Stores Closing in Sligo **mod warning post #720**

darealtulip

We were in Carrick today (we can afford to shop in the south again and carrick tesco is 10 times better) and it is a total different story. There are stores opening now! Sligo must do something wrong.

Jabby

''carrick tesco is 10 times better''

That wouldn't be too difficult.

darealtulip

Jabby wrote: »

''carrick tesco is 10 times better''

That wouldn't be too difficult.

LOL true!

Culchie

Slidey wrote: »

He set it up in 1949.

He actually told me the story when i bought my telly off him a few months ago. It is sad to think a man of his age would see all that he worked at by destroyed by overzealous expansion

Jeez, I think that is a bit rough on the bloke (or his son).
Hindsight is a great thing. 2 years ago everything in the garden was rosy, they needed parking facilities for customers, Adelaide Street was being torn asunder. Collooney business units were filling up fast.

Celtic Tiger was going strong, young couples buying/building houses... landlords letting houses left right and centre.

It's a recession, and he got hit hard...real hard, as it is mainly luxury/discretionary spend he was dealing with. You then have the sterling difference, minimum wage difference and VAT difference (hardly his fault).

Talk about kicking a man when he's down.

starbelgrade

Culchie wrote: »

Jeez, I think that is a bit rough on the bloke (or his son).
Hindsight is a great thing. 2 years ago everything in the garden was rosy, they needed parking facilities for customers, Adelaide Street was being torn asunder. Collooney business units were filling up fast.

Celtic Tiger was going strong, young couples buying/building houses... landlords letting houses left right and centre.

It's a recession, and he got hit hard...real hard, as it is mainly luxury/discretionary spend he was dealing with. You then have the sterling difference, minimum wage difference and VAT difference (hardly his fault).

Talk about kicking a man when he's down.

Yeah, god love the man... I'm sure that after 50 years in the business, he must be nearly broke.

Culchie

starbelgrade wrote: »

Yeah, god love the man... I'm sure that after 50 years in the business, he must be nearly broke.

don't know if my sarcometer is working or not star...do you mean broke.... or broken?

Slidey

From the comments I have read on here it seems the customer service outside of Ballymote was not very good.

I can honestly say it is the first closure of a business I have heard that genuinely makes me feel quite sad.

Vinnie and his wife were always the most helpful when in the shop.

I remember when i was a kid we used to rent a vhs machine from video city. My mother went into Vinnies and priced one. It was a ludicrous amount of money. He convinced her to buy it (thank God!) and gave her his own interest free finance to pay back a bit at a time over a few months.

I am sorry to see him go. I will most certainly tell him the same next time I see him.

starbelgrade

Culchie wrote: »

don't know if my sarcometer is working or not star...do you mean broke.... or broken?

Broke... as in financially. I really don't see the big deal here - he opened a shop that wasn't properly market researched by the sounds of the reactions here, it certainly wasn't run with any emphasis on customer satisfaction and they couldn't even get their orders in on time... am I surprised it closed? No. Am I saddened by it? Even less so.

As I implied, I doubt that he's short of a few quid. There's a lot more people in the country more deserving of my sympathy.

Xiney

Less than one third of family owned businesses survive the second generation.

Captain Slow IRL

Slidey wrote: »

.............and gave her his own interest free finance to pay back a bit at a time over a few months.
..........

You don't see a lot of business do that any more!

jimmmy

starbelgrade wrote: »

he opened a shop that wasn't properly market researched by the sounds of the reactions here

True enough.....the Sligo town store always seemed to be busy and proved itself after a long number of years....the mistake seemed to have been moving to Collooney a few years ago. A pity its closing / closed , as the business gave good service overall over a long number of years, through thick and thin. I also think its a good idea to shop local and support local businesses at this time instead of using multi-nationals.... obviously ensuring savings can be made at the same time.

darealtulip

jimmmy wrote: »

T I also think its a good idea to shop local and support local businesses at this time instead of using multi-nationals.... obviously ensuring savings can be made at the same time.

And yet you find it sad to see them leave. Strange way of supporting your local rip offs.

jimmmy

darealtulip wrote: »

And yet you find it sad to see them leave

Who is " them leave" + what do you mean ? Go out of business ? Yes it is sad to see long established firms go out of business, people who worked hard and re-invested , who saw plenty of good times and bad times, and who provided good service over what ...40 or 50 years ?

darealtulip wrote: »

and they have to stay in town centers.

Nobody "has" to stay in any town centre. The one in Sligo was busy and sucessful over a long number of years because it was not located in the middle of nowhere....

darealtulip wrote: »

Strange way of supporting your local rip offs.

They were not a rip off, over the years people bought goods there after pricing in other shops elsewhere.

darealtulip

jimmmy wrote: »

Who is " them leave" + what do you mean ? Go out of business ? Yes it is sad to see long established firms go out of business, people who worked hard and re-invested , who saw plenty of good times and bad times, and who provided good service over what ...40 or 50 years ?



Nobody "has" to stay in any town centre. The one in Sligo was busy and sucessful over a long number of years because it was not located in the middle of nowhere....




They were not a rip off, over the years people bought goods there after pricing in other shops elsewhere.

Well who were you talking about? read your post. You forgot after 1 post who you were talking about?

They are ripp offs, every time i want to shop localy they have a little stock and overpriced. Always have to pay extra for the privilege to shop in sligo. Even dublin is cheaper, Hooray for internet shopping! (and before you start, DID and Powercity do have shops. And that they all were ripping you off shows at alll the price drops lately.

So we finaly agree that Tesco should move out of the center!!! Hooray a braek through!!!

Janine87

you probably all know this already but i took a walk in town today and noticed that the bag shop in johnston court closed down too!

jimmmy

darealtulip wrote: »

They are ripp offs, every time i want to shop localy they have a little stock and overpriced. Even dublin is cheaper, Hooray for internet shopping!

Horray for internet shopping all right, but dublin is not always cheaper...often its the same, sometimes its dearer, and if you have a problem do you bring the item back to Dublin ?

darealtulip wrote: »

(and before you start, DID and Powercity do have shops.

Of course DID and Powercity have shops....

darealtulip wrote: »

So we finaly agree that Tesco should move out of the center!!!

Nobody said anything of the sort,and Tesco themselves being shrewd and experienced business people have not made that mistake....in fact they have plans for a newer, much bigger and better Tesco in Sligo, along with a bigger + better car park. Look at what happened to McDonaghs when they moved out a few years ago ! Location is important.

darealtulip

jimmmy wrote: »

Horray for internet shopping all right, but dublin is not always cheaper...often its the same, sometimes its dearer, and if you have a problem do you bring the item back to Dublin ?

It is never the same, I have bought a stoof, kids stuff, TV and computer stuff a laptop, carparts etc over the net. All cheaper and the shops were better stocked.How can it be that they are cheaper incl. delivery? Sligo is one of the worst places to get anything.

Customer service is non existent appart from one or two places.

And you don't have to go to Dublin, there is a magical thing called post and courier services. And with sending etc. they are still quicker then the shops in sligo.

when I say I can get something cheaper somewhere else the reaction of most shops in sligo is "well go and buy it there". So I do so they lose a customer.

A lot of people that I know have the same experiences.

The Tesco thing I wont react on coz you know where I stand and it is getting really boring now.

Gulliver

darealtulip wrote: »

...when I say I can get something cheaper somewhere else the reaction of most shops in sligo is "well go and buy it there". So I do so they lose a customer...

I have had this happen to me and am puzzled by their attitude. When it happens, I tell my friends and family to avoid the place, which they usually do. Even if they made a little effort to make a token reduction or at least give you the whole "it costs that much from my supplier" crap, it's better than "Feck off elsewhere."

Essexboy

jimmmy wrote: »

Horray for internet shopping all right, but dublin is not always cheaper...often its the same, sometimes its dearer, and if you have a problem do you bring the item back to Dublin ?




Of course DID and Powercity have shops....


Nobody said anything of the sort,and Tesco themselves being shrewd and experienced business people have not made that mistake....in fact they have plans for a newer, much bigger and better Tesco in Sligo, along with a bigger + better car park. Look at what happened to McDonaghs when they moved out a few years ago ! Location is important.

plans for a newer, much bigger and better Tesco in Sligo

We have heard all this before. Everything will be better tomorrow but tomorrow never comes! A previous County Manager claimed that Sligo would one day rival Galway (about as likely as a donkey winning the Grand National )
The Corporation were to build a huge shopping centre in the town, the Soviet-titled "Master Plan": where is it? the town's decisionmakers are focussed on helping business owners rather than the general public eg preventing Aldi from opening in Sligo.

jimmmy

Actually many shops in Sligo do give you something off big purchases if you ask nicely for it....very very few shops in Dublin do that, or in other big cities either. Many people from Dublin buy things in Sligo because its cheaper, so it cuts both ways. The best thing is to shop around, and if possible shop local and support local businesses at this time instead of using multi-nationals.... obviously ensuring savings can be made at the same time.

darealtulip

Gulliver wrote: »

I have had this happen to me and am puzzled by their attitude. When it happens, I tell my friends and family to avoid the place, which they usually do. Even if they made a little effort to make a token reduction or at least give you the whole "it costs that much from my supplier" crap, it's better than "Feck off elsewhere."

I hear it a lot from everyone around me, unbelievable in these times.

Xiney

I doubt many people from Dublin are buying anything in Sligo because it's cheaper these days.

They don't have to drive so far to go up north.

(Prior to the pound tanking, maybe they did)

jimmmy

Do any shops in Dublin make a " little effort to make a token reduction or at least give you the whole "it costs that much from my supplier" crap "?
Many clothes / shoe shops ( again not the multi-nationals ) in Sligo for example have regular sales or knock some euro off if you get a few items ...try negiotating "discount" in Dublin !

darealtulip

jimmmy wrote: »

Actually many shops in Sligo do give you something off big purchases if you ask nicely for it....very very few shops in Dublin do that, or in other big cities either. Many people from Dublin buy things in Sligo because its cheaper, so it cuts both ways. The best thing is to shop around, and if possible shop local and support local businesses at this time instead of using multi-nationals.... obviously ensuring savings can be made at the same time.

Something of what was seriously overpriced anyway is not really good, but I have only found that Kool Kidz do it. DID and Powercity were batteling in prices over a laptop I wanted to buy, got it €60 cheaper then their web price, which was already €60 cheaper then anywhere in Sligo. Both based in Dublin. I get almost all the time get some off in Dublin or Cork or Galway for that matter.Don't even have to go there you can haggle over the phone or even per email. Car parts same. A stove was €600 euro's cheaper delivered at home same brand model etc!! Tools same story etc etc. etc. etc. Brooks charges you 10% extra if you don't ask the price first, nice customer service! I always phone round Sligo first but 19 times out of 20 get things cheaper on the net.

I think Sligo businesses had it to good for to long, they knew you had to drive 2 hours for the first city. They didn't evolve with the times of the internet. We have ready access to prices all over Ireland and the rest of the world. With delivery times of two days from Britain they have some stiff competition. The times that you could rip people off without them knowing it is over!

Gulliver

jimmmy wrote: »

Do any shops in Dublin make a " little effort to make a token reduction or at least give you the whole "it costs that much from my supplier" crap "?
Many clothes / shoe shops ( again not the multi-nationals ) in Sligo for example have regular sales or knock some euro off if you get a few items ...try negiotating "discount" in Dublin !

There already is a discount of sorts in Dublin/Galway etc on some items as they are cheaper than the inflated Sligo prices. Anyway, that said, I still believe in shop local even though I live within 10km of the border. I will give the local shops a chance to match price with other Southern prices. I would not expect them to to have to compete against Northern prices.

darealtulip

Gulliver wrote: »

There already is a discount of sorts in Dublin/Galway etc on some items as they are cheaper than the inflated Sligo prices. Anyway, that said, I still believe in shop local even though I live within 10km of the border. I will give the local shops a chance to match price with other Southern prices. I would not expect them to to have to compete against Northern prices.

With the stronger sterling and the price drop they got me back to the the south once every two weeks. It's still worth driving up for the choice not for the money.

I always ring local shops and give them a change to match the price, but more often then not I get a "buy it there then" not a good way to get people to shop locally. I hardly come in Sligo town anymore due to this attitude. We shop in Carrick on Shannon, better shop with more choice and parking etc. A bit further but worth the drive!

Culchie

From this thread it appears if we have 5 shops ...A,B,C,D and E .... and shop A is the cheapest, then shops B,C,D and E are 'rip offs'.


However, if all 5 are the same price, don't we call that price fixing/cartel?

Some businesses don't set themselves up to be the 'cheapest' you know? ...It's just not possible, they can't all be the cheapest.
Some businesses actually want to make a profit for their owners ... they are not simply a charity or a job club, they are an investment, that requires a return on that investment...otherwise why bother?

It may be industry specific, but my experience is people place price after service and quality/design on their list of priorties.

There are some people that want a Mercedes but will only pay for a Lada.

bobcar61

Janine87 wrote: »

you probably all know this already but i took a walk in town today and noticed that the bag shop in johnston court closed down too!

Don't think I was ever in that shop so no big loss to me.

bobcar61

jimmmy wrote: »

Nobody said anything of the sort,and Tesco themselves being shrewd and experienced business people have not made that mistake....in fact they have plans for a newer, much bigger and better Tesco in Sligo, along with a bigger + better car park. Look at what happened to McDonaghs when they moved out a few years ago ! Location is important.

Bit of a difference comparing Mc Donaghs with Tesco. People need food and Tesco has a large number of weekly customers. Your not comparing like with like here.
Tesco will definitely not go bust if they move out of town, infact they will probably increase their market share in Sligo as people don't want to be spending ages looking for a parking space and most people drive to Tesco anyways as they aren't going to carry all their shopping home.

magnumlady

Will there be anything left in Johnston Court I wonder.
Is the Sony centre going? Didn't McDonaghs run that?

I thought the bag shop was going, saw the one in Dublin was having a liquidation sale.