The Range store, Carlow.

madmaggie

I went out there on Sunday for a look. I thought it was a strange mix of HomeStore and Woodies. Not really worth the bother of going out there when the same stuff can be bought in town. What did anyone else think?

SoupyNorman

I liked the garden centre and there was a huge selection of Xmas decorations which I'm in sore need of.

Overall it's mostly filled with cheap chinese made tat but there is certainly enough to keep people going back I would say. Sunday was a crazy day, it was so packed you couldnt really have a good look. I just bought a new peeler.

The other stores around the country seem to do well and having an anchor tenant in the retail park is fantastic, might persuade other businesses to set up in the 3 empty units.

mneylon

I was in there during the week after 6. I'd heard it was very busy at the weekend so glad I chose a quieter time.

They've got some recognisable brands, but a lot of it is either their own brand or something I'm not familiar with. Pricing is fairly aggressive.

Very odd range of items though

madmaggie

That's what I thought, Blacknight. It's as if they don't know what they are. Paint and toiletries under one roof, bizarre. I thought it was all too bitty, too many different product ranges, but not enough of anything. There again, if it works for them in UK, they probably know what they're doing.

mneylon

madmaggie wrote: »

That's what I thought, Blacknight. It's as if they don't know what they are. Paint and toiletries under one roof, bizarre. I thought it was all too bitty, too many different product ranges, but not enough of anything. There again, if it works for them in UK, they probably know what they're doing.

I picked up a few pieces for the office and I'll probably get some stuff for the house in there at some point. But just have a look at the layout - it's truly odd, but as you say it must be working

SoupyNorman

Blacknight wrote: »

I picked up a few pieces for the office and I'll probably get some stuff for the house in there at some point. But just have a look at the layout - it's truly odd, but as you say it must be working

Archery and Fishing supplies, that was the odd part to me!

I pass daily and the carpark has been consistently full even on weekday evenings. This shop has been a godsend to that retail park and I really hope the last 3 units get some tenants.

I think what it shows is the footfall that can be generated in Carlow. While the local population might not seem enough to fill the town it's really that nobody wants to shop on the street they will however flock to retail parks and shopping centres. I'd bet if the proposed shopping centre in Carlow ever got the go ahead it would do fantastically well.

Deliverance XXV

I called in on the Saturday evening of the week it opened and one thing was evident - Supermacs absolutely cleaned up during the launch days!

Hard to say if it will still be there in 5 years though. A lot of their products are already catered for in similar shops such as Woodies and Homestore + More and they are a fair distance away from key town anchors such as Tesco, Argos, etc. They will probably do well at Christmas though as loads of present options at Christmas present price levels!

Vetch

Blacknight wrote: »

I picked up a few pieces for the office and I'll probably get some stuff for the house in there at some point. But just have a look at the layout - it's truly odd, but as you say it must be working

Agree on the layout - difficult to plot a route around where you're seeing all. I doubled back on myself a few times.

Ken.

The best thing about the range is I got to spend an hour in the army surplus shop in peace while the missus was in there.

Agent Coulson

The army surplus and SuperMacs are the big winners up there I think when I was up there more people were both of them than The Range.


The Range store itself is a bit of a mess but stores like that are ok to have a wander around.