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Who remembers Roches Stores?

Andy From Sligo

I knew roches stores went ages ago - but surprised it closed way back in 2007. good store that. Had to travel to Galway to go shop there , because there wasnt one in Sligo (now there's a surprise) anyone else on here used to like that store?

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Aglomerado

The O'Connell Street Limerick one was our Mecca. There used to be a nice nativity scene on the stairs at Christmas, I always remember that. School uniforms & electrical goods were always got there!
Plus the seats inside the front doors where old folk from the country waiting for the Saturday bus back to East Clare would congregate; would always bump into several neighbours there.

Chaos Tourist

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I knew roches stores went ages ago - but surprised it closed way back in 2007. good store that. Had to travel to Galway to go shop there , because there wasnt one in Sligo (now there's a surprise) anyone else on here used to like that store?

No I wasn't familiar with it. Was it good? Are you still pining for Roches Stores Galway after a decade?

Was it your pick-up point to score some Mary Jane --a little bit of ganja for the weekend?;)

Andy From Sligo

haha just found this online:

11 memories you'll have if you ever shopped in Roches Stores

Gadgetman496

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

AFAik the Roche's still own the buildings but have leased them to debhanbums.

Correct.

Retailer Roches Stores, founded in Cork in the early 1900s, has announced plans to sell its nationwide chain of shops to the British high street giant Debenhams.

It took six years to rebuild the Roches Stores premises on Saint Patrick’s Street after it was destroyed during the burning of Cork city in December 1920. The small furniture shop founded by William Roche went on to become one of the countries best known chain-stores with 11 shops trading throughout the country.

In a deal worth €29 million, the company will continue to own its properties in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Galway and Waterford, leasing them back to Debenhams. Howevever 90 jobs will be lost and the remaining 2000 employees will transfer to the new owners. Linda Tanham of Mandate Trade Union says

Source:

AMKC

I do remember it yes. Loved the one on Henry Street in Dublin. I was also in the one in Waterford or Wexford one of them citys. That's where I started collecting Micro Machines. Anyone remember them? Choose the wrong ones do. Still have them somewhere. Must have spent 50 Irish pounds collecting the ones from this certain huge franchise. Wish I had of bought the ones from the other Franchise first do and it might have gotten bigger. The other franchise could have waited. As it was they stopped making the ones I had not bought not long after it. Bought some years later from E-Bay.

New Home

Clothes, garden, hardware, kitchen stuff, shoes, hair accessories, "jewellery", make-up... you mention it, they had it.

Andy From Sligo

memory is foggy , im just trying to think all what items they sold:

Homeware stuff

Electrical stuff

Clothes

Kitchen bakeware and that

toys?

cannot think now what else - good shop though

BuboBubo

Visited the one in City Square Waterford umpteen times before Debenhams arrived.

Bought many pairs of Levis there back in the 90's.

twowheelsonly

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Yep. Founded by a Killavullen man I do believe, frittered away the proceeds on wimmin and dhrink

Lol... His son, Stanley, ran the Cork businesses for years and was an absolute gentleman, widely respected by everyone including his staff. Met him a few times through my own job at the time and he was one of those fellas that if you didn't know him you'd presume him to be an ordinary Joe Soap. No airs and graces at all. He passed away about 10 years ago.

He married a Dutch (or German ??) lady called Heidi and I remember being told the story of how it led to a court case as her first husband sued him, basically for stealing her away from him !! Can't remember the details of it now but by all accounts it was a huge story at the time.

Andy From Sligo

New Home wrote: »

I bought stuff in Roches that I haven't been able to find anywhere else since then. They looked like shops your great aunt would go to, but I miss them.

yep i used to like finding stuff you wouldnt find anywhere else - i wonder what they would be like these days if they had carried on trading.

in a way the story reminds me of woolworths in the UK, you could get a range of different items you couldnt get anywhere else in there too and they also ceased trading in 2007 too - blamed on the bubble bursting (we called it the Celtic Tiger in Ireland, not sure what nickname they had in the UK for that time)

New Home

I bought stuff in Roches that I haven't been able to find anywhere else since then. They looked like shops your great aunt would go to, but I miss them.

Atoms for Peace

AFAik the Roche's still own the buildings but have leased them to debhanbums.

Stephen15

I remember the one in Blackrock used to have a Supervalu attached and then that got replaced with a Marks and Spencer's food section.

Drake66

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I knew roches stores went ages ago - but surprised it closed way back in 2007. good store that. Had to travel to Galway to go shop there , because there wasnt one in Sligo (now there's a surprise) anyone else on here used to like that store?

I used to work in the one in Henry Street during college. I loved it. The staff were great : it was like a big family. I avoid going into the Debenhams there now. It will never be on the level that Roche's was at service-wise. It is now just another soleless British style high Street shop.

miketheDIYman

Yes Roches Store's staff had a friendly attitude and were always keen to assist - this worked from Management down the line

iamwhoiam

GrumpyMe wrote: »

Fond memories of watching the populace attempting to us those newfangled moving stairs... in the Henry Street flagship store
https://comeheretome.com/2012/03/07/the-roches-stores-escalators/

God I had forgotten all about it till now , my nan was with my sister and fell on the escalator in Henry St . She fell forwards and came all the way down face first . Luckily a storeman stopped it at the last minute .

Corruptedmorals

I have great memories of playing on the swings, the sweet counter, the cafe and the shoe section beside it, the posters and hairbands section and getting lost and sitting on the customer service desk while they announced me as a lost child over the intercom.

Try_harder

Roches thread? Nostalgia ain't what it used to be...

Andy From Sligo

Conservatory wrote: »

Yeah what was that all about?

oh it 'was the day to go' - something to do with religion , and the kids were off school for the day. I was one of the great un-washed cultchies that used to travel up from Sligo to Dublin on the iarnrod eireann orange yoke craven A's or whatever they were (nice comfy seats) 18 Irish Punt return day trip

colm_mcm

I remember in the early 90s, the one in Patrick Street in Cork has an orange juice machine that they would feed oranges into. Had never seen one before!

charlietheminxx

Whenever I was off school as a child, I used to go to town with my nana on a Thursday for a bit of shopping. We always met some of her nieces in the cafe in the Henry St Roches afterwards for a coffee and a snack, I always remember them doing lovely desserts. Can still picture the layout and us trying to find a table while carrying a tray.

This thread has made me a bit nostalgic and sad now (disclaimer: because I miss my Nana, not the desserts).

GrumpyMe

Fond memories of watching the populace attempting to us those newfangled moving stairs... in the Henry Street flagship store
https://comeheretome.com/2012/03/07/the-roches-stores-escalators/

iamwhoiam

I was in Debenhams on Friday and it was a car boot sale . Really tacky and clothes racks everywhere .
Roches was much classier in its day and I loved its home ware department .

Conservatory

chakademus wrote: »

Best place for fancy paper.

And pliers

chakademus

Best place for fancy paper.

kurtainsider

I used to go to Roaches stores in the Wilton Shopping Center in Cork. My memory of it is that the staff were always very nice and friendly.

Conservatory

corner of hells wrote: »

It was a day to allow Dublin pickpockets and young fellahs who break into culchie cars to supplement their income coming up to Christmas.

In fairness times were tough before we had all the tourists and foreign students to rob.

stampydmonkey

Roches Stores Galway....best sport dept/creche ever.

Half the parents of Galway would dump the kids in there to wander around while they fecked off down the town. They had a tiny grey TV showing world cup games over and over...there'd be 7 or 8 kids staring up at it on a Saturday morning.

biko

I used to shop in Roches on Eyre street. Have no particularly fond memories of it though, just another shop.

corner of hells

Conservatory wrote: »

Yeah what was that all about?

It was a day to allow Dublin pickpockets and young fellahs who break into culchie cars to supplement their income coming up to Christmas.