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Hows Your Main Street Looking?

  • 10-02-2010 11:32AM
    #1
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭


    My nearest town main street is being decimated by closed up shops and buildings.
    See this thread (With pics): http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055823611

    I was just wondering how is your nearest main street doing?
    Are main streets in the town as regards shopping, a thing of the past also?
    Is it a recession thing or with all the businesses moving out of the town to industrial areas (some shops there whom have also closed up as well)?


«13

Comments

  • #2
    Dartz
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,458 ✭✭✭Dartz


    I'll bet theres a Tesco/Lidl/Big brand store just outside of town....


  • #3
    WindSock
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,239 ✭✭✭✭WindSock


    It's doing ok, bar a hotel that has been closed. It's not unsightly but its a shame that it has closed as it is the centre of the town. There are also a few for sale signs on new apartments. And 1 other shop that has been closed since before Stephen.

    Edit: Just saw your pics there Biggins, that's shockingly bad. Stupid fecking rates.


  • #4
    SeaFields
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,551 ✭✭✭SeaFields


    The shopping centre in which I have the misfortune to work currently has less than 30% occupancy, so apart from the anchor tenants, there is very little to draw people into the centre.

    Last Saturday I watched the staff in two shops box up what was left of their stock and fittings as they were closing down.

    That's four gone since Christmas....and their jobs too :(


  • #5
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    In our main street there is now 22+ (soon to be confirmed 24+) shops closed (see pics in the link above) - and thats just our main street!
    Mad!!!


  • #6
    phasers
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,159 ✭✭✭✭phasers


    I'm pretty lucky that Liffey Valley is the closest thing I have to a main street where I live and the shops seem to be holding up ok.


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  • #7
    extra-ordinary_
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,567 ✭✭✭extra-ordinary_


    phasers wrote: »
    I'm pretty lucky that Liffey Valley is the closest thing I have to a main street...


    yes...yes you are...:rolleyes:


  • #8
    Glenster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,626 ✭✭✭Glenster


    I live in Bray so as you can imagine the main street has never been great but recently.......

    6 Betting shops and 5 charity shops, and a gun shop near the dart! all on the main three roads in Bray.

    Sometimes you just feel ashamed of where you come from........


  • #9
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    I suspect (and I could be wrong) that the more you get away from the big cities the more chance there is more a higher percentage of shops on your main street being closed.


  • #10
    sorrywhat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 951 ✭✭✭sorrywhat


    Theres a good few shops after closing up on the main st in my town. Halifax is another one to go now aswell. announced yesterday I think. Place is like a ghost town some days.


  • #11
    NothingMan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,178 ✭✭✭✭NothingMan


    Living in Tallaght, Main st is a little old school and has mostly old buildings with small business's. There's a wool shop and jewellers in one building that has been there since way before my time and they're still going.

    The square has maybe 1 empty space at the moment but there is a lot of turnover of shops. High st is pretty modern and no closed up shops that I can think of.

    Then the retail areas like B&Q, homestores etc. Seem to be doing really well. The many pubs are all still pretty busy and jam packed thursday through Sunday.

    I guess Tallaght has a huge population for it's small size so it's probably not as susceptable to dramatic drop in consumers as some smaller towns would be.


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  • #12
    SeaFields
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,551 ✭✭✭SeaFields


    The guy that owns Corky's shoe shops was on Matt Cooper last week. I don't want to venture a guess now as I may misquote him but it was jaw-dropping when he said how much he has to pay in rent every week for his stores.

    Developers win once again :mad:


  • #13
    biko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,060 ✭✭✭✭biko


    Shop street is still good but starting to look more English every year.
    Unfortunately it's just more convenient to drive to a shopping centre than to walk around town to do the shopping. Particularly when it's cold and hard to get parking.


  • #14
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    Well I know one small store alone in my (main st) town had to pay €2000 a week to the local council and thats before they even paid hired staff, bought stock, paid for ESB. phone, water rates, made a profit etc.
    The money being charged is madness.
    One small cafe in a shopping centre has a small storage fridge underground (at the back) in a car park and they have to pay 1 million a year for the rental of the space!


  • #15
    HxGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 767 ✭✭✭HxGH


    The shops in Bray Co.Wicklow are still open but it's still filthy...


  • #16
    Princess Consuela Bananahammock
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,779 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    I think it's more down to infrastructure as well. My experience in large Irish towns is that they tend to be large roads junctions with strings of shops on either side.

    Take, for example, the continental model where most towns of the same size are pedestrian only. You get a lively center with coffee shops, small market stalls, which is clean, safe and and more peaceful. It's lovely to go shopping and exploring in them.

    Also, the fact that there are far less chain stores than back home, and a lot more "individual" shops, so to speak. It's one of the first things I noticed when I got here.

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • #17
    SeaFields
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,551 ✭✭✭SeaFields


    Magnus wrote: »
    .... hard to get parking.


    That is not helping!!! I know they come up now and again in AH but the clampers and towers are like vultures around Cork city. I watched them clamp three cars next to each other last week in ten minutes. Those people, if they were shopping, wont rush back to the city in a hurry.

    Businesses in the city really need to get that curtailed by lobbying the council as its just drives people out to the large shopping centres (like Mahon point) where the parking is free.


  • #18
    Quazzie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 30,773 ✭✭✭✭Quazzie


    Magnus wrote: »
    Unfortunately it's just more convenient to drive to a shopping centre than to walk around town to do the shopping. Particularly when it's cold and hard to get parking.
    Ikky Poo2 wrote: »
    I think it's more down to infrastructure as well. My experience in large Irish towns is that they tend to be large roads junctions with strings of shops on either side.

    Take, for example, the continental model where most towns of the same size are pedestrian only. You get a lively center with coffee shops, small market stalls, which is clean, safe and and more peaceful. It's lovely to go shopping and exploring in them.

    Also, the fact that there are far less chain stores than back home, and a lot more "individual" shops, so to speak. It's one of the first things I noticed when I got here.

    :rolleyes:


  • #19
    Bonito
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,399 ✭✭✭Bonito


    My main street has (from the top of the town all the way to the bottom)

    A church, petrol station, spar, some old houses, credit union, more old houses, a playschool, more old houses, combined clubs building (where all the clubs like judo, weight watchers etc meet up) Bank of Ireland, unisex clothes shop, furniture store, womens close shop, solicitor, mortgage advisor, bookmakers, the square (Library, town hall, small shop, hotel, clothes shop, some apartments built to the design of the hotel) about 4 pubs, entrance to tesco, letting agency, another pub, fast food place, cafe, taxi rank, doctors clinic, hardware store, another cafe, shoe shop, spar, national irish bank, school clothing and curtain shop, 2 pubs and restaurants, then a supervalu complex at the bottom of the town.

    This is both sides of the street BTW.


  • #20
    Princess Consuela Bananahammock
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,779 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    Quazzie wrote: »
    :rolleyes:

    So you think the infrastructure is beyond criticism and there is ample parking? Or was it a case of something was said... Not good... Think of response.... searching... searching... Responce not found...!! Execute rollyeyes!! Execute rollyeyes!!

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • #21
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    Bonito wrote: »
    My main street has (from the top of the town all the way to the bottom)

    A church, petrol station, spar, some old houses, credit union, more old houses, a playschool, more old houses, combined clubs building (where all the clubs like judo, weight watchers etc meet up) Bank of Ireland, unisex clothes shop, furniture store, womens close shop, solicitor, mortgage advisor, bookmakers, the square (Library, town hall, small shop, hotel, clothes shop, some apartments built to the design of the hotel) about 4 pubs, entrance to tesco, letting agency, another pub, fast food place, cafe, taxi rank, doctors clinic, hardware store, another cafe, shoe shop, spar, national irish bank, school clothing and curtain shop, 2 pubs and restaurants, then a supervalu complex at the bottom of the town.

    This is both sides of the street BTW.

    Sounds like a good mix. Actually sounds better than ours at present. :(


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  • #22
    Bonito
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,399 ✭✭✭Bonito


    Biggins wrote: »
    Sounds like a good mix. Actually sounds better than ours at present. :(
    yeh, but, it's all on street parking now! traffic is a nightmare plus the main streets road is in an absolute state! The amount of money wasted on it is unreal! Like they tarred it, painted it, then had to dig half it up for "Improvement works" then they tarred over their mess of where they excavated leaving the surface uneven. Painted it, tarred over the paint, painted that, decided to rip up all the baths for fancy new blocks matching the town square. Side of the road left in a state from that. Painted over that and now the road is like a feckin rollercoaster! And not the good kind! the kind that just leaves you with a headache rather than a thrill!


  • #23
    biko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,060 ✭✭✭✭biko


    Ikky Poo2 wrote: »
    So you think the infrastructure is beyond criticism and there is ample parking? Or was it a case of something was said... Not good... Think of response.... searching... searching... Responce not found...!! Execute rollyeyes!! Execute rollyeyes!!
    Tbh I haven't a clue what he's on about.


  • #24
    Bonito
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,399 ✭✭✭Bonito


    Magnus wrote: »
    Tbh I haven't a clue what she's on about.

    :confused: Not a female? *runs to check Pete's thread*


  • #25
    Quazzie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 30,773 ✭✭✭✭Quazzie


    Ikky Poo2 wrote: »
    So you think the infrastructure is beyond criticism and there is ample parking? Or was it a case of something was said... Not good... Think of response.... searching... searching... Responce not found...!! Execute rollyeyes!! Execute rollyeyes!!

    I just found it amusing that both points for and against pedestrianized street shopping were made in the same thread oblivious of each other.
    Magnus wrote: »
    Tbh I haven't a clue what he's on about.

    See Above
    Bonito wrote: »
    :confused: Not a female? *runs to check Pete's thread*

    Que??


  • #26
    Dave!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27,856 ✭✭✭✭Dave!


    Apartments all over the shop


  • #27
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    We don't even have one furniture shop in our main street, never mind a hardware store or credit union, a playschool (which would be handy for dropping the kids in (to nip away and go buy the basics), doctors clinic, etc...

    One has to go further (some case much further) to find those. Our main street is just dead.


  • #28
    SeaFields
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,551 ✭✭✭SeaFields


    Biggins wrote: »
    Our main street is just dead.

    In keeping with the entire country really :(


  • #29
    Cianos
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,850 ✭✭✭Cianos


    Ikky Poo2 wrote: »
    I think it's more down to infrastructure as well. My experience in large Irish towns is that they tend to be large roads junctions with strings of shops on either side.

    Take, for example, the continental model where most towns of the same size are pedestrian only. You get a lively center with coffee shops, small market stalls, which is clean, safe and and more peaceful. It's lovely to go shopping and exploring in them.

    Also, the fact that there are far less chain stores than back home, and a lot more "individual" shops, so to speak. It's one of the first things I noticed when I got here.

    This. The Irish infrastructure is appalling and now that we're out of the easy times the failings of poor planning are becoming blatantly obvious. And it mostly comes down to population density. Irish towns are spread out far and wide, housing estates after housing estates, making everyone car dependent and commuting to the town centre becomes a chore rather than something enjoyable. A lot of people choose shopping centres over town centres because (gasp), the infrastructure of a shopping centre is car-orientated.

    I'm definitely not saying that towns should be more car orientated because that is asking for a lot of trouble (take L.A for example), I'm saying towns should be pedestrian orientated. But we're in this mess because of the suburban sprawl that has blanketed the country - so it's not a question of making towns more pedestrian friendly, it's about putting more pedestrians on the streets! If more people lived within the towns themselves, there would be way more people walking to and fro, small independent and interesting businesses could flourish because they are serving local residents as well as out of towners who are drawn to the place because there are things going on and it hasn't become a ghost town like most Irish towns now at this stage.


  • #30
    dasdog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 4,138 ✭✭✭dasdog


    More shops opening. Thankfully plans to extend the Township were put on hold and the old Dundrum S.C. has come back to life. The local church is breathing a sigh of relief as it was scheduled to be surrounded by a monument to credit card consumerism on both sides.

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  • #31
    Glenster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,626 ✭✭✭Glenster


    Furniture shop?

    That's hardly something you'd expect to find in your average main street.

    Surely the test for whether a shop should be on the main street is would you say to you partner "I'm just nipping down to the village for some......."?

    Grocers, fishmongers, butcher, corner shop, post office, small cinema, resteraunts, video store, clothes shops, etc.

    Dont most people get furniture delivered anyway? I know I do.


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