Shopping in Northern Ireland

Mark#1

How about kitchen appliances, folks?

I know Curry's and B&Q do ovens, but most that I like from their web sites say home delivery only, and I'd prefer to collect in person.

To be fair, PowerCity in the republic seem to be reasonable value, and a B&Q brochure I got at the start of the year lists some good stuff too.


Thanks for any info,

Mark

tantipie

i'm going to go to sprucefield to sainsbury's but wondering is there an asda near by also..

many thanks

craftypaddy

newtownland bt 23 4eu is the nearest i think, there is a store locator on the asda website

snubbleste

tantipie wrote: »

i'm going to go to sprucefield to sainsbury's but wondering is there an asda near by also..
many thanks

If you continue up the M1 to just outside Belfast, there's a huge Asda, and a huge Sainsburys right beside each other at the Westwood Centre(google for map)
This lady drove from Carlow
Asda offer a much better rate than Sainsburys for €uro notes

mrgaa1

There are other places to go to:
Armagh - ecclesiastical capital of Ireland: Has Sainsburys, new shopping pedestrianised area (£6million recently spent), Market theatre, cinema, good restaurants (uluru for e.g.) Good parking and all easy walking. http://www.visitarmagh.com/
Rushmere shopping centre - just outside Portadown. http://www.rushmereshopping.com/ shows it all. Large Debenhams etc...

Some of the smaller towns along the way are taking €1 for £1 - you have to look for the shops that have the sign.

Enjoy

ck2

tantipie wrote: »

i'm going to go to sprucefield to sainsbury's but wondering is there an asda near by also..

many thanks

hi tantipie

if you continue past sprucefield staying on the m1 toward belfast about 7 mins on is the westwood centre on kennedy way . there is an asda (24hr) and a new sainsburys. there is also more general shops there than in sprucefield. as per my post asda was slightly more expensive on the alcohol. the thing to do is just before you go check out mysupermarket.com and they price check the main stores.

you can put in the search the main items you are looking for and they will check them against asda , sainsburys and tesco.

someone from the north told me today that dunnes in northern ireland is cheaper than all the above but you cant check on the internet as they dont have on line groceries.

hope it helps
ck

paulam10

hi ck2
do you know if the sainsburys in the kennedy centre is bigger than the one in sprucefield?
thanx

milly4ever

paulam10 wrote: »

hi ck2
do you know if the sainsburys in the kennedy centre is bigger than the one in sprucefield?
thanx

sainsbury's kennedy centre is the biggest supermarket in the north.

tantipie

thanks so much everyon,we are going to head to westwood centre,
thanks again:D

Tiriel

Hi all - I did a quick search on this thread and I don't think anyone has mentioned it so here goes - does anyone know where is good to go for glasses (spectacles ) up North. I'm hoping to drive up on Friday, most likely will end up in Belfast (driving from Dublin early am).

I have my prescription from Specsavers and know from the website that hte €189 glasses are £125 on the websites. Anyone have any experience in big stores with a good selection up North?!

Any advice appreciated!

paulam10

thanx milly4ever. will take a trip there the next time i'm up north:D

milly4ever

Cork_girl wrote: »

Hi all - I did a quick search on this thread and I don't think anyone has mentioned it so here goes - does anyone know where is good to go for glasses (spectacles ) up North. I'm hoping to drive up on Friday, most likely will end up in Belfast (driving from Dublin early am).

I have my prescription from Specsavers and know from the website that hte €189 glasses are £125 on the websites. Anyone have any experience in big stores with a good selection up North?!

Any advice appreciated!

there are the usuals like specsavers. you may also want to try the tesco extra at knocknagoney- they have very cheap frames- they were doing bench ones for £60 and eye test are free.

Tiriel

milly4ever wrote: »

there are the usuals like specsavers. you may also want to try the tesco extra at knocknagoney- they have very cheap frames- they were doing bench ones for £60 and eye test are free.

Do you know where is a good Specsavers to go to by any chance? I know they all differ depending on the size of the store, hard to tell from the websites which ones are big or not!

milly4ever

Cork_girl wrote: »

Do you know where is a good Specsavers to go to by any chance? I know they all differ depending on the size of the store, hard to tell from the websites which ones are big or not!

there is one on Ann Street in belfast city centre beside the victoria square shopping centre, I've also been to the one in Buttercrane, Newry.

The Guvnor

Hi CorkGirl,

I read on boards a while back that a lot of people get their eyes tested and then buy the glasses online, I think there is an actual glasses/contacts section within boards.

Apparently far, far cheaper than any shop.

C.O.Y.B.I.B

Spent the weekend shopping in Belfast .
Alcohol Highlights
Sol Lager 330ml - 30 for £15 (Sainsburys). Is €10.99 for 4 in Tesco !!
Angel's Bay Wine £8 each or 3 for £10 Asda
Bulmers Pt BOTTLES - 16 for £14 Asda

Tiriel

The Guvnor wrote: »

Hi CorkGirl,

I read on boards a while back that a lot of people get their eyes tested and then buy the glasses online, I think there is an actual glasses/contacts section within boards.

Apparently far, far cheaper than any shop.

Thanks Guvnor - I just find it hard enough to get glasses to suit me as my face is a bit on the small side so I really need to try them on in person!

okidoki987

According to the radio today, it was manic up North with the Quays & Buttercrane doing the same amount of business they would normally do on a Saturday in December!
7 mile tailbacks into Newry at one stage :eek:

bellucio

okidoki987 wrote: »

According to the radio today, it was manic up North with the Quays & Buttercrane doing the same amount of business they would normally do on a Saturday in December!
7 mile tailbacks into Newry at one stage :eek:

Public service strike and massive queues in Newry...Coincidence..I think not

The Guvnor

Cork_girl wrote: »

Thanks Guvnor - I just find it hard enough to get glasses to suit me as my face is a bit on the small side so I really need to try them on in person!

I have the opposite problem but I too would find it hard to buy them online.

Just on this - apparently there is a number that you need to buy the correct lenses online which a lot of opticians keep to themselves precisely for this reason.

The Guvnor

bellucio wrote: »

Public service strike and massive queues in Newry...Coincidence..I think not

There are also heavy roadworks going on at the cloghue roundabout which do not help matters.

There are of course ways into Newry which avoid all of the traffic but believe me some of these roads are narrow and I mean narrow for one car let alone meeting quarry trucks as I have had the pleasure of doing so! Plus unless you know exactly where you are going very easy to end up in Omeath or well into south armagh dependent upon which side you are on.

felinefeelins

Can't seem to find this online. Does anyone know the opening hours of Dunnes Stores in Enniskillen please.

_Kooli_

okidoki987 wrote: »

According to the radio today, it was manic up North with the Quays & Buttercrane doing the same amount of business they would normally do on a Saturday in December!
7 mile tailbacks into Newry at one stage :eek:

My guess is since the kids werent in school and the parents had to stay home to mind them, they thought they might nip up to Newry with the kids to beat the weekend crowds. All had the same idea - backfired.

furiousox

felinefeelins wrote: »

Can't seem to find this online. Does anyone know the opening hours of Dunnes Stores in Enniskillen please.

Here you go


http://www.dunnesstores.ie/page.php?pid=17


Opening Hours
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
08.30 - 20.0008.30 - 20.0008.30 - 21.0008.30 - 22.0008.30 - 22.0008.30 - 19.0013.00 - 18.00

the lil man

went up to newry yesturday(tuesday) and it took me under 3 hours.:eek:
never happened before. i was in traffic for 50 mins barely moving...

slave1

in Enniskillen today, the road to Asda passing by Erneside shopping centre was flooded which is apparantly why there was a fooking crazy traffic jam all the way back to the Toyota garage on the Sligo road, took me 1Hr 25Minutes to get from that garage to Asda, normally around a 5 minute journey, pisser
Heatons doing €1 for £1 which was deadly, nothing else in particular popped out at me, and for some reason neither of our mobiles worked?

littlemaxi

Hi, just wondering if anyone has been to the tesco in banbridge?
Going north on saturday and as we have a Tesco privilege card get an extra 10% off at the till.
Does anyone know if its a large store( as opposed to an express) and does it have toys etc..
Have done my homework on booze and can get the following bargains attached

ck2

paulam10 wrote: »

hi ck2
do you know if the sainsburys in the kennedy centre is bigger than the one in sprucefield?
thanx

hi

yes the sainsburys is huge in kennedy centre and brand new. the benefit of kennedy over sprucefield is that there is more variety of shops close together plus asda is there so you can do price comparision. we checked everything on line before we went. we also reserved some items in argos so we could just go and collect them. also saw on the tv last night that argos.co.uk are doing a good bit of 50% off toys so it might be worth a look.

hope this helps
ck2

angela laoise

slave1 wrote: »

in Enniskillen today, the road to Asda passing by Erneside shopping centre was flooded which is apparantly why there was a fooking crazy traffic jam all the way back to the Toyota garage on the Sligo road, took me 1Hr 25Minutes to get from that garage to Asda, normally around a 5 minute journey, pisser
Heatons doing €1 for £1 which was deadly, nothing else in particular popped out at me, and for some reason neither of our mobiles worked?

oh im going to enniskillen mon week am i better off going to newry cant decide which is best coming from portlaoise

C.O.Y.B.I.B

Tesco in Banbridge is a full size store (Superstore). Was there last year , got some good bargains . You can register using a Banbridge postcode for online shopping at Tesco.co.uk and then compare prices with Sains/Asda

littlemaxi

Thanks Mscull - you've made my day!!
We went all the way to Asda in Downpatrick before, and its wasnt that big a store, were dissapointed, so didnt want to repeat history!!
Will hit the Outlet on the way back from Banbridge..cant wait to go spend my few sheckles now!

happychick

hi all, thinking of going shopping up north next week to load up on booze and main shopping - have ruled out Newry cos it will be crazy busy and was thinking downpatrick until someone said it was very small...gonna leave dublin city centre at around 7.30am and want to hit asda and sainsburys and potentially Belfast then for topshop/ other high street shopping...Im confused though from the posts is it Kennedy centre or Westwood shopping centre on Kennedey way that has asda and sainburys??

want to get all the booze for xmas - is asda/ sainsburys better??

DubDani

Kennedy (largest Sainsburys in NI) and Westwood Centre are within 200m of each other. on the same side of the road. And in between them you can find Lidl.

happychick

DubDani wrote: »

Kennedy (largest Sainsburys in NI) and Westwood Centre are within 200m of each other. on the same side of the road. And in between them you can find Lidl.

Oh, so the largest Sainsburys is in the Kennedy centre and then theres an Asda in the Westwood Centre - that right?

Is the Asda in the Westwood big?

DubDani

happychick wrote: »

Oh, so the largest Sainsburys is in the Kennedy centre and then theres an Asda in the Westwood Centre - that right?

Is the Asda in the Westwood big?

Correct.

http://www.kennedycentre.co.uk/

http://www.thewestwoodcentre.co.uk/

happychick

DubDani wrote: »

Correct.

http://www.kennedycentre.co.uk/

http://www.thewestwoodcentre.co.uk/

thanks very much DubDani - appreciate it

DubDani

The ASDA in the Westwood is a good size and also has clothing and household Items.

kelle

Went to Armagh today and got there at 11.30, absolutely no tailbacks, easy to get parking and no crowds. Went to Spires Retail park where Argos, Heatons/Sportsworld, Toymaster, Lidl, M&S Foodstore, a discount store and a clothes shop. There's a Sainsbury's a mile away but I didn't go there.
Checked out a few items I wanted on Argos.co.uk (which incidentally were "out of stock" in every ROI store!), checked where they were available (all available in Armagh) and reserved them for collection there, just so I avoided a wasted journey. Then I stocked up on Bud and Stella Artois from Lidl!
And I was back long berfore my kids had to be collected from school!

mscull wrote: »

Tesco in Banbridge is a full size store (Superstore). Was there last year , got some good bargains . You can register using a Banbridge postcode for online shopping at Tesco.co.uk and then compare prices with Sains/Asda

I am wondering, could one actually do an online shop even if they're not from the area and collect the groceries from the store, like I did at Argos? It would save a lot of stress and queueing...

happychick

kelle wrote: »

Went to Armagh today and got there at 11.30, absolutely no tailbacks, easy to get parking and no crowds. Went to Spires Retail park where Argos, Heatons/Sportsworld, Toymaster, Lidl, M&S Foodstore, a discount store and a clothes shop. There's a Sainsbury's a mile away but I didn't go there.
Checked out a few items I wanted on Argos.co.uk (which incidentally were "out of stock" in every ROI store!), checked where they were available (all available in Armagh) and reserved them for collection there, just so I avoided a wasted journey. Then I stocked up on Bud and Stella Artois from Lidl!
And I was back long berfore my kids had to be collected from school!



I am wondering, could one actually do an online shop even if they're not from the area and collect the groceries from the store, like I did at Argos? It would save a lot of stress and queueing...

I didnt know they do Bud in Lidl - is that just up North??

kelle

happychick wrote: »

I didnt know they do Bud in Lidl - is that just up North??

I'm looking at it now, 15x300mls box of Budweiser for £9.99 from Lidl in Armagh - don't know about other lidl stores.

tregan

happychick wrote: »

I didnt know they do Bud in Lidl - is that just up North??

nearly sure they do bud in lidl down south, couldn't tell you the price though?

Mialin

Hi All,

Im heading to Cavan tomorrow and was hoping to do a bit of good shopping up north. Where would the nearest place for deals be to Cavan?

furiousox

Mialin wrote: »

Hi All,

Im heading to Cavan tomorrow and was hoping to do a bit of good shopping up north. Where would the nearest place for deals be to Cavan?

Carry on to enniskillen, about 30-40(?) mins after cavan on the main road

Tiriel

Hi all - just to update ye on the glasses in case anyone else is thinking of going to Newry/northwards!!

Went to Specsavers in Newry, Buttercrane Shopping Centre. Got two pairs, both with Ultraclear coating (anti-glare) for £175. The same glasses with the same coating was €279.

C0N0R

kelle wrote: »

I'm looking at it now, 15x300mls box of Budweiser for £9.99 from Lidl in Armagh - don't know about other lidl stores.

Tesco is doing 30 bottles of bud for £14, cant beat it. Lidl were doing 15 for £6.99 a while back to

littlemaxi

Went up to Newry & Banbridge this morning (left wicklow at 6 and pulled into the quays carpark at 7.35..) Below is some of the savings made..

Sainsburys- stocked up on wine for Xmas:
6 Oyster bay S. Blanc @ £5.99 (O'Briens list price is 11.49, on special offer at 2 for €18)
6 Vina Albali Reserva Red @ £5.00
1 litre Bacardi @ £12.00
3 Bottles of Sainsburys Asti @ 4.36 sweet bubbliness!!
Get 5% off when you buy six bottles of wine too..
Other bargains in sainsburys were 3 DVDs for £12, 2 Packs of Twining peppermint tea selection 25's for £2, and nescafe Gold Blend 800g for £4.

After picking up a few clothes for kids in Next and Debenhams we went on up to Banbridge to Tesco. Here the bargains were:
1 Litre Baileys @£;10
1 Litre Smirnoff @£;14.99
70cl Captain Morgan @£;10
Mix +Match Beer/Cider were 2 for £14 - we got 15x Strongbow 440ml case and 8 x Pint bottle Bulmers case
Also picked up tins of Quality Street @£;5, a Star Wars Lego Midi Millenium Falcon for £29.97 (sticker said exclusive to Tesco), Lynx gift sets @£;3 plus many more groceries and gifts
... and then we got 10% off at till with our Privilege Card Wine on offer in Tesco was not as good hence we went to Sainsburys first!!

Then onto The outlet.. biggest saving here was in Mexx.. buy 4 items for price of 3 - i picked up a jacket (was £79) a jumper, and 2 tops all for £50! delighted!! Picked up some Crackers and cards in M&S, runners for the kids in Nike and then headed for home with empty pockets but happy with a good days Xmas shopping..

paulam10

hi. does anyone know how do you get a tesco privilege card? go up the north quite a bit but don't normally bother with tesco because it's down south.
thanks

qwas75

hi all!
never was before in NI, thats why I need advice from experienced buyers which is the best place to go for shopping?
(mainly beers & vodka - Xmas coming )

yelbel

paulam10 wrote: »

hi. does anyone know how do you get a tesco privilege card? go up the north quite a bit but don't normally bother with tesco because it's down south.
thanks

You get one after you have worked there for a year

ybbi

I am a southerner living up North for the last two years, best place is to get pass Newry and head towards Banbridge or too Belfast (hendy drive mainly motorway all the way).

I have being coming up North before I moved up since 2002 and the huge number of southern reg cars is unbelievable, but not surprising. The cost of living is so much cheaper than down home.

And as a rule of thumb the more you come into the North the cheaper it gets. As the border towns are not the cheapest.