Balbriggan Shopping Centre

Jimdagym

The bus stop outside the BOI in Dublin street has a Tesco poster in it saying open 11th April.

Bluetonic

X Factor Star Mary Byrne to Open Millfield Shopping Centre in Balbriggan

X Factor star Mary Byrne will be in Balbriggan on Monday 11th April to perform the official opening of Millfield Shopping Centre at 11am.

Locals are invited to come and meet the hugely popular singer as she cuts the ribbon on the €85million centre which is anchored by one of the largest Tesco stores in Ireland and features in excess of 30 retail stores. The fun opening event will also feature face painting, balloon modelling and entertainment for the children as well as special offers and give aways.

“We are very excited about opening the doors to the centre on 11th April. There will be fun for all the family with giveaways and entertainment, we will have a great celebration and hope that all the local residents join us to mark this special occasion” says Peter Carey, Centre Manager at Millfield.

Retailers at Millfield Shopping Centre include Carphone Warehouse, Eason, Cuddles Petshop, Notionz Gift Shop, More 4 Less, Gleeson’s Butchers, Ladbrokes, Cheeky Monkey Bakery, Smooch Ice Cream, Boston Belle Hair & Beauty, Cru Barbers, BB’s Coffee & Muffins, Graham O’Sullivan and O’Briens Sandwich Bar with Gamestop, Holland & Barrett, Jack Jones, Vero Moda & many more to follow over the coming weeks

Millfield is the only major shopping centre to open in Ireland in two years and will provide a very welcome 450 jobs when fully open.

http://www.balbriggan.info/mary_byrne_to_open_millfield_shopping_centre_balbriggan.shtml

Beasty

I've got to say I'm very disappointed with that news Bluetonic....


...I think we should accept nothing less than Jedward to open our new store:cool:

Morpheus

Mary byrne... bah dont get me started. For a start Ive no interest in her!

Why couldnt they get a local band or group to provide the entertainment??? Brass and Reed band? The Great Escape?

I hate the eyesore of the place. what used to be nice fields and a lovely country area, completely stuffed over with that pox of a monstrosity, local jobs gone, mainstreet stores closing down, and for what? to save you the 15 minute drive north to the one in drogheda? its an absolute disgrace and a nod to the stupid re zoning that the towns slimy councillors allowed take place during the boom.

the graveyard, once a place of quiet reflection is now a nightmare to get into and is overlooked one side by apartments and the other by this sh**ehole.

sorry folks but i for one wont be giving it my custom. I actually hope it turns into a black hole of a failure (which it most likely wont )

Eoineo

Wild horses won't drag me over there on the opening day.

Unfortunately Morpheus there is a masterplan with provisional zoning on many of the fields behind for light industrial & commercial. Unless this is reversed we can expect a view of more factories and shops in the future.

LeoB

Morphéus wrote: »

Mary byrne... bah dont get me started. For a start Ive no interest in her!

Why couldnt they get a local band or group to provide the entertainment??? Brass and Reed band? The Great Escape?

I hate the eyesore of the place. what used to be nice fields and a lovely country area, completely stuffed over with that pox of a monstrosity, local jobs gone, mainstreet stores closing down, and for what? to save you the 15 minute drive north to the one in drogheda? its an absolute disgrace and a nod to the stupid re zoning that the towns slimy councillors allowed take place during the boom.

the graveyard, once a place of quiet reflection is now a nightmare to get into and is overlooked one side by apartments and the other by this sh**ehole.

sorry folks but i for one wont be giving it my custom. I actually hope it turns into a black hole of a failure (which it most likely wont )

Strong feeling there and I agree with some of your post especially the mess trying to get into Graveyard.

Is a Brixter not their P.R Man? Or has he moved on? He was on Radio quite a bit last year between Joe Duffy and Pat Kenny around the time they were tagging their packets of Rashers in some inner city stores. Maybe he could have pulled a string or two for a local band/ group but that wouldnt fit into the corporate image of TESSCOWS.

Bluetonic wrote: »

http://www.balbriggan.info/mary_byrne_to_open_millfield_shopping_centre_balbriggan.shtml

Just looking at the main street the other day this could be the end of old Balbriggan unless it gets serious investment and a good facelift to compliment the Square. The view from a few people I was chatting to was "Only Balbriggan people will save the older part of Balbriggan by trying a bit harder to support some of the small shops". And the position so many find themselves in is this is going to be very hard.

Philip Boucher-Hayes had firgures the other evening on drivetime suggesting for every 20jobs Tesco provide they cause the loss of 30 in local community. I wonder if a 4hour job up in Millfield could cost a full time job in Centra or Spar? (Just see Eoineo has this reported also) If its accurate where does it leave Balbriggan?

Did I hear Easons are looking for redundancies and them opening in this Millfield centre at the same time.

Eoineo

See there's a bigger picture which I think I mentioned before which isn't just about shopping locally.

• There's a charge for parking in most of Balbriggan at the moment. The new store will have free parking. Apparently you will now be able to park for the first hour for free.
• Many of the shops aren't wheelchair or buggy accessible.
• Likewise the footpaths are a bit all over the place with lamposts and signposts rendering parts very difficult to negotiate with buggy or wheelchair.
• If you want to visit a decent couple of shops then you have to walk all over the town for sport. In Tescos everything will be located centrally.
• There's a lack of public toilets.
• Balbriggan still is a commuter town. This means that most people leave the town in the morning, come back in the evening. By the time they come back most shops have closed. Add a 24 hour convenience store into the mix and they get most of the custom.
• Local shops have been quite expensive and people were travelling to large Tescos and beyond to save on their shopping anyway.

If we were to lose 30 jobs for every 20 created then the town will be in serious trouble. The main drag will become a ghost town unless it has something unique to attract visitors. Right now it doesn't. There is the potential to create something unique there but lack of funds from Fingal County Council means that most projects have simply stagnated. I'm told that Bremore Castle is bigger and more impressive inside than Bunratty Castle. Ultimately FCC intend to open it as a heritage site like Malahide Castle but right now they are only just about to start working on the interior. This could take up to 7 years more to complete.

Corsendonk

LeoB wrote: »

Strong feeling there and I agree with some of your post especially the mess trying to get into Graveyard.

Is a Brixter not their P.R Man? Or has he moved on? He was on Radio quite a bit last year between Joe Duffy and Pat Kenny around the time they were tagging their packets of Rashers in some inner city stores. Maybe he could have pulled a string or two for a local band/ group but that wouldnt fit into the corporate image of TESSCOWS.



Just looking at the main street the other day this could be the end of old Balbriggan unless it gets serious investment and a good facelift to compliment the Square. The view from a few people I was chatting to was "Only Balbriggan people will save the older part of Balbriggan by trying a bit harder to support some of the small shops". And the position so many find themselves in is this is going to be very hard.

Philip Boucher-Hayes had firgures the other evening on drivetime suggesting for every 20jobs Tesco provide they cause the loss of 30 in local community. I wonder if a 4hour job up in Millfield could cost a full time job in Centra or Spar? (Just see Eoineo has this reported also) If its accurate where does it leave Balbriggan?

Did I hear Easons are looking for redundancies and them opening in this Millfield centre at the same time.

One in Rush soon do a little Brother of Balbriggan.......Shopping Centres seem the new religion of consumer Ireland so the graveyard beside it does have some poetic value plus Tesco get the extra flower sells. Tesco Extra stores sell a massive range of different stock so a wide spectrum of shops will be hit. Tesco like to cherry pick and sell the profitable items, so laptops, stationary, car care, clothes, top 10 books, phones among the areas that they have moved into.

Eason may be looking to cull the high earners of long term staff. Alot of the retailers do that from time to time, cheaper to pay a newbie and you can put them on more flexible contracts such as rotation on nights etc Its a balance between losing experienced staff and reducing wages and increasing flexiblility and the accuntants love the last option.

Corsendonk

Eoineo wrote: »

See there's a bigger picture which I think I mentioned before which isn't just about shopping locally.

• There's a charge for parking in most of Balbriggan at the moment. The new store will have free parking. Apparently you will now be able to park for the first hour for free.
• Many of the shops aren't wheelchair or buggy accessible.
• Likewise the footpaths are a bit all over the place with lamposts and signposts rendering parts very difficult to negotiate with buggy or wheelchair.
• If you want to visit a decent couple of shops then you have to walk all over the town for sport. In Tescos everything will be located centrally.
• There's a lack of public toilets.
• Balbriggan still is a commuter town. This means that most people leave the town in the morning, come back in the evening. By the time they come back most shops have closed. Add a 24 hour convenience store into the mix and they get most of the custom.
• Local shops have been quite expensive and people were travelling to large Tescos and beyond to save on their shopping anyway.

If we were to lose 30 jobs for every 20 created then the town will be in serious trouble. The main drag will become a ghost town unless it has something unique to attract visitors. Right now it doesn't. There is the potential to create something unique there but lack of funds from Fingal County Council means that most projects have simply stagnated. I'm told that Bremore Castle is bigger and more impressive inside than Bunratty Castle. Ultimately FCC intend to open it as a heritage site like Malahide Castle but right now they are only just about to start working on the interior. This could take up to 7 years more to complete.

Importantly the Tesco will be 24/7 too.

LeoB

Corsendonk wrote: »

Tesco Extra stores sell a massive range of different stock so a wide spectrum of shops will be hit. Tesco like to cherry pick
Eason may be looking to cull the high earners of long term staff. Alot of the retailers do that from time to time, cheaper to pay a newbie and you can put them on more flexible contracts such as rotation on nights etc Its a balance between losing experienced staff and reducing wages and increasing flexiblility and the accuntants love the last option.

I believe they hope be in on site in Rush in about 6 to 8 weeks.

The attidtude of these people who make some of these decisions really sticks in my gut. New people going to work in this place will I believe have little or no rights or protection from some of the obnixious managers I have seen operating in shops over the last few years. While on the other hand I understand the frustration of people getting off a train or Bus and local shops closing so Tesco for them will be good.

But ultimatley the consumer will pay as we will have more unemployed if Philip Boucher - Hayes was correct

Eoineo wrote: »

See there's a bigger picture which I think I mentioned before which isn't just about shopping locally.

• There's a charge for parking in most of Balbriggan at the moment. The new store will have free parking. Apparently you will now be able to park for the first hour for free.
• Many of the shops aren't wheelchair or buggy accessible.
• Likewise the footpaths are a bit all over the place with lamposts and signposts rendering parts very difficult to negotiate with buggy or wheelchair.
• If you want to visit a decent couple of shops then you have to walk all over the town for sport. In Tescos everything will be located centrally.
• There's a lack of public toilets.
• Balbriggan still is a commuter town. This means that most people leave the town in the morning, come back in the evening. By the time they come back most shops have closed. Add a 24 hour convenience store into the mix and they get most of the custom.
• Local shops have been quite expensive and people were travelling to large Tescos and beyond to save on their shopping anyway.

If we were to lose 30 jobs for every 20 created then the town will be in serious trouble. The main drag will become a ghost town unless it has something unique to attract visitors. Right now it doesn't. There is the potential to create something unique there but lack of funds from Fingal County Council means that most projects have simply stagnated. I'm told that Bremore Castle is bigger and more impressive inside than Bunratty Castle. Ultimately FCC intend to open it as a heritage site like Malahide Castle but right now they are only just about to start working on the interior. This could take up to 7 years more to complete.

Balbriggan really needs free parking for 1 hour. Fingal have to do something to maintain the centre of the town. I have always found it a good town to walk around anytime I have been there and seeing as how the square has got a facelift an effort should be made to extend it up to Drogheda St and develop around the harbour a little bit.

Maybe the chamber of commerce will put together a campaign to get free parking around the Market Greet and Harbour areas. Considering Fingal have reaped millions from Balbriggan in building levies / money they can at least help the heart of the place survive

Jimdagym

LeoB wrote: »

Just looking at the main street the other day this could be the end of old Balbriggan unless it gets serious investment and a good facelift to compliment the Square. The view from a few people I was chatting to was "Only Balbriggan people will save the older part of Balbriggan by trying a bit harder to support some of the small shops". And the position so many find themselves in is this is going to be very hard.

Considering how little Dublin St/Bridge St/Drogheda St was upgraded during the boom, I would be very pessimistic about any future improvements. The square looks wonderful now, and the completed footpaths are really quite nice, but there are literally crumbling buildings beside them, and thats all people see when they drive through.
There is a thread in BA about the recent Boards Deal for the Bracken Court. The reviews are largely positive, but a lot of posts say the same thing, that the town itself is very run-down. Sad, but true.
What hope is there for the spicers mill developememt to lease out its units, when the new centre opens? Or any of the other empty units in the town, of which there are many?
I see Cru Barbers are opening in the new centre. I can hardly envisage the keeping of the shop in Castle mill (IMO) so that could well be another empty unit up there too. Whats that, 5 empty units up there?
Like many posters here. I fear for the future of Balbriggan.

Bluetonic

LeoB wrote: »

Just looking at the main street the other day this could be the end of old Balbriggan unless it gets serious investment and a good facelift to compliment the Square.

Old Balbriggan ended around the middle of the 1990s for me. People who were born in the 1940 say it ended in the 1970s. It's all relative.

There is already a public realm plan for the town so it's not like being neglected. The whole place has had a massive face lift over the last few years, new stone cut paths, overhead wires put underground, library extension, etc.., etc..,

Like 30 years ago when people had to travel to JCs before Quinnsworth came to town, the locals foretold the doom and gloom such a large nationwide brand would have on Martin Carey's and Cyril Campbell's yet they both last long until retirement lead to their eventual sale. Any shops which stay competitive will still thrive. Perhaps they may need to reduce their margins, no harm. Did Charlie Coors have to shut down when the larger out of town suppliers opened? No. Ask yourself why. Emulate this.

Balbriggan has always been a changing industrial town. It is not a pretty seaside village or a quiet countryside town. It's a workhorse that grunts and growls it's way through life. The introduction of this shopping center is just another chapter in the story of Balbriggan, one that has negatives and positives. The town will adapt, the people will accept and Balbriggan being Balbriggan we'll have something else to bitch and moan about in a few years time. You can be sure that the same people who were complaining that Supervalu was too expensive last week will be moaning about how Tesco is doing it damage next week. Balbriggan people are never happy. Never.

Morpheus

well, im not happy.

Bluetonic

Morphéus wrote: »

well, im not happy.

Yeah neither were people in the 1980s when Tara Court and Tara Cove were being built, they saw that leading to Balbriggan sprawl in what were lovely meadows, but the houses and the people living there turned out alright and now it's an integral part of Balbriggan

Eoineo

Bluetonic I think you'll have to change that to "people are never happy".

Morpheus

Bluetonic wrote: »

Yeah neither were people in the 1980s when Tara Court and Tara Cove were being built, they saw that leading to Balbriggan sprawl in what were lovely meadows, but the houses and the people living there turned out alright and now it's an integral part of Balbriggan

Oi!

Tara court was built in the 70s pal!!!

LeoB

Bluetonic wrote: »

Old Balbriggan ended around the middle of the 1990s for me. People who were born in the 1940 say it ended in the 1970s. It's all relative.

There is already a public realm plan for the town so it's not like being neglected. The whole place has had a massive face lift over the last few years, new stone cut paths, overhead wires put underground, library extension, etc.., etc..,

Like 30 years ago when people had to travel to JCs before Quinnsworth came to town, the locals foretold the doom and gloom such a large nationwide brand would have on Martin Carey's and Cyril Campbell's yet they both last long until retirement lead to their eventual sale. Any shops which stay competitive will still thrive. Perhaps they may need to reduce their margins, no harm. Did Charlie Coors have to shut down when the larger out of town suppliers opened? No. Ask yourself why. Emulate this.

Balbriggan has always been a changing industrial town. It is not a pretty seaside village or a quiet countryside town. It's a workhorse that grunts and growls it's way through life. The introduction of this shopping center is just another chapter in the story of Balbriggan, one that has negatives and positives. The town will adapt, the people will accept and Balbriggan being Balbriggan we'll have something else to bitch and moan about in a few years time. You can be sure that the same people who were complaining that Supervalu was too expensive last week will be moaning about how Tesco is doing it damage next week. Balbriggan people are never happy. Never.

Firstly its not only Balbriggan people who moan!!! Every town in Ireland has its share of begrudgers and moaners

Places around similar to Martin Carey's and Cyril Cambell's cant reduce their margins any more as Tesco and other big stores get far batter deals off the suppliers.

The only way around this is for a CO-OP type set up between shops where they bulk order for 5 or 6 shops at a time.

I have no doubt Balbriggan will adopt which says a lot for the people

Bluetonic

LeoB wrote: »

Places around similar to Martin Carey's and Cyril Cambell's cant reduce their margins any more as Tesco and other big stores get far batter deals off the suppliers.

There are no individual grocery shops in Balbriggan, they are all franchises of larger stores who all have massive buying power. Spar have worldwide revenue of 27bn usd, there are two in Balbriggan. There are of course two (Dave's and O'Regans) small newsagent in Balbriggan who I am discounting as that's all they are newsagents who sell milk and bread.

If you're telling me that the Spar's and Centra's of this world in Balbriggan are already at the lowest possible margin then I'm afraid I don't believe you. They make healthy profits and have the buying power of their franchised suppliers.

Corsendonk

Bluetonic wrote: »

There are no individual grocery shops in Balbriggan, they are all franchises of larger stores who all have massive buying power. Spar have worldwide revenue of 27bn usd, there are two in Balbriggan. There are of course two (Dave's and O'Regans) small newsagent in Balbriggan who I am discounting as that's all they are newsagents who sell milk and bread.

If you're telling me that the Spar's and Centra's of this world in Balbriggan are already at the lowest possible margin then I'm afraid I don't believe you. They make healthy profits and have the buying power of their franchised suppliers.

Small fry compared to Tesco who rank number 3/4 in the world with a turnover £62.5 billion in 2010, in 2008 they took one in 4 pounds spent in the UK at Christmas.

There is an interesting documentary film on Walmart that actually shows the tactics of large retailers to small towns. Maybe someone might know the film? Basically they move in, compete aggresively against all local competitors, wipe out the competition then move the prices back up. Short term gain for the consumer.

Walmart: The High Costs of Low Prices- available on youtube

Bluetonic

Corsendonk wrote: »

Small fry compared to Tesco who rank number 3/4 in the world with a turnover £62.5 billion in 2010, in 2008 they took one in 4 pounds spent in the UK at Christmas.

Lovely figures but totally irrelevant to the discussion on hand here which is can retailers in Balbriggan cut margins to maintain competitiveness. The fact that they are small fry doesn't come into it.

The fact is that these others retailers in Balbriggan can still buy in bulk and can cut margins to maintain competitiveness.

BWG who own Spar, Mace, Maxol etc.., and Musgraves who own the Centra and Supervalu brand are the two biggest wholesalers in Ireland and have massive buying power.

Of course it's easier to make excuses than cut your margins when you've become accustomed to a lack of competition, which is what we've had in Balbriggan of late. As I said a few months back I look forward to the sob stories from Balbriggan retailers who quite frankly have taken their eye off the ball for some time and who have shafted the consumer for some time.

LeoB

Bluetonic wrote: »

There are no individual grocery shops in Balbriggan, they are all franchises of larger stores who all have massive buying power. Spar have worldwide revenue of 27bn usd, there are two in Balbriggan. There are of course two (Dave's and O'Regans) small newsagent in Balbriggan who I am discounting as that's all they are newsagents who sell milk and bread.

If you're telling me that the Spar's and Centra's of this world in Balbriggan are already at the lowest possible margin then I'm afraid I don't believe you. They make healthy profits and have the buying power of their franchised suppliers.

No I dont think Spar and Centra are at their lowest margins. But I dont understand how someone Like JCs an independent retailer can be cheaper on so many products, even in some cases cheaper than Tesco. Our Eurospar is quite expensive on many products but my Mrs reckons they have great value on Meat on certain days and likewise with Centra. We shop between them and J.Cs.

Tesco own brands items are in my opinion inferior to a lot of branded products. In many cases made by the same company.

I think if Musgraves and BMG Foods were more agressive the consumers would get a far better deal.

Bluetonic

Good local thought out billboard at the Delvin for the shopping centre.

A bit blurly as I was some distance from it.

Eoineo

As I'm registered with Tesco as a customer in the area I got a mailshot today. A5 size glossy magazine with suppliers in the area highlighted. There's a map to the store in the inside, photos of the relevant heads of dept etc etc.

Then alongside that there is a letter with 4 vouchers attached for the first 4 weeks of operation entitling me to approximately 10% off of my shopping providing I meet their minimum spend.

Posher

Eoineo wrote: »

As I'm registered with Tesco as a customer in the area I got a mailshot today. A5 size glossy magazine with suppliers in the area highlighted. There's a map to the store in the inside, photos of the relevant heads of dept etc etc.

Then alongside that there is a letter with 4 vouchers attached for the first 4 weeks of operation entitling me to approximately 10% off of my shopping providing I meet their minimum spend.

Same here.

I use Tesco online shopping quite a bit and I know my delivery comes from the Drogheda store. I can honestly say I've never been let down once with shoddy goods or service (although I usually avoid ordering bread and I use the local butcher for meat). I hope if my online store is used to Balbriggan I will be saying the same thing.;)

Eoineo

Just to add I received a second mail-shot today with a spend €30, get €10 off discount offer for the first 4 weeks. This one wasn't addressed to me, simply "the householder" so I would guess this is a non-specific address mail-shot using an An Post database or similar.

It is going to be exceedingly hard for the local retailers to compete with that kind of discount.

October

The new website is http://www.millfield.ie/ and they are also on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/millfield

tregan

Eoineo wrote: »

Just to add I received a second mail-shot today with a spend €30, get €10 off discount offer for the first 4 weeks.

well get this ... i got said mailshot today and it was addressed to me personally but i only got €6 euro off when you spend €65! but my friend who isn't a tesco clubcard holder got the same but got the €10 euro off per €30 spend!

looks like they are targeting new people and current customers don't get treated as well - not impressed and i'm going to write to this brian farrell, store manager and tell him so!

NorthDub

tregan wrote: »

well get this ... i got said mailshot today and it was addressed to me personally but i only got €6 euro off when you spend €65! but my friend who isn't a tesco clubcard holder got the same but got the €10 euro off per €30 spend!

looks like they are targeting new people and current customers don't get treated as well - not impressed and i'm going to write to this brian farrell, store manager and tell him so!

I got the mailshot today and the vouchers i got were 4 euro off when i spend 20 euro for 4 weeks

I am a club card holder,

October

The vouchers I got say I get €12 when I spend €120 :mad:

tregan

that's all a bit weird .... googled the manager but can't find an email?