How quiet is business in Limerick..shops,pubs,cafes etc?

irishvamp90

Just trying to get a picture of how things now around,part time jobs are getting hard to get.I was walking around town last friday round half 5 and ud expect town to be busy even with alot of shops opening later till 7 or 8pm and alot that use to were well shut down by 6pm...hows everyone finding things?

cson

Country is in recession, people aren't spending and businesses are cutting back. End of.

krudler

recession, no money, places closing earlier, no extra staff being taken on anywhere, repeat country wide

WuuZii

I work in a city centre bar, not been quiet apart from the usual seasonal stuff.

Kess73

irishvamp90 wrote: »

Just trying to get a picture of how things now around,part time jobs are getting hard to get.I was walking around town last friday round half 5 and ud expect town to be busy even with alot of shops opening later till 7 or 8pm and alot that use to were well shut down by 6pm...hows everyone finding things?

It would be a combination of less money with the recession and Limerick city centre being very poor in terms of the variety of shops and services that it has to draw in shoppers from it's catchment areas.


The Crescent Shopping centre has far more in it for shoppers and browsers than what the city has, so you will still find good sized crowds there on the late closing nights. They may not be as big numberwise as a few years ago, but they would be dramatically bigger than the city crowds.


Limerick city centre has always suffered on that front though imho, even before the recession, as the range of shops in the city centre was alway poor when compared to the city centre in the likes of Cork, where it is pretty much always busy during shopping times and on a Friday evening where it will still have a pretty hefty footfall going on after 6pm.


Not much the regular folk in Limerick can do about that though, I would place the blame on the door of the city planners as it is up to them to make the rates, facilities, incentives etc more attractive to retailers and the larger chains.


Too often we get to hear things like the Limerick Chamber Of Commerce coming out with statements about how Limerick is now on it's way to becoming "one of Europe’s most vibrant and living centres" as they have currently on display on their website.


Bedford Row is meant to be the envy of Europe according to them with it's mixture of style and shopping facilities. Now while there is nothing wrong with what was done with Bedford Row, the constant trying to big things up to being something they are not is a joke.


Limerick City needs a major push towards genuine shopping areas and areas with facilities, not the constant talk of an Opera House centre, a pedestrianised William street and a pedestriansied O Connell Street and the knocking of Athurs Quay to build........ a shopping area with a car park??????


All this talk has been going on for the last decade, even when there was money in the country.


Seems to me it is just a way for certain elected individuals at different levels to get their names into the paper.


Why not redo the current Arthurs Quay instead of talking about knocking it? Make it attractive rate wise to retailers and not just some brands that nobody wants, be active in sourcing brand names and getting them in. Give the interior a face lift and do likewise with the food area and car park. That would have to be cheaper than knocking and rebuilding.


There is a big empty building where Dunnes Stores used to be by Sarsfield bridge. Buld their Opera House there, and have riverside views in it, the plot of land it is on is quite large and would be a way of totally revamping that part of town and the back area of it could have a multi storey car park. Push for Marks and Sparks as the anchor tenant there and push for other good brands as the smaller tenants.

I know for a fact that those two ideas were pitched, with a lot more detail, at the Chamber Of Commerce and elsewhere a few years back, but there was no interest in even looking into the ideas, too many there are just interested in looking after their own profile, whicjh leads people with actual ideas and hopes for the city centre to become disillusioned with the city as a whole and at that point it becomes far easier to see what is going wrong than what could be put in place to make the city an attraction.

irishvamp90

WuuZii wrote: »

I work in a city centre bar, not been quiet apart from the usual seasonal stuff.

What bar you work in?is it a normal small pub or one of the big trendy places they will always fill up late

BravoMike

I work in a club/pub here in town things are very quiet since the mention of a recession, numbers are down by the hundreds on weekend nights than what it was last year.

jmccoy

I also work in a pub just outside the city centre in a residential areas and it is gone very quiet, worryingly quiet.

krudler

People are finally copping on that nightclubs are a waste of money, house party with some friends, music you actually want to listen to and a few beers ftw, 15 quid to be surrounded by pissheads and slappers listening to shyte chart dance music and queueing for overpriced drinks? no thanks

zuroph

nightclubs will be fine, students are back, its been a quieter than usual summer though

iguana

irishvamp90 wrote: »

Just trying to get a picture of how things now around,part time jobs are getting hard to get.I was walking around town last friday round half 5 and ud expect town to be busy even with alot of shops opening later till 7 or 8pm and alot that use to were well shut down by 6pm...hows everyone finding things?

It's been a while since I've lived in Ireland and longer since I've lived in Limerick. But Thursday was always the late(r) night shopping night not Friday.

Liam Byrne

Whatever about pubs, etc, in the evening, I'm surprised that ANY shops in town are doing any business whatsover....

Went in yesterday, and apart from the hold-ups due to a parade, it was almost IMPOSSIBLE to get parking; I eventually parked in the multi-storey behind Dunnes, and it cost me €6.60 for two-and-a-half hours (admittedly 2.31, just for full disclosure).

IF there were alternative on-street parking and you CHOSE to park there, then fine, but €2.40 an hour ?????

krudler

I live in the city centre to everything is within a few blocks walking distance but I cant imagine why anyone who lives in the suburbs would purposefully come into town to shop, everything in town can be found in the crescent or one of the retail parks, between getting prking, trapsing around looking for things and getting in and out in the traffic its just easier to go to the crescent

goingpostal

Liam Byrne wrote: »

and it cost me €6.60 for two-and-a-half hours (admittedly 2.31, just for full disclosure).

IF there were alternative on-street parking and you CHOSE to park there, then fine, but €2.40 an hour ?????

That is shocking alright. Its almost like they are trying to kill the city centre.

sioda

Trying or have suceeded.

Its a real shame as strolling around a busy inner city is a great way to pass some time.

But from a town with no decent planning ideas or cash its gonna be like this for a while

Gotta say though was out for a few pints on Friday and thought the buzz around town was good

irishvamp90

I dont care about big greedy nightclubs,i prefer small family and local pubs,its a pity the younger crowd dont support these

TestTransmission

irishvamp90 wrote: »

I dont care about big greedy nightclubs small family and local pubs,its a pity the younger crowd dont support these

You dont care about nightclubs,family run and local pubs?

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