Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Carraroe Retail Park.

Options
24

Comments

  • Options
    #32
    tuppence
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,130 ✭✭✭tuppence


    darealtulip wrote: »
    I never buy meat at the supermarket and as you said in a other post in the rural erae you don't have a choice other then the car.

    And yes I buy my herb in ti na nog when I need them I go into town. Don't want to be forced into a town that's not made for car traffic and without parking. That was the whole point. Specialist shop in the town center and the suppermarkets on the out skirts.

    We have great dellicatesse shops etc so the start is there, now move that tesco's out of the center, it is a very bad suppermarket in the first place with no choice and to packed.

    A town should be inclusive for all-For Shoppers and car drivers to gain access. Yes there should be better parking facilities and larger supermarkets within the town boundaries. Otherwise you are advocating a type of apartheid based on being able to drive/own a car or not. You are also advocating urban sprawl.
    I for one wish that the likes of Dunnes picked up a bit on their food production. The beauty about them (and why the likes of Asda wanted to take them over) was because of their prime locations in most Irish towns near the centre. I just wish they would capitalise more on this. :confused:


  • Options
    #33
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    As someone pointed out - we are losing business to Carrick.... I know because I've shopped there a few times. It's takes nearly the same time to get to as town from Coolaney, if you take into account trying to find parking.

    I also get all my meat from the local butcher & fruit & veg from shops owned by locals. I don't like giving my money to big multi-nationals like Tesco or Lidl, but I refuse to pay the prices that Irish owned supermarkets charge. Plus, if I shopped in the likes of Centra, I guarantee that I'll come out of the shop without half the things I was looking for. They simply don't stock most of the things I normally buy.

    Also, not driving is not an option where I live. There is one bus, once a week.

    I'd love to see more cultural stuff in Sligo - a small "art-house" cinema, a large library, more galleries & a decent, medium sized music venue with a dedicated, decent P.A. - markets are a brilliant idea... I love seeing the markets along the river when they are here... there's so much stuff that Sligo could do to improve it's appearance, vibrancy & economy without centering it all around an argument over a badly placed supermarket & the relevancy of a much needed retail park.

    And as for the location of the retail park itself - it couldn't be handier fro a hell of a lot of people - and besides, where else was could it have been built, close to the dual carraigeway & as close to town as possible, without levelling a lot of existing buildings first?


  • Options
    #34
    darealtulip
    Registered Users Posts: 1,346 ✭✭✭darealtulip


    tuppence wrote: »
    A town should be inclusive for all-For Shoppers and car drivers to gain access. Yes there should be better parking facilities and larger supermarkets within the town boundaries. Otherwise you are advocating a type of apartheid based on being able to drive/own a car or not. You are also advocating urban sprawl.
    I for one wish that the likes of Dunnes picked up a bit on their food production. The beauty about them (and why the likes of Asda wanted to take them over) was because of their prime locations in most Irish towns near the centre. I just wish they would capitalise more on this. :confused:

    this is the most strange thing I have ever heard, I was talking about 1 street!!!! I said there should be a supermarket in town for the people in town. An other one for the shoppers from outside of town so the cars don't have to go into town and you can park your car at the supermarket. I am advocating what is happening in the whole of europe including Ireland where people reconice that the towns are not made for traffic and parking. But ofcours Sligo is a unique place in the world that wouldn't survive without a tesco in town? As usual your twisting my words and missing the point. You could try and park your car at the edge of town and walk in or is that discrimnating the people that can't walk? Sligo is so small that it is not that far but doing it whit your weekly shop is rather unhandy. Also closing a few streets is hardly banning people from sligo is it?

    Ps. wasn't it you that told me in a other thread that people in the villages don't have a choice but to drive a car? Besides that you go by the other point I made. And if you insist of using the car while you live in town for the shopping you have dunnes and lidl to go to.


  • Options
    #35
    elshambo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭elshambo


    Xiney wrote: »
    Passing trade is where it's at.

    +1

    Nearly All the shops in Carraroe retail park are the kinda shops that need passing trade

    No supermarkets/etc means no passing trade
    Means no business
    Means when times bad, trade dies, shops close!

    Its all common sense and the people who are responsible for that graveyard should be looking at unemployment at least if not charges!


  • Options
    #36
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭jimmmy


    darealtulip wrote: »
    this is the most strange thing I have ever heard, I was talking about 1 street!!!! I said there should be a supermarket in town for the people in town. An other one for the shoppers from outside of town so the cars don't have to go into town and you can park your car at the supermarket.

    There are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs ( Lidl ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ). None are over busy. The busiest one is in the town centre, not surprising, because that is the centre of population, it is relatively near public transport links, taxi ranks, nearby shops, butchers, offices, restaurants , post office etc. If the trade was spread even thinner then none would be that viable....there is simply not the population to have a second town centre in Carraroe. That is why both Dunnes and Tesco have planning permission secured to redevelop their town properties, with easy access multi-story car parking almost directly off the inner relief road.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #37
    darealtulip
    Registered Users Posts: 1,346 ✭✭✭darealtulip


    jimmmy wrote: »
    There are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs ( Lidl ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ). None are over busy. The busiest one is in the town centre, not surprising, because that is the centre of population, it is relatively near public transport links, taxi ranks, nearby shops, butchers, offices, restaurants , post office etc. If the trade was spread even thinner then none would be that viable....there is simply not the population to have a second town centre in Carraroe. That is why both Dunnes and Tesco have planning permission secured to redevelop their town properties, with easy access multi-story car parking almost directly off the inner relief road.

    As you pointed out yourself sligo has only a small population. Most people come from out of sligo. Most people from outside of sligo come with a car. We have post offices and butchers in our own villages. It would be a lot better for parking and traffic to have it on the out skirts. There is room for both. Never said to remove all supermarkets from the town center.

    Why is Sligo in your opinion so different from all other towns?


  • Options
    #38
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    jimmmy wrote: »
    There are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs ( Lidl ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ). None are over busy. The busiest one is in the town centre, not surprising, because that is the centre of population, it is relatively near public transport links, taxi ranks, nearby shops, butchers, offices, restaurants , post office etc. If the trade was spread even thinner then none would be that viable....there is simply not the population to have a second town centre in Carraroe. That is why both Dunnes and Tesco have planning permission secured to redevelop their town properties, with easy access multi-story car parking almost directly off the inner relief road.

    Cranmore Road is hardly the suburbs!

    The reason why the supermarket in the town centre is the busiest is because it's the only one big enough that stocks nearly everything you would need or want for a weeks supply.


  • Options
    #39
    Xiney
    Registered Users Posts: 8,085 ✭✭✭Xiney


    It always seemed to me that Dunnes (Cranmore) was busier than Tesco.


    Tesco sometimes SEEMS busy alright... what with the lack of space and total inability to keep normal produce in stock yet always having an abundance of dragon fruit...


  • Options
    #40
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    What have you got against Carraroe? Do you live above some shop on O'Connell Street or something.
    People from out the South side of Sligo hate having to go into the town centre as it is such a nightmare with traffic and whatnot.

    Shane Filans development of apartments,shops etc would be a great boost if it ever went ahead. It's not going to be a second town centre, just a few local amenities for the locals.It would hopefully make town more accessible aswell.


  • Options
    #41
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    Xiney wrote: »
    It always seemed to me that Dunnes (Cranmore) was busier than Tesco.


    Tesco sometimes SEEMS busy alright... what with the lack of space and total inability to keep normal produce in stock yet always having an abundance of dragon fruit...

    I didn't make myself clear,I was referring to Tesco and Dunnes been busier than any outside of town like SuperValu in Ballisodare or Grange. I just didn't mention Dunnes.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #42
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    bobcar61 wrote: »
    Letterkenny is hardly a model town for Sligo to base their planning decisions on.

    Yer not wrong there - Leterkenny is a one street town on a hill that looks like it's being invaded from the valley by an advancing retail park monster. :D


  • Options
    #43
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    Xiney wrote: »

    Tesco sometimes SEEMS busy alright... what with the lack of space and total inability to keep normal produce in stock yet always having an abundance of dragon fruit...

    :D


  • Options
    #44
    Xiney
    Registered Users Posts: 8,085 ✭✭✭Xiney


    jimmmy wrote: »
    There are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs ( Lidl ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ). None are over busy. The busiest one is in the town centre

    I was referring to this comment, Bobcar :)


  • Options
    #45
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    Oh,oh well then my bad:D


  • Options
    #46
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    bobcar61 wrote: »
    Oh,oh well then my bad:D

    I always thought it was "it's my BAG"... I dunno why - it could be my hearing, or the fact that I just hear what I would like to hear. Turns out, I'm wrong again. Oh dear!


  • Options
    #47
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭jimmmy


    darealtulip wrote: »
    As you pointed out yourself sligo has only a small population.

    Yes, but it is still the largest centre of population ( city/town ) within an hour or twos driving radius. The countryside is relatively sparsley populated. As noted before, there are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs / outskirts of the town centre (eg Lidl + Dunnes Cranmore ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ). None are over busy. Building an extra one on a hill halfway between Sligo and Ballisodare , far from transport links, other shops and facilities, a decent number of housing estates etc would not work....it would make things worse for everyone.

    darealtulip wrote: »
    Why is Sligo in your opinion so different from all other towns?
    The experiences from other towns should be borne in mind...not just from Ireland but overseas, from areas of similar population density etc. Location is critical in retail. Look at Argus in Enniskillen, Athlone, Castle bar ; it works there because it is within walking distance of the town centre. And look at the shops in the warehouse estate in Carraroe ..if someone wants a small tin of paint or paintbrush for example, or ink for their computer, are they going to have to find a car, drive there, park, ( luckily the car park is always mostly empty there ) try to find what they want, and drive away again. There are alternatives, thankfully in terms of price as well as convenience, and environmental impact.


  • Options
    #48
    Xiney
    Registered Users Posts: 8,085 ✭✭✭Xiney


    You can't really say that people from outside of town are able to shop in Cranmore Dunnes/Lidl! They have to go through town to get there.

    My sister in law works in Sligo (Finisklin). She would rather drive 25 minutes past home to Ballina to do shopping there than bother going into Sligo town, and she's already there after work!

    Traffic in town is just something that people who don't live in town would rather avoid. So, the retail park is great for those people. I obviously agree that it's not good for people in town without cars... but that's mainly the fault of the bus service.


  • Options
    #49
    Aux100
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭Aux100


    As noted before, there are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs / outskirts of the town centre (eg Lidl + Dunnes Cranmore ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ).


    ??

    This still doesn't mean that the supermarkets are any good. We are getting a poor deal from all of them. No stock, poor choice. Its OK if you want beans on toast for dinner very evening.


  • Options
    #50
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    Aux100 wrote: »
    As noted before, there are already loads of supermarkets , not just in the town centre, but in the suburbs / outskirts of the town centre (eg Lidl + Dunnes Cranmore ) and in outer villages where many of the residents commute ( eg Ballisodare, Grange ).


    ??

    This still doesn't mean that the supermarkets are any good. We are getting a poor deal from all of them. No stock, poor choice. Its OK if you want beans on toast for dinner very evening.

    Or spaghetti hoops.


  • Options
    #51
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    Lidl and Dunnes in Cranmore are hardly the outskirts of town. Carraroe is the outskirts of town.
    The supermarkets in the places like Grange, Ballisodare, Cooloney don't stock everything that someone needs for a week or two,depending how often you do the shopping and they are far more expensive hence people drive into town.


    And for the final time Carraroe Retail park is not half way to Ballisodare!

    And what if someone wants to kit out a full house from Argos in Enniskillen, Athlone or Castlebar. It's impossible to park right outside the door and you can hardly carry all of the things with you.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #52
    Big_Mac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 991 ✭✭✭Big_Mac


    Gillie wrote: »
    There was a suitable site picked out already for a Tesco or an Aldi but the powers that be wouldn't allow them open there! Go figure!

    The powers that be.. .hmmm who could that be I wonder. Our friendly chamber of crooks commerce perhaps?
    Janine87 wrote: »
    Carraroe Retail Park is a joke. Sligo is not big enough to build a retail park like that.
    I also dont get it why they closed Mc Donalds down in town. Everyone has to go down to Carraroe now and its smaller than the one in town.

    Really? Then how come the people lucky enough to have jobs up there aren't laughing at this? Where do you suggest Curry's, homebase and PC world relocate to in the center of town then?


    jimmmy wrote: »
    I agree there. The town itself now cannot even support a McDonalds or a Burgerking.

    Do you know something we don't here? Are you suggesting that the shop on oconnel st was not profitable for McDonalds and that's why they closed it? because I would seriously doubt that. I do think on the other hand they were foolish to close it just because they have another one in the retail park, since they will now lose all of the foot trade from the town, but the notion that the town center premises was not making money is stupid.


  • Options
    #53
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    Oh I take it you didn't hear that Homebase are relocating to a new site beside the Inner relief road.


    I'd say the Mc Donalds on O'Connell Street made a fortune with secondary school students and everyone walking around but I heard the actual building itself was in very bad condition and was about to cave in.
    I heard that about 2 years ago when my friend worked there, and it was already in their plans then to open a new one in Carraroe and close the one in town.


























    I'm joking by the way about Homebase moving


  • Options
    #54
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭jimmmy


    bobcar61 wrote: »
    The supermarkets in the places like Grange, Ballisodare, Cooloney don't stock everything that someone needs for a week or two

    The Grange and Ballisodare ones have a reasonably good selection now, but they will never do as well as the ones in Sligo as they do not have the same catchment area. Spreading the business thinner would help nobody.
    bobcar61 wrote: »
    And what if someone wants to kit out a full house from Argos in Enniskillen, Athlone or Castlebar.
    Few people "kit out a full house" from Argos all in one go. The Argos in places like Enniskillen, Athlone or Castlebar seem to be much busier than the one in Sligo because of location , location, location....the ones in places like Enniskillen, Athlone or Castlebar are centrally located, and easy for people to get to, even on foot or by car.


  • Options
    #55
    bobcar61
    Registered Users Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭bobcar61


    jimmmy wrote: »
    The Grange and Ballisodare ones have a reasonably good selection now, but they will never do as well as the ones in Sligo as they do not have the same catchment area. Spreading the business thinner would help nobody.

    Few people "kit out a full house" from Argos all in one go. The Argos in places like Enniskillen, Athlone or Castlebar seem to be much busier than the one in Sligo because of location , location, location....the ones in places like Enniskillen, Athlone or Castlebar are centrally located, and easy for people to get to, even on foot or by car.

    They probably do have fairly similar catchment figures but in a much larger area. The reason people form Cooloney don't do their shopping in Ballisodare is because if they drive and extra 5 minutes into Sligo they have a much larger selection and prices are lower.

    Why is it that many people who shop in Argos don't seem to buy anything bulky. They don't provide trolleys to wheel your new bed or bookcase or wardrobe. Whereas in Sligo it's handy, it's possible to take something straight to your car where you can park for free:)

    How long did it take you to find Argos when it opened in Sligo?


  • Options
    #56
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    bobcar61 wrote: »
    They probably do have fairly similar catchment figures but in a much larger area. The reason people form Cooloney don't do their shopping in Ballisodare is because if they drive and extra 5 minutes into Sligo they have a much larger selection and prices are lower.

    I don't shop in Ballisodare because it's a horrible little town, over-run by badly planned housing & traffic congestion.


  • Options
    #57
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭jimmmy


    bobcar61 wrote: »
    Why is it that many people who shop in Argos don't seem to buy anything bulky. They don't provide trolleys to wheel your new bed or bookcase or wardrobe. Whereas in Sligo it's handy

    People do not tend to buy a "bed or bookcase or wardrobe" in Argos mainly because they cannot see what they are getting.....there are plenty of Irish owned shops around, which are longer established, which tend to do the business there. Naw, the reason Sligo Argos is not as successful as the neighbouring ones ( Athlone, Castlebar, Enniskillen etc ) is because of location - the other ones are centrally located, within easy walking distance of other shops / town centre.


  • Options
    #58
    Macroom Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 73 ✭✭Macroom Man


    jimmmy wrote: »
    People do not tend to buy a "bed or bookcase or wardrobe" in Argos mainly because they cannot see what they are getting.....there are plenty of Irish owned shops around, which are longer established, which tend to do the business there. Naw, the reason Sligo Argos is not as successful as the neighbouring ones ( Athlone, Castlebar, Enniskillen etc ) is because of location - the other ones are centrally located, within easy walking distance of other shops / town centre.
    *
    In all the English towns that I know Argos is situtated in/near the town centre. *The only exceptions are the big "Argos Extra" stores which tend to be in retail parks. *In the North, Derry has 3 Argoses - 2 in the city centre and 1 (Argos Extra) on the Crescent Link development.


  • Options
    #59
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,753 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    The McDonalds outlet closing in the centre of Sligo town is a very bad sign. It indicates that they have little confidence in the town centre to develop.:(

    With the way the Carraroe retail park is going, I wouldn't be surprised if that outlet closes down too. All in all, you may not like fast food yourself, but for a town to lose a McDonalds or Burger King is a very bad sign.

    Sligo does not deserve its designation as a "gateway" centre. It seems to have no ambition to grow in a proper co-ordinated manner as an attactive town to work and live in. All there is is an unchecked sprawl of commuter housing estates in and aroud the surrounding villages and one-off rural houses all over the countryside when development should be consolidated in the town itself.

    Also, remember that Sligo is the only large town in Ireland that saw its population decline between 2002 and 2006. If its population declined during the height of the boom, what hope is there during the recession?


  • Options
    #60
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    JupiterKid wrote: »

    With the way the Carraroe retail park is going, I wouldn't be surprised if that outlet closes down too. All in all, you may not like fast food yourself, but for a town to lose a McDonalds or Burger King is a very bad sign.

    It may be a bad sign, but not necessarily a bad thing! Personally, I'd eat a Maccy D once or twice a year. I was there last week & it was very busy at lunchtime & the time before that was a Friday evening & it was also very busy - and that was when the one in town was still open.

    I don't see it closing any time soon.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #61
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭jimmmy


    JupiterKid wrote: »
    The McDonalds outlet closing in the centre of Sligo town is a very bad sign. It indicates that they have little confidence in the town centre to develop.:(

    With the way the Carraroe retail park is going, I wouldn't be surprised if that outlet closes down too. All in all, you may not like fast food yourself, but for a town to lose a McDonalds or Burger King is a very bad sign.
    I agree with you there. Sligo must be the only gateway city in the western world to actually lose a McDonalds. The Carraroe one is usually even quieter than the town one ever was, but I heard the lease was up on the town one.
    JupiterKid wrote: »
    Sligo does not deserve its designation as a "gateway" centre. It seems to have no ambition to grow in a proper co-ordinated manner as an attactive town to work and live in. All there is is an unchecked sprawl of commuter housing estates in and aroud the surrounding villages and one-off rural houses all over the countryside when development should be consolidated in the town itself.

    Also, remember that Sligo is the only large town in Ireland that saw its population decline between 2002 and 2006. If its population declined during the height of the boom, what hope is there during the recession?

    I agree 100%


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement