Newry = Boom Town *another northy shoppng spree*

ShiverinEskimo

Aye, go straight past newry on the bypass and join the A1 going north. About 30 mins later you'll be approaching Liburn. There is a massive retail park here with Currys, Sainsbury's M&S etc. Much much quieter than Newry.

Try and go on a week day if you can - it's a joke at the weekends tbh.

The_Conductor

20goto10 wrote: »

Sorry you've misunderstood what I am saying. They have to lower their prices and make a loss on that item. Sometimes they can get onto the supplier and tell them they want the same deal as Tesco, but most of the time they just take the loss. And as a susequence you will often find they higher the price of something else to compensate....fueling the rip off conspiracy theory even more.

Not necessarily- according to RGDATA the Irish grocery retail trade enjoys some of the highest margins in the EU15- which is why it makes logical sense for M&S, Sainsburys etc to come in- they are going to make money here. Tesco and M&S report their operations in the Irish Republic to be the most profitable parts of their businesses- Dunnes doesn't report its financial outturns, Superquinn is also privately held and Musgraves returns are obsfusciated as in excess of 70% of their financial transactions are not in the retail trade.

Just because a company is forced to lower its prices to match or better those by another retailer, in no manner indicates that they are then selling that good at a loss.

Gnar

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Aye, go straight past newry on the bypass and join the A1 going north. About 30 mins later you'll be approaching Liburn. There is a massive retail park here with Currys, Sainsbury's M&S etc. Much much quieter than Newry.

Try and go on a week day if you can - it's a joke at the weekends tbh.

Thanks a million shiverin.This Mexican (south of the Border) appreciates the help

ShiverinEskimo

Oh I'm a mexican too - but live in el paso so I like to help people across.

EDIT - some mappage for you. The 'A' is the location of the retail park. Stay as far away from Newry as you possible can at the weekends. Took my mate 3 hours to get out of the Quays car park and home to Dundalk last Sunday. Vehicular Suicide.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sprucefield+Shopping+Centre,+lisburn&sll=54.491692,-6.060548&sspn=0.00921,0.019312&ie=UTF8&ll=54.259609,-6.240234&spn=0.592791,1.235962&z=10

Gnar

Jaysoose wrote: »

you cant prove any of what your saying, nobody sells at a loss.

Not getting involed but just a quick point retailers employ a marketing technique calla loss leader.they discount a product or range of products on the basis that the footfall attracted by the "savings" will actually increase revenue in the long run.

Personally i think we are being ripped off, everybody wants more for less but are not willing to take less for more, be that wages , goods or service.

aoife161

Went up North yday to a couple of places. Took 2.5 hours from just outside Wicklow town.
First stopped off at The Westwood Shopping Centre, there's Asda here they were offering .83 if you wanted to pay in Euro. Found the following good prices.
Asda
24 Charmin toilet paper £5/€6.02 v local Tesco 4 charmin €3.95
Quatro Razor £3/€3.61 v cheapest I could find was €10.99
Micky Finns drink £4.62/€5.57 v €13.49
Good value on washing powder and shower gels.

Superdrug
16 ibuprofen £.99
16 paracetomal £.39
Tommy girl 30ml £9.99

Headed then to Forestside and the clothes prices were different, alot of shops using .66 as you can see the sterling/euro prices on them. In Sainsburys they had a 40" Sony Bravia tele for £599.

Stopped in Tesco (got .84 rate) in Newtownbreda on the way back and got the following -
Smirnoff 1 litre £13/€15.48 v local tesco €23.99 not sure if that includes or excludes 20% discount they're running at the mo
Tropicana 1.75 litre orange juice £2/ €2.38 v local tesco €4.99
Pringles tube .74c/€.88 v local tesco on offer 2 for €3
Ribena 1Ltr £2/€2.38 v local tesco €4.15
Shaws Ham £1.04/€1.24 v €3.49 (50% free)
French Fancies cakes £1.76/€2.09 v €3.25
Lindemans wine x 3 £10/€11.90 v €6.18 each here incl 20% discount @ tesco
Jack Daniels 70cl £16.54/€19.69 v special at tesco €26.89 usually €28.89
Now 71 CD £12.71/€15.13 V €19.95

Good value on meat and clothes too.

Last stop was Sprucefield, huge Marks and spencers here.:)

ShiverinEskimo

I know plenty of petrol stations that sell the fuel at 0 markup or a loss just to get people into the shop. Hence the huge increase in forecourt supermarkets like londis and centra.

The money is in the sweeties.

100gSoma

andrewh5 wrote: »

Trouble is that Sainsburys don't take laser cards.

you people are all being ripped off using LASER cards anyway. BOI are ripping you. Get a HALIFAX VISA DEBIT card. Used everywhere (and on internet) no charges, and the charge for paying up north is cheaper than Maestro or cirrus. check it out. btw, the bank is much cheaper than BOI for daily current account stuff. and pay 10% credit interest.

shaca

I work in a small local shop and we are definately feeling the pinch. We have had to sell some christmas stock at cost price to try and bring people in. The fact that we cannot sell drink after 10 o clock hasn't helped either. (kindda stupid when u consider the pubs are still open). But like alot of people I have gone up north to do my shopping. Got santa in argos in enniskillen and saved €120.00 on buying the same things in argos down here. The savings are definately worth the trip. Look out for supersavers shops in south. One in Castlebar have great prices on all your cleaning and toiletries products. e.g. lynx €2.99 compared to tesco €4.29 ish.

20goto10

Jaysoose wrote: »

you cant prove any of what your saying

This is true in the same respect as a journalist cannot reveal its sources. I'll take up this discussion on here again in a few months time when Dunnes have been bought out by a major UK retailer. I'd like to see peoples opinion on why one of the biggest Irish companies ever would sell out. No doubt people will say it's for profit :rolleyes:

The_Conductor

20goto10 wrote: »

This is true in the same respect as a journalist cannot reveal its sources. I'll take up this discussion on here again in a few months time when Dunnes have been bought out by a major UK retailer. I'd like to see peoples opinion on why one of the biggest Irish companies ever would sell out. No doubt people will say it's for profit :rolleyes:

Why wouldn't sell out for profit?
It would make a lot of sense for a company such as ASDA to come in and take over a pre-existing business, and simply rebrand it in a year or twos time. Dunnes have been in discussions with ASDA for over 4 years- and while the discussions may have tapered off at present, its not rocket science that they will startup again at some stage. Its a family holding- so there are no shareholders that they are answerable to, and indeed no publicly available accounts...... It makes far more sense to get a reasonable price for the business from someone who obviously intends to enter the market- than it does to wait for them to become established, loose market share to them, loose purchasing power with suppliers and watch the business shrink........

Its obvious from the previous discussions that Dunnes intend to sell the grocery business, possibly keeping the clothing and furniture business. A conscious decision was made to seperate the two business models several years ago- and had been proven to work.

I don't get what you are trying to say- are you implying that you yourself are a journalist with insider sources that you're not willing to discuss on a public forum such as this?

ShiverinEskimo

smccarrick wrote: »

Why wouldn't sell out for profit?
It would make a lot of sense for a company such as ASDA to come in and take over a pre-existing business, and simply rebrand it in a year or twos time.

Exactly - People forget that Tescos was once Quinnsworth not that long ago.

Jaysoose

20goto10 wrote: »

This is true in the same respect as a journalist cannot reveal its sources. I'll take up this discussion on here again in a few months time when Dunnes have been bought out by a major UK retailer. I'd like to see peoples opinion on why one of the biggest Irish companies ever would sell out. No doubt people will say it's for profit :rolleyes:

You said you dont work in retail, so you cannot back up anything you are saying unless you are directly involved no matter how cryptic you try to sound by stating you cannot reveal a source!! what sources? you have no source or insight your whole argument has been blown out of the water by more than a few on here.

Wow imagine selling out at a profit...what an innovative approach to business.

Peoples opinion is based on their own bottom line at the end of the month and if this is made better by outside competitors trading in ireland then i bet you a disco to a barndance you will be in the minority of who cares.

20goto10

Jaysoose wrote: »

Wow imagine selling out at a profit...what an innovative approach to business.

I'm not intending to be cryptic. My point is they're selling because they cannot compete.

btw, don't criticise my opinion for not having proof. Where's the proof of a rip off republic? I've already explained why the price difference proves nothing. In one ear out the other.

There'll be a lot of people who care, not just when the biggest Irish retailer is indirectly bought out by Wal-Mart but when all the others start dropping like flies. Superquinn can't even get a buyer - read between the lines.

My point is not to be patriotic and only shop in Ireland even if that means paying more than up the road. What I'm saying is Irish retailers cannot compete and this country has a serious problem. Moaning about being ripped off is just pure ignorance to the situation we are in.

foggy_lad

seen a scart lead in tesco's today priced at €3.98 and on the same label was the sterling price of 99p, wages etc may appear to be lower in the uk and north but taking the cost of living and all other factors into account they are really on the same sort of level as the republic, so there is no justification for the huge price differences except that the larger stores are ripping off the irish.

Nody

foggy_lad wrote: »

seen a scart lead in tesco's today priced at €3.98 and on the same label was the sterling price of 99p, wages etc may appear to be lower in the uk and north but taking the cost of living and all other factors into account they are really on the same sort of level as the republic, so there is no justification for the huge price differences except that the larger stores are ripping off the irish.

Yes, that people are stupid enough to pay for it, that alone is enough justification.

The_Conductor

Nody wrote: »

Yes, that people are stupid enough to pay for it, that alone is enough justification.

No it isn't- and it isn't stupidity that has people buying it at that price either.
If every other local retail outlet is charging a similar amount (which if you check- they are) and postage or the part cost of collecting the item proves prohibitive- then its not a stupid decision to buy it at that price- at that point in time, its perfectly rational.

We can't all up sticks and move to Newry- that would be stupid.

poindexter

judging by the long queues to get in and out of Newry, would anyone think booking a room there on saturday night might be a good idea for some sunday shopping?? and if so, where would be best place to stay????

thanks

faceman

If you were to compare the likes of Asda and Sainsbury to Irish supermarkets quality wise (i.e. not comparing the prices to Ireland), what would you compare with? E.g. Dunnes, Superquin etc. How does Asda rate against Sainsbury?

Davidth88

If you were to compare the likes of Asda and Sainsbury to Irish supermarkets quality wise (i.e. not comparing the prices to Ireland), what would you compare with? E.g. Dunnes, Superquin etc. How does Asda rate against Sainsbury?

Sainsburys are a direct competitor to Tescos. Very little difference between the two TBH. Sainsbury's used to have a larger emphasis on ' own brand ' , indeed they pioneered this concept , however now I see little difference . UK stores ( and buyers ?? ) tend to be less ' brand loyal ' I think than Irish ones although I have no evidence to back this claim up it's just a feeling I get.

ASDA , I haven't been in one since they were taken over by WALMart however I would put them somewhere above the German multiples here , and of course the scales of the stores is somewhat different , ASDA stores tend to be large, and I mean LARGE.

Their clothes used to be great , they had a good designer , however recently we were given a load of children's clothes from them and the quality was very poor.

grantlee

poindexter wrote: »

judging by the long queues to get in and out of Newry, would anyone think booking a room there on saturday night might be a good idea for some sunday shopping?? and if so, where would be best place to stay????

thanks

Friends of ours are doing that next Friday and have booked the Canal Court. To be honest though going midweek, early enough, and going round by the coast through Carlingford might be your best bet.

Wertz

There's an even better route than having to go right the ways around the peninsula

Canal court is nice though...

faceman

Be warned, Newry is very busy. If you are willing to go that bit further, you might have a less stressful shopping trip!

eth0_

Davidth88 wrote: »

Sainsburys are a direct competitor to Tescos. Very little difference between the two TBH.

I disagree, Sainbury's are more upmarket than Tesco. Tesco's nearest rival would be ASDA.

Waitrose and M+S are the most expensive/high quality supermarkets, then Sainsbury and Morrisons, then Tesco and Asda.

ciaran67

faceman wrote: »

Be warned, Newry is very busy. If you are willing to go that bit further, you might have a less stressful shopping trip!

Newry was mental last weekend but it was an organised chaos. Blokes out directing traffic and all that. We went on to Banbridge Tescos, about 20ks north. Excellent deals were had and loads of parking. Having moved over here from London last summer ive been shocked at the rip off of shopping here. Last weekend reinforced it. We even got 6 bottles of champers for 11 each and girl only charged us for 4. Noticed this when looking down the list when got home. RESULT!

Highsider

Been up twice already for all my Xmas shopping and shopping in general.I figure if enough people keep shopping up there the rip off merchants down here will have no choice but to end their cosy cartel of pricing.

ciaran67

Highsider wrote: »

Been up twice already for all my Xmas shopping and shopping in general.I figure if enough people keep shopping up there the rip off merchants down here will have no choice but to end their cosy cartel of pricing.

Lets hope so mate.

LAUREN01

Can anyone tell me when the new year sales start in newry? is it boxing day or the 27th?

boopolo

20goto10 wrote: »

Wait till Superquinn and Dunnes are sold off to Asda and god knows who else. Then you'll see strategic ripping off of the Irish by the hands of the Brits. People should be careful what they wish for.

Asda? British? Was pretty sure they were 100% American and owned by the Waltons.

Boo

gerrycollins

LAUREN01 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me when the new year sales start in newry? is it boxing day or the 27th?

will they bother with sales considering they have carte blance with southern shoppers?