrect, but what is certain city square are probably happy that they have the unit back now.

CeilingFly

Aquos76 wrote: »

That 3300 sq ft unit was actually 100k a year earlier this year, I get what your saying about arbitration between both parties, but was this not the case that the actual building where AH occupied changed ownership recently and when the current lease was up, the new owner set out new terms which were obviously not acceptable to Alfie Hales. Again, this may well. E just speculation and 2nd hand information which may well be incorrect, but what is certain city square are probably happy that they have the unit back now.

Doesn't matter is a lease is up, once a tenant is in situ for 5 years they are automatically entitled to a new lease unless they have signed a renunciation (unlikely in this case) and if agreement can't be reached it goes to arbitration. Old agreements always stay with the building no matter how many times ownership changes.

You find that in many cases the vacation is by mutual consent and also a payment may also be involved.

The public story can quite often be different to the reality though.

Just checked on the Zipyard unit - asking rent 14.4k, so a huge difference and with so much extra competition on the fashion sports side, probably a good move

iseegirls

CeilingFly wrote: »

.. with so much extra competition on the fashion sports side, probably a good move

But can't see how it is a good move. They are moving (or forced) from an area which has a lot of footfall, to one which is halfway up a hill, and very little retail around it.

If you are a regular and love going to Alfie Hales, then most of these will still remain going there. However, visitors to Waterford, and people out for a stroll and just looking will rarely go up the hill.

longshanks

It's a 60 second walk up a slight hill. It's not mountain climbing for **** sake.

AdMMM

iseegirls wrote: »

But can't see how it is a good move. They are moving (or forced) from an area which has a lot of footfall, to one which is halfway up a hill, and very little retail around it.

If you are a regular and love going to Alfie Hales, then most of these will still remain going there. However, visitors to Waterford, and people out for a stroll and just looking will rarely go up the hill.

Would tourists or people out for a stroll account for much of Alfie Hales turnover?

I'd think not.

iseegirls

AdMMM wrote: »

Would tourists or people out for a stroll account for much of Alfie Hales turnover?

I'd think not.

Never know. People often wander into a shop just to buy milk & bread, and end up coming out with a lot more stuff than they actually had planned to buy. Same for people coming into Waterford from Kilkenny, Wexford, Tipperary etc.. Those people will not be walking past the shop, unless they were aiming to go to Ballybricken.

Look at how The Brasserie's move went. Successful restaurant was situated near Alfie's. Then building got sold/taken over, and Brasserie went up to near the same new location of Alfie Hales. The Brasserie failed after a few months.

Not looking for it to fail - good to have a local sports shop, but there's an option of cheap rent, smaller store & less footfall versus higher rent, bigger store & more footfall. Whatever risk they want to take is up to them.

dzilla

iseegirls wrote: »

Never know. People often wander into a shop just to buy milk & bread, and end up coming out with a lot more stuff than they actually had planned to buy. Same for people coming into Waterford from Kilkenny, Wexford, Tipperary etc.. Those people will not be walking past the shop, unless they were aiming to go to Ballybricken.

Look at how The Brasserie's move went. Successful restaurant was situated near Alfie's. Then building got sold/taken over, and Brasserie went up to near the same new location of Alfie Hales. The Brasserie failed after a few months.

Not looking for it to fail - good to have a local sports shop, but there's an option of cheap rent, smaller store & less footfall versus higher rent, bigger store & more footfall. Whatever risk they want to take is up to them.

I think the brasserie changed its vision however.. didnt they go for a kind of clean eating style restaurant, and changed the name aswell so brand awareness was gone immediately there.

I hope Alfies goes well nonethe less. With Elverys / LLoylds / Boxworks / Shoecenter and the new old cinema there that whole area has been rejuvenated in the last 2 years. Remember it for a few years after the cinema closed it was grim.

iseegirls

dzilla wrote: »

I hope Alfies goes well nonethe less. With Elverys / LLoylds / Boxworks / Shoecenter and the new old cinema there that whole area has been rejuvenated in the last 2 years. Remember it for a few years after the cinema closed it was grim.

True. I think that's going to become a one way street there soon as part of the whole new road plan, so hopefully the paths will increase in size and make the street look great, and in doing so helping the shops along that street.