Enniscorthy

barney 20v

The lights are On in Enniscorthy but nobody is home.....Wexford is multiple times better for shopping. Enniscorthy is walking the urban equivalent of " the Green Mile"
Poor selection of shops and products, poor parking, traffic is cronic .
Add into the mix illegal parking and traffic wardens who spend more time talking than working and you have a typical days shopping in Enniscorthy.
I will take Wexford anyday !

kneemos

sundula wrote: »

Any views on lights? They look like quality fixtures from the ground although I have been told parts of the fittings on Castle Hill aren't working but I am not sure if that's true. Personally I thought they were sparse and a bit to modern, not enough colour.
Regardless of the decoration the "buzz" is missing from town and as has been said already in this forum Wexford town has a lot more activity. I have been in wexford town three times in the last two weeks and it has been busy.

Sparse looking indeed,the square looks fairly well though to be fair.

Cantona's Collars

kneemos wrote: »

Sparse looking indeed,the square looks fairly well though to be fair.

It looks nice,the people working in the shops that are still open have plenty of time to look out at them,shoppers are thin on the ground.

Busybee4

Shop local... Where for kids toys??
We need Ken blacks or smiths, penneys or heatons and mc donalds or similar.
Where can I shop local for kids in enniscorthy??

Judgement Day

Busybee4 wrote: »

Shop local... Where for kids toys??
We need Ken blacks or smiths, penneys or heatons and mc donalds or similar.
Where can I shop local for kids in enniscorthy??

Online in the Library or the internet cafe at the old bridge.

Busybee4

Ha ha good one!!

Cantona's Collars

Was asked in Wexford yesterday: "Is Enniscorthy still full of boutiques & charity shops"?

They laughed when I replied, "but sure,don't we have Dunnes".

If that's the opinion of people outside the town of the place,how are we meant to attract anyone.:(

There were queues at 10am of people trying to get into the car parks down there,no such problems when I arrived back in Enniscorthy.Only lines of cars leaving the town.

Shop local,not in a town where over 20 stores have closed.No wonder people are going elsewhere.

Judgement Day

The "Can't Pay, Won't Pay" protest was in full swing outside the Castle last night - any particular reason or just seasonal goodwill? It was also underway outside Paul Kehoe's office as usual this morning. It's the best free street entertainment I've seen in a long time and is almost as good as the military cash escort display.

kneemos

Judgement Day wrote: »

The "Can't Pay, Won't Pay" protest was in full swing outside the Castle last night - any particular reason or just seasonal goodwill? It was also underway outside Paul Kehoe's office as usual this morning. It's the best free street entertainment I've seen in a long time and is almost as good as the military cash escort display.

You could call them Sinn Fein PR marches if you were a cynical sort.

St Senan

With the build up to Xmas if the likes of Jackser, John o Rourke, Keith Doyle and Padraic o Gorman took the blinkers off their eyes and realized that if Enniscorthy town center, Market Square, Rafter st Wafer st and Main Street were closed to traffic on weekends. Out door stalls allowed in (not what we get at the Fair green on Tuesdays or Strawberry Fair) colorful stalls selling Xmas novelty's and Food. Street entertainers and Elves walking around mixing with the kids. The shopkeepers dropped prices (forget Jan sales) to attract people This might keep people in town shopping. Also a big Xmas tree would be nice in the square. And this would not cost €40000 but instead Enniscorthy gets new lights. The town desperately needs a Ken blacks and some sort of retail site/Shopping centre. Not just Dunne's stores taking up the old Minch Norton site.

St Senan

Judgement Day wrote: »

The "Can't Pay, Won't Pay" protest was in full swing outside the Castle last night - any particular reason or just seasonal goodwill?

It was their type of Christmas carol singing. :)

Cantona's Collars

Navarre wrote: »

With the build up to Xmas if the likes of Jackser, John o Rourke, Keith Doyle and Padraic o Gorman took the blinkers off their eyes and realized that if Enniscorthy town center, Market Square, Rafter st Wafer st and Main Street were closed to traffic on weekends. Out door stalls allowed in (not what we get at the Fair green on Tuesdays or Strawberry Fair) colorful stalls selling Xmas novelty's and Food. Street entertainers and Elves walking around mixing with the kids. The shopkeepers dropped prices (forget Jan sales) to attract people This might keep people in town shopping. Also a big Xmas tree would be nice in the square. And this would not cost €40000 but instead Enniscorthy gets new lights. The town desperately needs a Ken blacks and some sort of retail site/Shopping centre. Not just Dunne's stores taking up the old Minch Norton site.

I heard that the reason for no Xmas tree was on the grounds of Elf & Safety:pac:

Seriously,somebody with too much time to think was afraid an eejit would climb the tree,fall & claim.The result - No tree.
Never happened before & besides there's cctv all over the Square so any messing would be filmed.

Can anyone shed light on the possible fact of shopowners getting tax writeoffs for keeping empty premises? I read this in a thread about a town which is in a similar state as Enniscorthy & this was mentioned.If it's true then it's crazy.The likes of Dunnes should be forced legally to give up the lease on the Rafter Street site in the interest of urban regeneration.

We've had exactly the same conversation for the last couple of Christmases about the town & here we are having the same one again with no sign of any progress on behalf of the Council or Business/Property owners in the town.:(

Cantona's Collars

Had to head to Wexford earlier as the present I was picking up couldn't be got in Enniscorthy........As usual.

Place was thronged & a large amount of shoppers were from Enniscorthy.On the way home I had a look up along our "main thoroughfare" that is Rafter St. There was roughly 15-20 people on the whole street.For the middle of the day just 10 days before Christmas,this is terrible.But the thing is that there's nothing really to attract anyone to the town.

Sad but true.

St Senan

zerks wrote: »

Had to head to Wexford earlier as the present I was picking up couldn't be got in Enniscorthy........As usual.

Place was thronged & a large amount of shoppers were from Enniscorthy.On the way home I had a look up along our "main thoroughfare" that is Rafter St. There was roughly 15-20 people on the whole street.For the middle of the day just 10 days before Christmas,this is terrible.But the thing is that there's nothing really to attract anyone to the town.

Sad but true.

Who is to blame for all this.

Judgement Day

Navarre wrote: »

Who is to blame for all this.

Several property owners (including Dunnes Stores) and the Council and their outrageous rates.

It's like Lanigan's Ball with Hughes Blakes who appear to have moved back into their old premises on Castle Hill. Won't be long now before the ESB move back into their old offices.

sundula

I think in Enniscorthy's case even if the rates were zero the town would still do no business. The town is a prisoner of its geography, its Town Council and its established business families.

A. We have a well stocked and developed Wexford Town to the south, a Gorey in a similar position to the north with Arklow and Dublin not to far beyond that. Also the layout of the town centre does not seem suitable for a trading town, its been disjointed over the years.

B, The Town Council have represented us badly, the quality of councillor has been poor and their focus has never been about jobs or business. If they cant pave it then they will put a speed bump on it.

C. Some of the long established business people in the town have been against any form of progress or developments of a retail nature which might have any impact on their own kingdoms.

jpb1974

their focus has never been about jobs or business

Jobs... business... ffs, they can't even manage a common sense based approach to zebra crossing placement.

Redser22

i said last weekend i would start my christmas shopping in Enniscorthy, i had 3 things in mind to get and unfortunely after doing most of the shops in town they hadn't in stock what i was looking for so ended up going to wexford town for them after all and got them, its a pity really cos i was shopping local

kneemos

Even if all of those small retail units were filled I don't think it would achieve anything other than to take the bare look off the place,big stores are whats needed.I remember when I was a young fella back in the seventies people were complaining about the quality of shopping in the town,with the decline in retail at the moment I don't see it changing.

Busybee4

I've done my Xmas shopping in Wexford and Carlow. "Shop local" is a joke in enniscorthy. Wexford and Carlow were packed, had to wait for car park spaces.

Cantona's Collars

Only noticed this morning that the "Super Loo" in Abbey Square is gone.I'd reckon it cost many multiples of what it made to maintain it.

Cantona's Collars

Was down around town earlier,the only busy places were the supermarkets,Byrnes & Sam McCauley.

The town as a whole looked like it was any normal Saturday.Methinks many shoppers went elsewhere.

lolli

I'd say a lot of people are shopping online. Saves on Petrol, parking and lunches out.

Judgement Day

Dunnes and Pettits were heaving but, as usual, Soviet Supervalu was almost empty. When are they going sort themselves out? Incidentally, why they bothered getting new Christmas lights if they don't switch them on until people are heading home.

allthedoyles

lolli wrote: »

I'd say a lot of people are shopping online. Saves on Petrol, parking and lunches out.

Its a bit late doing the online shopping now , - plus of course it don't give that adrenalin rush , you get this time of year.:)

Only fools and their money are easily parting this Christmas .

sundula

Got most bits in Wexford town. It pretty much has everything and its local as far as I am concerned. I was that way yesterday and it was packed, busy from Redmond Sq all the way to the Rosslare round about.

lolli

I ordered stuff online on Tuesday on Amazon and I got it Thursday. The rest I picked up in Gorey over the last few days.

allthedoyles wrote: »

Its a bit late doing the online shopping now , - plus of course it don't give that adrenalin rush , you get this time of year.:)

Only fools and their money are easily parting this Christmas .

Judgement Day

lolli wrote: »

I ordered stuff online on Tuesday on Amazon and I got it Thursday. The rest I picked up in Gorey over the last few days.

You must have paid over the odds getting stuff by two-day delivery from Amazon?

lolli

Judgement Day wrote: »

You must have paid over the odds getting stuff by two-day delivery from Amazon?

No I just used the free super saver delivery. I actually thought i'd be pushing it getting them in time for Christmas. I couldnt believe it when they turned up on Thursday.

cython

lolli wrote: »

No I just used the free super saver delivery. I actually thought i'd be pushing it getting them in time for Christmas. I couldnt believe it when they turned up on Thursday.

No need to pay over the odds for that delivery when a surprisingly large amount of their stuff is dispatched from a warehouse in Cork!