Shopping in Northern Ireland

joxers25

went up yesterday to newry(sainsbuyrs) and banbrigde (tesco) took 5 hours round trip.

288 sterling converted to 320 Euros
1/3 Grocery
1/3 Toys
1/3 Booze
Exact stuff here In Tesco/Smyths 465 Euros

How can you justify shopping here with these differences!

tregan

well done you working out the difference in shopping here and in the north. this year i've been up once every month if not twice! just one example of prices was was fairy non bio, pack for £4 in sainsbury and same one in local supervalue €12.79 - it was a special offer in sainsbury but still .... there was something else which had a massive difference but can't remember now? anyway, as you say, how can they expect us to shop in the south? i can't afford to

muffler

One little thing Id point out is that the tins of Roses, Quality Street etc can probably be bought just as cheap here (if not cheaper) so dont go stacking the boot as the space could be used more wisely.

The only exception to this would be if the tins are on special offer.

tregan

you are right muffler, you would need to know the price of good here as there is no point buying for the sake of buying in the north as sometimes items are on offer in the south e.g. i bought a box of bulmers for £10 not having a clue of the cost here as i don't buy it but when i got home hubby told me it was €10 somewhere near - don't think it was supermarket but that 'll teach me to buy drink for him - i'll stick to my port and vodka which i know i'm getting cheaper - btw 1litre vodka is £15 in sainsbury at the moment

Happyouter

Heading to Enniskillen for first time this Saturday...
Some questions I hope are not too stupid.

1. Erneside seems to be the place where all shopping done?
2. Do the Trolleys only take sterling coins?
3. I see that take euros so that should be fine in ASDA / Tesco?
4. Are baby products cheaper? Nappies, wipes etc. (Pampers)
5. Can you buy drink from off-license at 9:00 in the morning.
6. Planning to be up there early about 8:30...

If anyone has any other advice.

Thanks alot.

CrazyChick18

Hey happyouter, was only up there a few weeks ago for my first time and going up again in 2 weeks. Hope i can help!

Happyouter wrote: »

1. Erneside seems to be the place where all shopping done?.

there is a good few shops in the shopping centre big enough next and argos and marks and spencers and there was also a christmas shop just opening when i was there.

Happyouter wrote: »

2. Do the Trolleys only take sterling coins?

Well i used my trolley key on my car keys and it worked so i would say it would take both a euro or a pound or a trolley key.

Happyouter wrote: »

3. I see that take euros so that should be fine in ASDA / Tesco?

Yup most of the shops do asda tesco b&m also good shop they just total it off in euro and you get back change in pounds then.

Happyouter wrote: »

4. Are baby products cheaper? Nappies, wipes etc. (Pampers)

They had the big boxes of nappies when i was up ther think it was like a2 boxes for £16 and also pampers sensetive wipes only £1 wheres here in dunnes €3.29

Happyouter wrote: »

6. Planning to be up there early about 8:30...

perfect time nmight be quite was there at 9 o clock and was MAD!!!

Have Fun:D

Cicero

muffler wrote: »

One little thing Id point out is that the tins of Roses, Quality Street etc can probably be bought just as cheap here (if not cheaper) so dont go stacking the boot as the space could be used more wisely.

The only exception to this would be if the tins are on special offer.

On last months prices, you would have saved just one Euro per box- Sweets and biscuits in previous years were much more expensive here than the north but fair dues to the supermarkets (at least my local supervalu), they've brought their prices down for these items

Terrontress

A 20 cent coin will work in most pound coin operated trollies.

paulam10

does anybody know where is the kennedy centre? and is the sainsburys bigger than the 1 in sprucefield? thanx

DubDani

paulam10 wrote: »

does anybody know where is the kennedy centre? and is the sainsburys bigger than the 1 in sprucefield? thanx

It is the first exit of the M1 when entering Belfast. Probably a 5 minute drive from the Lisburn Retail Park. (6.7 mls according to google Maps).

It is straight behind the Westwood Shopping Centre (which has an ASDA). When you get off the M1 take the first left in the roundabout at the end of the exit. First you will see the Westwood Shopping Centre (and a McD) on the right. Pass it, and go right in the roundabout. 200m down you will see a Lidl on the same side, and the Kennedy Centre is only another 100m further down the road.

neonitrix

went to belfast yesterday both the kennedy centre and westwood shopping centre

westwood has an asda which i personally found alot cheaper thank sainsburys.

at the moment offers in asda include

3 for £10 wines
Litre bottles Baileys £9
15x 440ml Carlsberg £10
3 packs of 4 AA Energizer Ultra + Batteries for £3


Sainsburys Deals:
Becks 18 bottles 275ml for £7.74
Carlsberg 15x440ml £10
Fosters 15x440ml £10
Big Bags of Wagg Dry Dog Food £7


we also visited the Boucher Retail Park:

which has:

Burtons
Dorithy Perkins
Tk Maxx
Carphone Warehouse
Matalan
Hmv
Sports Direct
Nevada Bobs golf shop
Cotswold Outdoors travel gear, adventure gear and outdoors gear
InStore homeware,
Au Naturale homeware
New Look clothes
The Jeanery clothes
Boots pharmacy and health and beauty store

i took a loan of a mini bus and 4 of us went north and filled it to the gills saved a nice few bob pity about no 3 for 2 deals on boxes of beers like last year from sainsburys.


Neonitrix

ps i also supported the irish economy by paying:

M50 toll both ways
M1 toll both ways
€52.00 in diesel for the return journey.

paulam10

thanx dubdani. i know where the asda store is! the next time i must go to the kennedy centre!

pearlpunjabi

Hi all,

I wanted to buy a tv in Northern Ireland today but at the till they requested my address and postal code. I was told I cannot buy a tv if I am not from NI. Is there any way to omit that? Thanks

RiverWilde

pearlpunjabi wrote: »

Hi all,

I wanted to buy a tv in Northern Ireland today but at the till they requested my address and postal code. I was told I cannot buy a tv if I am not from NI. Is there any way to omit that? Thanks

That's strange, I bought a tv in the north a couple of years ago and encountered no such hurdle. What shop were you trying to buy the tv in?

Riv

DubDani

It's for TV licensing purposes. Every shop that sells TV needs to record the Housenumber and Postal Code of the buyer.

You could google for something (or someone) and just use any Postal Code.

Happyouter

Went to Enniskillen on Saturday and will now go more often. Drink, Baby stuff, Shampoos, etc much cheaper in ASDA. Was there at 8:45. When leaving at 11:00 it was getting very busy.

If these are not good value and can get cheaper down here let me know.
prices in sterling.

1 ltr vodka (smir) 14
15 miller 7
6 bottles hardy wine(wrong spelling) 20
1 ltr powes 14
Baileys 8 i think.

I think it would be a good idea it people scans there receipts and put them up as image. We might get an idea of the price of things.

We did not go near veg / breads / cereals. If anyone knows about these please let me know.

Also took a trip up to Tesco and that is a bit more expensive than ASDA.

Wertz

pearlpunjabi wrote: »

Hi all,

I wanted to buy a tv in Northern Ireland today but at the till they requested my address and postal code. I was told I cannot buy a tv if I am not from NI. Is there any way to omit that? Thanks

Last time I bought one in Argos in NI (which I subsequently returned), I told them I was from the RoI at the point of sale and they used a postcode that covers all of the Republic. I don't recall what it was offhand, but it covers them for their disclosure agreement to the BBC or whoever.

Tell them this in the shop and if they refuse the sale just go elsewhere.

Note also that some shops may have an issue with selling you a TV in case it has compatability issues down here with signal or freeview...

snubbleste

Happyouter wrote: »

I think it would be a good idea it people scans there receipts and put them up as image. We might get an idea of the price of things.

Plan your shopping before you go!
www.tesco.com www.sainsburys.com www.asda.com

I was in the aforementioned Falls area & the Boucher Retail Park over the weekend and was bowled over by the offers and normal prices in Asda, Sainsburys, Semi-chem and Sports Direct

granturismo

Its been mentioned a few times that Asda are usually cheaper than Sainsburys.

I bought just 3 items in Sainsburys yesterday and was surprised at the lack of price difference on these. I've added Adsa's webprices but dont know if these are the price on the shelves.

I also bought wine and wasnt able to compare as the same brands werent available in Dunnes here.

Persil Nonbio tablets (40ish tabs)Sainsburys £5.98
Dunnes €7.25
Asda web price £2.97 (20pck)
Dunnes approx 30c more expensive than Sainsburys


Lynx shower gel Sainsburys £2.28
Dunnes €2.45 (reduced from €3.49)
Asda web price £1.00
Dunnes approx 20c cheaper than Sainsburys


WilkinsonQuattroTitanium 8pack blades Sainsburys £10.24
Dunnes €5.69 (4pack)
Asda web price £4.97 (4 pck)
Dunnes approx 26c cheaper than Sainsburys

danois

OK first off let me apologize cause i am sure this has been asked but i cant find it anywhere!! I am heading up north on wed and I want to go to ASDA and ARGOS and SMYTHS and SAINSBURYS where is the best place to get them all?? Would sprucefield be best? or is enniskillen better? and i have been to newry but no further so could i ask for directions to where ever is best


Thanks a million

colhickey

snubbleste wrote: »

Plan your shopping before you go!
www.tesco.com www.sainsburys.com www.asda.com

I was in the aforementioned Falls area & the Boucher Retail Park over the weekend and was bowled over by the offers and normal prices in Asda, Sainsburys, Semi-chem and Sports Direct

For comparison shopping for Asda, Tesco, and Sainsburys, you can also use the MySupermarket site.

Obviously, there may be some local differences, but it should give you an idea anyway.

The Guvnor

pearlpunjabi wrote: »

Hi all,

I wanted to buy a tv in Northern Ireland today but at the till they requested my address and postal code. I was told I cannot buy a tv if I am not from NI. Is there any way to omit that? Thanks

You could always use a fake address. This assumes you are using cash, credit card may kaybosh this.

I have not yet had an issue with Currys in Newry. However there are better deals to be had online. Crampton and Moore are good. Also richer sounds via the talk to section in the biz section of boards does good deals for boards.ie members!

event

can anyone tell me teh parking charges in the Quays and if any of the shops validate your parking?
If so, how much do you need to spend in them?

ozypozy

Parking is £1 an hour and Sainsbury's will validate it for two hours. If you go over four hours I think it increases to £2 an hour. I'm not sure how much you have to spend in Sainsburys, we did a big shop the day we went.

Joyce Country

danois wrote: »

OK first off let me apologize cause i am sure this has been asked but i cant find it anywhere!! I am heading up north on wed and I want to go to ASDA and ARGOS and SMYTHS and SAINSBURYS where is the best place to get them all?? Would sprucefield be best? or is enniskillen better? and i have been to newry but no further so could i ask for directions to where ever is best


Thanks a million

+1 - heading up this weekend to belfast

mikewest

Smyths is the hardest one to find so base your destination choice around the location of one of same. I suggest somewhere up Belfast way.

CrazyChick18

Hey, heading up to enniskillen next monday just wondering has anyone been to the Dunnes up there any price difference with southern prices??

And also if I buy a television up there will it work down here in limerick??

THanks:)

DublinWriter

We were in Newry today - very very busy for a Wednesday.

Again, don't even think of going up there unless you plan to arrive before 9am.

kelle

DublinWriter wrote: »

We were in Newry today - very very busy for a Wednesday.

Again, don't even think of going up there unless you plan to arrive before 9am.

I had planned to go there, thank goodness I didn't.

Can I say I went to Smyth's in Blanchardstown to buy all my kids Santa Claus toys - and I checked all the prices against those on their UK website. I discovered I would only have saved €13.15 had I gone to Newry instead! I dodn't think it's worth it for all the petrol I would have used and then facing those crowds.

danois

CrazyChick18 wrote: »

Hey, heading up to enniskillen next monday just wondering has anyone been to the Dunnes up there any price difference with southern prices??

And also if I buy a television up there will it work down here in limerick??

THanks:)

Dunnes is much cheaper up their its even cheaper than tesco in th north

Tipsy Mac

CrazyChick18 wrote: »

And also if I buy a television up there will it work down here in limerick??
THanks:)

Will work 100% fine if looking at either a Sky Digital box or a cable box. However you may run into problems accessing some channels over analogue cable television or if you have an aerial to receive the UK channels. The UK TV's don't have VHF so any channels you pick up on this band won't be available.

veryangryman

kelle wrote: »

I had planned to go there, thank goodness I didn't.

Can I say I went to Smyth's in Blanchardstown to buy all my kids Santa Claus toys - and I checked all the prices against those on their UK website. I discovered I would only have saved €13.15 had I gone to Newry instead! I dodn't think it's worth it for all the petrol I would have used and then facing those crowds.

Need to bulk buy to make it worth your while. Tip up your shopping and/or Booze. 3 bottles of wine for £10 saves you MINIMUM a fiver on what you spend here. Plus all the deals for £1 and the general craic you have for a day out.

I only speak of Enniskillen - i feel sorry for the Dubs having to queue with each other, even outside their own city. *

*I really dont

kelle

veryangryman wrote: »

I only speak of Enniskillen - i feel sorry for the Dubs having to queue with each other, even outside their own city. *

*I really dont

event

havent been down in a while, what will it be like tomorrow do you reckon?

i should be there by 8:00-8:30, will it be ok for parking at that time do you reckon?

tregan

i was in newry yesterday and it was busy busy busy. went to buttercrane first as needed m&s, car park not too bad at 10.20 but when we were coming out it was much more packed. then over to the quays and that car park was v busy, the overflow car parks were in use which i haven't seen in a while.

sainsbury's was mental, nearly as bad as christmas and people buying drink like it was going to go out of production - how can people want so much drink? guy in til next to us bought over 5/6 boxes of barcardi and spent over £400. another guy was told by security he had enough so guess he had already been in and filled his trolley once with bacardi and was going for another trolley full - think the guys were together. anyway he had to walk away from his trolley and leave - i think it's a bit mean as leaves none for the rest of us?

luckily, i just wanted some port so got a few bottles of that and left - will be going to lisburn to do a big shop as a lot of stock looked like it was gone there anyway

furiousox

Heading up to newry tomorrow but l won't be leaving drogheda 'til 9.30am
Maybe l'll just keep going and head for sprucefield instead!

Maybe that guy was buying the bacardi to sell it on down here for a profit?
Maybe he owns a pub! :pac:

tregan

thats what we were thinking - pub or shop; hope it's something like that or else him and his friends have a serious drink problem

tregan

furiousox wrote: »

Heading up to newry tomorrow but l won't be leaving drogheda 'til 9.30am
Maybe l'll just keep going and head for sprucefield instead!

oh i'd keep going if i were you - 9.30? on a friday? two reasons NOT to go to newry as it'll be v busy by then i'd say

Happyouter

When in Enniskillen I noticed that ASDA is 24 hour.
What are the shelf stocks like at 10:00 in the evening or 6 in the morning for that matter? Has anyone shopped there during these hours? Around this time of the year
Thanks alot.

Lpfsox

I've regularly been to ASDA in Enniskillen at 6am - shelves are always well stocked and I haven't had any problems getting anything I've been looking for. That said, I haven't been at Christmas time though I'm planning a very late night trip next week as my weekends are pretty booked up and I don't fancy dealing with the crowds.

It's surprisingly busy even very early in the morning but no hassle.

danois

Happyouter wrote: »

When in Enniskillen I noticed that ASDA is 24 hour.
What are the shelf stocks like at 10:00 in the evening or 6 in the morning for that matter? Has anyone shopped there during these hours? Around this time of the year
Thanks alot.

i was planning on going up late some night but then i thought if i go in early hours of morning wouldny be able to get drink what are the hours drink is sold?

Happyouter

Lpfsox wrote: »

I've regularly been to ASDA in Enniskillen at 6am - shelves are always well stocked and I haven't had any problems getting anything I've been looking for. That said, I haven't been at Christmas time though I'm planning a very late night trip next week as my weekends are pretty booked up and I don't fancy dealing with the crowds.

It's surprisingly busy even very early in the morning but no hassle.

Thanks for the update. Is drink sold 24hours?

felinefeelins

Drink sold 8am to 11pm mon morn to sat nite. Sunday hours apply.

Think Sunday hours are 1-6pm

Ally Dick

Why bother going to Newry ? Take a boat to Galway and Cork and buy up all the flood damaged stock at bargain prices

ROCKMAN

am staying in kilkeel next weekend just wondering is the asda there only food or does it sell electronics, toys and games etc

thanks in advance

C0N0R

From my experiences the asda in kilkeel is terrible, very small and i dont think there is any clothes or electronics. But its been a year since ive been there

furiousox

Went to Newry yesterday as planned, left Drogheda at 9.30am, traffic ok and no gridlock at the Quays SC.

ln Sainsburys with trolley for 10.30am, bought some groceries, about 8 btles of wine, box of beer some guinness and btle of Baileys
lt was very busy, all tills open.
Have to say l find the Sprucefield store is much better (bigger, more choice, clothing etc and not as crowded as Newry)

Had a look around the SC, Debenhams was good, reductions on all stock ranging from 20% to 50%
Got a pair of 501's for £50stg (don't know how much they cost down here tbh, but l assume more?)
Had a look in the Buttercrane too, it was also busy.

After that, headed to Smyths (newry) to 'do' Christmas.

We compared Smyths IRL/UK prices before we headed up and we saved about 150 euro by going North.

I'll try and post up what we bought and the savings we made later.

Also worth mentioning it's really noticeable how helpful and friendly all the shop staff are.

Here are the web addresses for Smyths lreland & Smyths UK, its worth cross checking the prices.

www.toys.ie

www.smythstoys.com

tregan

thanks for the update furiousox .... we thinking we'd "do" christmas soon also and did wonder if there would be much of a difference between uk smyths and drogheda smyths so i'm just checking out the helpful links you put on your message .... bet you're happy that's all sorted - i haven't a clue what santa is going to bring for the girls. at least they are 0 - 4 years old so they don't have too much to say about it yet

Amanda7148

ROCKMAN wrote: »

am staying in kilkeel next weekend just wondering is the asda there only food or does it sell electronics, toys and games etc

thanks in advance

I went a few weeks ago. It is very small - it is not the sort of Asda that I would be used to in England. There are no clothes or electronics, but obviously the food is excellent value for money!

Belfast or Enniskillen have bigger stores I think?

ck2

Hi All

have been following the posts for a while as i was planning a trip to the north for shopping. went yesterday evening at 4pm - hit newry at 5. traffic just at newry was mad - i think they are building a by pass (hurry up);) so we decided to keep going to sprucefield.

BTW i noticed someone posted that newry is more expensive TBH i dont think that is true as they post all the prices on the web, i took note of them and thats exactly what we paid. anyway sprucefield is about 40 mins on from newry - huge sainsburys which opens till 11 pm.

Heres some of the prices i paid. Magners (not bulmers) on special 2 x 8 500ml cans for £15. Coors light 2 x 15 bottles £15 . Guinness 2 x 10 cans £15. Bud 2 x 15 bottles £15.

some nice wines 3 for 10. baileys £14. smirnoff £15.

ibruprofen tabs (for the hangover - see above ) 1.75
calpol for babies - 2.78
they had a special on all johnson prod. got baby powder 83p top to toe wash 1.16 baby lotion 1.27 sudocrem 1.68 (very cheap) cotton buds 48p

also got cfl bulbs for 10p each.

went to toys r us. my little girl wants a bmx . priced them here and they are anything from 110 to 350 euro. got a beautiful pink proper bmx bike for £70 and they assembled it.

the most expensive DS games are £25. my sis bought the DJ hero for £85 and its 123 euro here. they had great deals on the DSi console and 3 games for 145 sterling.

most places are doing the PS3 for about 250 with a couple of games.

Since we had gone that far we decided to venture a little further to ASDA 24hr in kennedy way Westwood Centre. It took us a further 10 mins drive to reach it. It was slightly more expensive on most alcohol products and all the specials shelves were empty although it was 11 at night and i guess once they are gone their gone.

I do think i saved a lot on the trip. wouldnt be doing it every week but we got a lot of drink / snacks / toys for christmas ALL of which have to be well hidden or i will have to go again:D


i have my (very long) receipt so if i can help with any other prices let me know.