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Retail/service store ideas for Waterford City Centre?

reni10

With all the small stores closing over the last few years in the Waterford City Centre and lots of stores vacant and for rent I thought it might be a good idea to pull the collective boards.ie mind together to look at some ideas for small retail/service stores that we all think would be good to see in the city centre or that we think other cities have and we are missing.

Who knows this might inspire someone to actually start something up and then provide a few well needed jobs in the area:)

I think there are enough bars, restaurants, cafes, newsagents etc. so what does the city centre lack?

I will try to get the ball rolling with an idea:

How about a walk in IT advice/repair service that can help you with things like iPhones, Laptops, portable electronics etc.
Like an Apple Genius Bar just on a smaller scale for any type of electronics.

Any other ideas out there?

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BlaasForRafa

GrandBlaa wrote: »

Walking from the station to town in the pelting rain is a miserable experience, especially with luggage in tow.

Go way out of it Phileas Fogg, who uses the train these days?

I never said anything about being unable to find a space, but that parking was a frustration. The larger and easily accessible carparks along the quay have odd pricing structures (e.g. €5 per day flat fee, targeted for tourists/workers, not shoppers. And the Clock Tower carpark is like €1.80 p/h)

So you want to have cheap parking right next to the shops, do you want council workers to carry you from the car park in a palanquin as well? You said you found cheap parking so you have nothing to complain about.

Also, I especially pointed out the speciality stores we were missing - that visitors would miss from any other city, e.g. Easons. And we do have a good selection, just its spread out in an odd manner not convenient to pedestrians / day trippers / destination shoppers.

The book centre is as good as any easons outside of the O'Connell street one, and its locally owned too. Are you one of those chumps who care more about brand names more than anything else?

Go back and read what I said, boy I actually clarified 'backward-looking', as in, making big of Waterford's past - which has been a huge success! Great for tourists and the new museums. But shopping and generating business in the sense of the local economy and keeping stores open is something overlooked.

Your pretty much talking through your hole there boy, Waterford does need to improve a lot but none of your suggestions would make much of a difference.

wmpdd3

The walk from the station to town is a disaster.

But in the interest of the thread title....

Just imagine we did have the Micheal st shopping center, with just say a big Top shop, H&M and M&S.

What would be the effect on the city?

Would we be complaining about the traffic coming int he Cork Rd? or that the Shaws end of town is dying?

dashboard_hula

To echo what other posters have said above, I think there's a very strong case to be put forward for later opening hours of some of the cafe's in town.

I've noticed that quite a lot of Asian and Polish people (men in particular) hang around Costa, Bagel Factory etc, drinking coffee, smoking, chatting etc. I would imagine that particularly in the case of people from Muslim countries, going to pubs in the evenings wouldn't be their thing, even if they weren't drinking. They do love their coffee and tea and hanging out though.

Whenever I've been abroad I've noticed that cafe's that open late, even in small little towns and villages, will always have a steady stream of customers from about 6pm onwards. People heading home from work, people on their way into work, people socialising. If some of the cafe's in town invested in some awning, maybe a couple of space heaters and started opening late, I think it'd go a long way towards keeping a bit of life in the town during that traditionally dead time of between 6pm when all the shops close to 9pm when people start heading out.

Added to that, you've got students coming back next week - thats thousands of potential customers who need to study at night. Unless it's a Wednesday. Why not get the price of a coffee out of them so they can sit for an hour with their laptops or books away from their accomodation and out of the pub?

It'd be nice to see a couple of places try it - Lily's, Costa, even the Kiosk. The only risk is the extra 2 or 3 hours wages and making people aware that they're staying open and not closing up bang on 6 like everywhere else.

fricatus

GrandBlaa wrote: »

TK Maxx, Yankee Candles, etc. (i.e. specialist stores that people actually travel to shop at) are nowhere near the centre of town if you want to walk. We would benefit hugely from a block of L'Occitane, Lush, etc. stores right in the middle of the city.

Customer Service:
I just gotta say, the service in places like Shaws and Debenhams can be dire. Not to say there's no crap service elsewhere, but I do feel a lot of those older, 'legacy' shops are like something out of Are You Being Served?

And I could go on, of course. But there are genuine reasons why people go 'destination shopping' and why Waterford is like a ghost town at times. But mostly, please open the cafes after 5:30.

[end rant]

Jeez, GB, they should make you Retail Manager for the city!

Actually though, what the city needs is a "Retail Czar" who can join up all the bits, as you mentioned in your later post about Waterford having a number of "shopping islands". The trouble about where TK Maxx is, is that if you've just arrived and are having a mooch around, by the time you get down to where Bodéga is, it looks like the edge of the shopping area, so you turn back.

Definitely what they need at the railway and bus stations is to paint a pair of little blue feet all the way from the station exit to the Clock Tower, including the safest way to negotiate the roundabout and bridge. A free shuttle bus would be even better. How much would that cost all the retailers for the year?

SweetCaliber

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

Go way out of it Phileas Fogg, who uses the train these days?

you would be surprised how packed the train is on a daily basis going to and from waterford. Lots of people use it.

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

So you want to have cheap parking right next to the shops, do you want council workers to carry you from the car park in a palanquin as well? You said you found cheap parking so you have nothing to complain about.

Hes not talking about cheap parking. He on about the different prices for the different sections of the quay, can really confuse tourists because it looks like one big carpark.

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

The book centre is as good as any easons outside of the O'Connell street one, and its locally owned too. Are you one of those chumps who care more about brand names more than anything else?

While I agree, if you were a tourist from dublin lets say, which would bring you to the town more? Easons or a "Book center" ? Think of it logically, its great for a local business to be doing well but if no one knows about it when visiting, theyll just pass it off.

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

Your pretty much talking through your hole there boy, Waterford does need to improve a lot but none of your suggestions would make much of a difference.

We all have our own opinions but I think his ideas would boost the local economy.

Max Powers

spookwoman wrote: »

As a non waterford person and someone who is not a fan of shopping there is nothing in the city that would make me go into town.
Traffic along the queue and routes into town can be a damn nightmare. You get into the city centre and there is not much there. The square is occupied by a supermarket, a few clothes stores and some brick a brack shops. Porters for getting books avoid like the plaque as there is no space and always a queue a mile long. Red square what is there to draw anyone, a book shop and more clothes shops.
As someone said earlier people are lazy. We'll if your planning on going proper shopping that means a few hours, feet get sore, hands gets full of bags and kids in tow, its a real put off if your have to walk a good bit to get back to transport.
I'm not from cork but I have to say shopping in the cork town center is a dream. Everything is on the main street, including markets and restaurants. I've gone there just to do xmas shopping because of this and it takes a lot less time.
Nothing is centralized here, shops are scattered randomly through out the retail parks on the outskirts and for someone using a bus or taxi they are not going to go out to them.
Waterford is not just for the locals its for everyone,should be trying to draw people in and make shopping as easy and enjoyable as it is possible for them.

Christ on a bike, complaining about traffic and queues in shops while in the city centre, people want it busy, then when its busy, they complain. Straight to 'talk to joe' for this, seriously though, no offence spookwoman, but these complaints read like the woman ringing up Billy on the that outstanding 'Waterford cineplex' animation. I think, people heading to Cork or Dublin to do their xmas shopping need to put up or shut up. I find it pathetic, yeah fair enough, you might need to get a couple things on net or elsewhere.

spookwoman

Max you're not reading what I'm saying
"Porters for getting books avoid like the plaque as there is no space and always a queue a mile long"
No space where you can browse in comfort without having to constantly shuffle around. The queues take up so much space as well so you cannot get near anything. The layout of the place is a nightmare. At least with the book center you can get near the books and magazines when its busy. Busy is good as long as it does not become an inconvenience for people. Anyone will tell you a badly organized shop / area will put people off.

You should be asking why people are going elsewhere to shop. Its people like us that should be listened to because we are they ones who are taking our money elsewhere for a reason. Telling people to shut up or put up is what has this town the way it is and its the narrow minded I'm always right attitude that will keep it that way as well.

angelfalling

I know there is always Kilkenny v Waterford argument here (I'm not from either place, though I live in Waterford Co.)... however, any time myself and my friends take a trip to Kilkenny I find its a lovely walkable sort of place to do shopping. There are small boutique and specialty shops, which we have little to none of. I can walk around for hours shopping, visit MacDonagh junction (where parking is €1 an hour and not more than I think €4 or something great for the day) and hit some big brand name stores. People who bark on and on about how Waterford isn't missing anything that other towns/cities have clearly don't spend much time outside Waterford. It's the experience that bring outsiders in to shop, and we don't offer any sort of pleasant experience. I think I lost hope the second that large Cash for Gold place opened up right in the middle of town.

Fair play to anyone who tries to think of ways to improve the city, instead of having this "everything is grand, grass just seems greener elsewhere" attitude.

There is a real problem with rates in the city. Rents might have gone down a bit but rates are still astronomical... any start-up business would have real trouble, and the enterprise board will have nothing to do with retail or cafes.

Max Powers

spookwoman wrote: »

Max you're not reading what I'm saying
"Porters for getting books avoid like the plaque as there is no space and always a queue a mile long"
No space where you can browse in comfort without having to constantly shuffle around. The queues take up so much space as well so you cannot get near anything. The layout of the place is a nightmare. At least with the book center you can get near the books and magazines when its busy. Busy is good as long as it does not become an inconvenience for people. Anyone will tell you a badly organized shop / area will put people off.

You should be asking why people are going elsewhere to shop. Its people like us that should be listened to because we are they ones who are taking our money elsewhere for a reason. Telling people to shut up or put up is what has this town the way it is and its the narrow minded I'm always right attitude that will keep it that way as well.

Im reading it alright, i dont think anyone on here has that attitude but complaining about queues and traffic is plain silly, porters is a newsagents with more books (bestsellers mainly), if you want to browse and read a few pages before buying, the book centre, if you want the latest cook book from jamie oliver etc, porters.

we all know what would attract shoppers into the city centre more, more selection of shops especially a few more big name ones.

decies

Some very good points here and very witty to be fair. Not withstanding the perceived lack of choice for shoppers in Waterford , allow me to introduce the Big Elephant in the room here, Waterford people do not in great enough numbers support their own city !!! Going back nearly 30 years it was the shopping trips to Wales on the bus , then it was the cross border shopping from Waterford and then the icing on the cake the dedicated shopping trips to New York. Even in these harsh economic times we either make some effort to support the city or let it die. The choice is in our hands!!!

Professey Chin

Does anyone know what the actual rates for businesses in the city are compared to say Galway or Wexford? We hear theyre high and bordering on ridiculous at times but I cant find a cost for say somewhere like where Ken McGraths shop used to be & comparable size.

SweetCaliber

Still turns my stomach everytime I go by the Ferrybank Shopping Centre, what a terrible waste of money it was and now it's just left there

Professey Chin

lee3155 wrote: »

Still turns my stomach everytime I go by the Ferrybank Shopping Centre, what a terrible waste of money it was and now it's just left there

Simply shouldnt have been built. No logical thinking behind it at all.

SweetCaliber

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Simply shouldnt have been built. No logical thinking behind it at all.

Tell me about it, saw pics of it there a couple of minutes ago, looks amazing inside, just like dundrum, not as big but you get my point. Has a cinema in there as well, just left there, and a huge carpark. Ugh.

Professey Chin

And 1 tiny road & piss ant roundabout leading to it. Christ that could have been mayhem :eek:

SweetCaliber

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

And 1 tiny road & piss ant roundabout leading to it. Christ that could have been mayhem :eek:

Heh wouldn't fancy living in Belfield on busy days, oh and the school across the road, you forgot that too !

spookwoman

Ferrybank is in kilkenny so technically its not a waterford problem

SweetCaliber

spookwoman wrote: »

Ferrybank is in kilkenny so technically its not a waterford problem

Ah don't get me started!

Professey Chin

spookwoman wrote: »

Ferrybank is in kilkenny so technically its not a waterford problem

It is unfortunately.

Ferrybank only gets attention from KCC when it suits them but they dont want expansion that direction. In any kind of sensible situation the city would have expanded to at least slieverue long ago

reni10

Is there anything now in the old Bescos store in Ballybricken?

That was a pretty big space there and wondering why the likes of Aldi or Lidl did not go in there and seem to have built places instead?

If that is still unoccupied then surely that would be a good spot to put something in there with parking right in front of it as well....

Jason Todd

reni10 wrote: »

Is there anything now in the old Bescos store in Ballybricken?

That was a pretty big space there and wondering why the likes of Aldi or Lidl did not go in there and seem to have built places instead?

If that is still unoccupied then surely that would be a good spot to put something in there with parking right in front of it as well....

Hmmm, agree that something should be done with it, not only is it an eyesore but it's a fine big space and it would surely give a boost to the neighboring shops. (The ones that are still open anyway!) Unfortunately the parking there can be a hassle. Ways around that though I'm sure.

Silverado

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Does anyone know what the actual rates for businesses in the city are compared to say Galway or Wexford? We hear theyre high and bordering on ridiculous at times but I cant find a cost for say somewhere like where Ken McGraths shop used to be & comparable size.

I'm not sure about the rates in Galway or Wexford but they are probably comparable. The rates on a good size shop in Waterford could easily be €5000 per annum. That's a lot of money to make before you pay rent or a mortgage.