Gathering to Mark 3rd Anniversary of Clerys Closure

JupiterKid

Many of you on this forum will well remember the landmark department store on O’Connell street that was Clerys.

Over the years it had its ups and downs - according to many the period from the 1950s to the early 1980s were its halcyon days. It was a place where Dubliners and visitors to the city, young and old, would head to avail of a whole variety of items - homewares to fashions, toys to fabrics and of course, perfumes and cosmetics.

Sadly, in 2015, after 162 years of operation, Clerys summarily closed with the loss of 450 jobs. Some of the Clerys employees had worked there for decades and they were immediately made redundant. The sadness and anger was palpable. Dubliners were saddened at the loss of a major city landmark.

Clerys clock was an important meeting place for many a courting couple. Indeed many happy marriages and families began their story under that clock.:o

The loss of Clerys was a huge blow to O’Connell Street. It left a huge void. It’s true O’Connell St had been going downhill for decades before the loss of Clerys but its closure seemed to be the final straw.

I have recently become involved in a voluntary society that aims to bring O’Connell Street back to some degree of class and respectability and we believe that re-opening Clerys, or another major landmark retailer in that building could be a starting point to reviving the street, much of which is in a very sorry state.

We plan to mark the 3rd anniversary of the closure of Clerys on June 12th 2015 by staging a gathering and silent protest outside the store next Tuesday, June 12th. Anyone who is interested is very welcome to come and join us. There are plans to redevelop the building but this is still at the planning stage and a lot of uncertainty remains.

PM me if you are indeed interested and I will pass on the details of the gathering. It will be a dignified and solemn affair. Perhaps you are a former employee or a former loyal customer of Clerys with fond memories of the department store. Please share these with us!

neris

sure might aswell bring back nelsons pillar aswell. clerys was a relic of a past time that never moved with the times and its not exactly a desirable location any more for retailers for a number of reasons

Birneybau

Never heard of it

JupiterKid

Frankly I’m pretty disappointed at the lack of interest in the fate of Clerys and its potential redevopment and its importance for O’Connell Street as a whole.

Does anyone care about the state of O’Connell St at the moment, our national thoroughfare?

Any ideas on how it could be improved?

Caranica

JupiterKid wrote: »

Frankly I’m pretty disappointed at the lack of interest in the fate of Clerys and its potential redevopment and its importance for O’Connell Street as a whole.

Does anyone care about the state of O’Connell St at the moment, our national thoroughfare?

Any ideas on how it could be improved?

The City Council need to care first!

colm_mcm

This article from around the time Clerys closed sums it up for me.
http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/is-it-time-we-give-up-on-dublins-oconnell-street-2377870-Oct2015/

bucketybuck

Bring it back all you want, I bet you still don't spend your money there.

whiskeyman

The top end of O'Connell Street and so many off it are dirty, underdeveloped and have no reason for footfall.
It's such a shame considering the location.
There's some signs of growth, but I can't see much happening anytime soon. No doubt there's huge landowner / landlord issues etc...

FreudianSlippers

JupiterKid wrote: »

Frankly I’m pretty disappointed at the lack of interest in the fate of Clerys and its potential redevopment and its importance for O’Connell Street as a whole.

Does anyone care about the state of O’Connell St at the moment, our national thoroughfare?

Any ideas on how it could be improved?

They could close and redevelop Clerys into a functional modern shopping destination for a start.

Oh.. wait.

odyssey06

As it happens, I still have a coat that I bought in Clerys, and a jacket from Boyers... and before that I remember childhood shopping trips to Roches Stores. Seems like there's more money to be made in disposable fashion these days.

Sadly Clerys couldn't hold out against the combined forces of changing retail scene and the malign disinterest of Dublin City Council.

In pre-mobile phone days I can remember Clerys clock as the rendezvous point before hitting the pubs to see which ones were ok with 18 - 21 year old lads that Saturday night.

That world is gone. John Banville in Time Pieces eloquently remembers the thrill he felt as a boy, catching the early train to Dublin on 8th December for a shopping trip to Clerys.
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/time-pieces-a-dublin-memoir-by-john-banville-review-utterly-delightful-1.2834302

Clerys RIP.

P_1

Ok it's worth remembering the history but 3 years is a bit too bloody soon to be having the mememorials etc

Nermal

JupiterKid wrote: »

Any ideas on how it could be improved?

Sell all the social housing and drug treatment centres inside the M50. Use the money raised to rebuild them on cheap land outside it. Watch as the city centre magically becomes a pleasant place to live and work.

Chinasea

The city is filthy. I have had to stop walking the boardwalk, and not cause of the antisocial behaviour, but the filth and stench of the place. It needs regular old fashioned sweeping and power hosing which it NEVER gets. The plastic bottles and cans all blow into the Liffey. The actual bins themselves are filthy. Privatise the cleaning of city please.

sacamano

RIP Clerys, never forget.

Birneybau

I've never found another place to buy my slacks

JupiterKid

Well, the Society got its first bit of media exposure as I and others gathered outside Clery’s to mark the 3rd anniversary of the closure. The Society, only formed in April, is going from strength to strength.


Article below:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/call-for-revival-of-o-connell-street-as-closure-of-clerys-marked-1.3528341

bucketybuck

Others?

JupiterKid

Yes, a few of us turned up at the event at 1pm. The media came along after about 25 minutes and a couple of members were pictured and interviewed.

Seems like some on this thread are just too cynical to care whatsoever about the state of O’Connell Street, our national thoroughfare. At least some people do care and want to see its fortunes turned around.

Gavin "shels"

JupiterKid wrote: »

Seems like some on this thread are just too cynical to care whatsoever about the state of O’Connell Street, our national thoroughfare. At least some people do care and want to see its fortunes turned around.

Or maybe people are just actually concerned about things that are actually issues?

Pelvis

JupiterKid wrote: »

Yes, a few of us turned up at the event at 1pm. The media came along after about 25 minutes and a couple of members were pictured and interviewed.

Seems like some on this thread are just too cynical to care whatsoever about the state of O’Connell Street, our national thoroughfare. At least some people do care and want to see its fortunes turned around.

Why has the Clery's building been vacant for 3 years? Is it available for occupation? If not why not and what do you expect a protest to achieve?

Dravokivich

JupiterKid wrote: »

Frankly I’m pretty disappointed at the lack of interest in the fate of Clerys and its potential redevopment and its importance for O’Connell Street as a whole.

Does anyone care about the state of O’Connell St at the moment, our national thoroughfare?

Any ideas on how it could be improved?

It's nothing more than a cul de sac that's lost its sense of itself.

miamee

It is an awful shame to see the Clery's building still lying empty all this time later. They shut it in such a hurry and now have left it to gather dust. It'd be wonderful if owners if buidlings could be forced into doing something with them within a certain timeframe rather than leave them lying idle like the Carlton cinema building mentioned in the article.

Birneybau

JupiterKid wrote: »

Yes, a few of us turned up at the event at 1pm. The media came along after about 25 minutes and a couple of members were pictured and interviewed.

Seems like some on this thread are just too cynical to care whatsoever about the state of O’Connell Street, our national thoroughfare. At least some people do care and want to see its fortunes turned around.

It was a department store. Nothing more, nothing less. It didn't move with the times.

The_B_Man

Fair play. O'Connell St is a dive!
If groups like these can get the government/council to spend money on it, then it benefits everyone.

I don't go near O'Connell St anymore, intentionally.
I was walking up one afternoon and a proper fist fight started in front of me, with tourists onlooking. I'm sure everyone has stories about how bad of a place it has become.

Doing it up would get more businesses in, which means more jobs. Ideally, some of the locals would get jobs, which would hopefully restore some pride and reduce anti-social behaviour. Then when the tourists get dropped off at the spire they won't have such a bad first impression.

In terms of Clerys itself, it was an old business who didn't adapt to modern ways of shopping and paid the price. I couldn't care less if they reopened or not, but some other large employer needs to go in its place.

Doctor DooM

Interesting statements from people with short memories...

Clerys did not close because it wasn't making money, it was. It had all of the money funnelled out of it into another company then was folded up. This also meant that all of us had to pay the staffs redundancies initially because they were claiming there was none to do so. They did eventually come to a settlement, but only after sustained campaigning from several organisations making life awkward for Natrium, the new owner.

The saga of Clerys represents a lot more than just the last locally owned department store going under.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/former-clerys-workers-secure-1m-payout-in-longrunning-row-35554049.html

expectationlost

JupiterKid wrote: »

Many of you on this forum will well remember the landmark department store on O’Connell street that was Clerys.

Over the years it had its ups and downs - according to many the period from the 1950s to the early 1980s were its halcyon days. It was a place where Dubliners and visitors to the city, young and old, would head to avail of a whole variety of items - homewares to fashions, toys to fabrics and of course, perfumes and cosmetics.

Sadly, in 2015, after 162 years of operation, Clerys summarily closed with the loss of 450 jobs. Some of the Clerys employees had worked there for decades and they were immediately made redundant. The sadness and anger was palpable. Dubliners were saddened at the loss of a major city landmark.

Clerys clock was an important meeting place for many a courting couple. Indeed many happy marriages and families began their story under that clock.:o

The loss of Clerys was a huge blow to O’Connell Street. It left a huge void. It’s true O’Connell St had been going downhill for decades before the loss of Clerys but its closure seemed to be the final straw.

I have recently become involved in a voluntary society that aims to bring O’Connell Street back to some degree of class and respectability and we believe that re-opening Clerys, or another major landmark retailer in that building could be a starting point to reviving the street, much of which is in a very sorry state.

We plan to mark the 3rd anniversary of the closure of Clerys on June 12th 2015 by staging a gathering and silent protest outside the store next Tuesday, June 12th. Anyone who is interested is very welcome to come and join us. There are plans to redevelop the building but this is still at the planning stage and a lot of uncertainty remains.

PM me if you are indeed interested and I will pass on the details of the gathering. It will be a dignified and solemn affair. Perhaps you are a former employee or a former loyal customer of Clerys with fond memories of the department store. Please share these with us!

there is company planning to redevelop that area, its going through planning processes at the moment, what is it that you will add to that?

FreudianSlippers

JupiterKid wrote: »

Yes, a few of us turned up at the event at 1pm. The media came along after about 25 minutes and a couple of members were pictured and interviewed.

Seems like some on this thread are just too cynical to care whatsoever about the state of O’Connell Street, our national thoroughfare. At least some people do care and want to see its fortunes turned around.

The Clerys redevelopment (that I presume you're protesting) is going to be manifestly positive for OCS; maybe you should be protesting the gaming arcades, the poor signage enforcement and the general state of quality of shops on OCS and pushing for redevelopment of the surrounding areas.

FreudianSlippers

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Interesting statements from people with short memories...

Clerys did not close because it wasn't making money, it was. It had all of the money funnelled out of it into another company then was folded up. This also meant that all of us had to pay the staffs redundancies initially because they were claiming there was none to do so. They did eventually come to a settlement, but only after sustained campaigning from several organisations making life awkward for Natrium, the new owner.

The saga of Clerys represents a lot more than just the last locally owned department store going under.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/former-clerys-workers-secure-1m-payout-in-longrunning-row-35554049.html

That's a pretty heavy accusation, not supported by the link that you provided.

It's also not an accurate description of what actually occurred or the profitability of Clerys as an ongoing entity. Whilst Clerys was split into operations and property (very usual in larger companies), the entity as a whole was loss-making. The complaint is that if the property had been in the same company as the massively loss-making operations (i.e. Clerys the department store) then the employees could have been compensated for redundancy from the profits of selling the property.

That's not a healthy shop that is making money - that's a business that was doomed to fail and lawful planning was put in place to protect certain assets.

Dr Brown

The_B_Man wrote: »

Fair play. O'Connell St is a dive!
If groups like these can get the government/council to spend money on it, then it benefits everyone.

I don't go near O'Connell St anymore, intentionally.
I was walking up one afternoon and a proper fist fight started in front of me, with tourists onlooking. I'm sure everyone has stories about how bad of a place it has become.

Doing it up would get more businesses in, which means more jobs. Ideally, some of the locals would get jobs, which would hopefully restore some pride and reduce anti-social behaviour. Then when the tourists get dropped off at the spire they won't have such a bad first impression.

In terms of Clerys itself, it was an old business who didn't adapt to modern ways of shopping and paid the price. I couldn't care less if they reopened or not, but some other large employer needs to go in its place.

O'Connell St has been a kip for as long as I can remember.

Dame St would make a much better main Street than O'Connell St.

If was up to me I would just knock down O'Connell St or build over it.

n!ghtmancometh

Thank god it's not up to you then so.

Nermal

miamee wrote: »

It is an awful shame to see the Clery's building still lying empty all this time later. They shut it in such a hurry and now have left it to gather dust. It'd be wonderful if owners if buidlings could be forced into doing something with them within a certain timeframe rather than leave them lying idle like the Carlton cinema building mentioned in the article.

Sites inside the M50 left unoccupied for over a year should be seized and auctioned off. Land is a scarce resource, it needs to be utilised.

colm_mcm

Nermal wrote: »

Sites inside the M50 left unoccupied for over a year should be seized and auctioned off. Land is a scarce resource, it needs to be utilised.

You’d swear it was central Tokyo!

retalivity

The_B_Man wrote: »

some of the locals would get jobs, which would hopefully restore some pride and reduce anti-social behaviour.

Lol.
These people have lived in a city centre, surrounded by potential places to work for donkeys years. If they havent got jobs by now...

neris

Did Bang Bang show up??

Birneybau

neris wrote: »

Did Bang Bang show up??

Lugs Brannigan scared him off

neris

Birneybau wrote: »

Lugs Brannigan scared him off

Joe Duffy must have been crying into his coddle

Dravokivich

Nermal wrote: »

Sites inside the M50 left unoccupied for over a year should be seized and auctioned off. Land is a scarce resource, it needs to be utilised.

Why is the M50 seen as the be all and end all as a boundrary for development within Dublin? It was meant to direct people around the city, not focus business development within it.

humberklog

Interesting that IKEA are said to be looking into acquiring the site. I think that'd be great for the street and employment in the city.

Birneybau

humberklog wrote: »

Interesting that IKEA are said to be looking into acquiring the site. I think that'd be great for the street and employment in the city.

Great for the street because in no way it would increase traffic to an unsustainable level?

FreudianSlippers

I think Ikea would be a pretty bad tenant IMHO - I think it needs to be something more high-end. I thought the plan anyway was that there would be a few different places on the ground floor?

Dr Brown

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I think Ikea would be a pretty bad tenant IMHO - I think it needs to be something more high-end. I thought the plan anyway was that there would be a few different places on the ground floor?

I don't think it would be big enough for an Ikea.

Pelvis

IKEA!??? May as well just stick a Lidl in there while we're at it.

humberklog

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I think Ikea would be a pretty bad tenant IMHO - I think it needs to be something more high-end. I thought the plan anyway was that there would be a few different places on the ground floor?

While what I've read it only mentions Ikea in the building but on the radio this morning it was put as though they'd be a main shop in a mixed project. However it's all very speculative as apparently Ikea are pretty secretive in such matters.

It wouldn't make much sense to be selling large flat packs for take away so probably an order and delivery job if it does happen.

humberklog

Birneybau wrote: »

Great for the street because in no way it would increase traffic to an unsustainable level?

Not with you Birneybau, wouldn't any business increase traffic in same way?

dd972

'I have recently become involved in a voluntary society that aims to bring O’Connell Street back to some degree of class and respectability'

God loves a trier! :pac:

tricky D

humberklog wrote: »

It wouldn't make much sense to be selling large flat packs for take away so probably an order and delivery job if it does happen.

Sounds like it would have to be a showroom and delivery order setup. Dunno if they already do that type of thing and it doesn't fit with the business/location model/brand. Big home fit out stuff outlets are mostly out of the city these days.

humberklog

tricky D wrote: »

Sounds like it would have to be a showroom and delivery order setup. Dunno if they already do that type of thing and it doesn't fit with the business/location model/brand. Big home fit out stuff outlets are mostly out of the city these days.

They've the order and collection in Carrickmines. What was said today was it could operate as an order and deliver for larger items or large amounts.

I really don't see it as a bad thing. They're pretty good to work for apparently and their minimum pay runs in line with the living wage recommendation which for jobs in retail is good.

Birneybau

humberklog wrote: »

Not with you Birneybau, wouldn't any business increase traffic in same way?

I just meant that the majority of them are out of city centres due to most people driving there and loading up with the flat pack furniture. It's not the same as heading into town for a pair of jeans or whatever.