02 shop donegal town - closing

Firblog

Passed by on firday, signs in windows, 'Vintage antiques coming soon'

killerbeg

Firblog wrote: »

Passed by on firday, signs in windows, 'Vintage antiques coming soon'

Great, I'm fed up with all those 'modern' antiques.

ednwireland

killerbeg wrote: »

Great, I'm fed up with all those 'modern' antiques.

apparently they are stocking only antiques as a lot of antique shops would stock reproduction stuff as well !

irish1967

Modern antique (an apparent oxymoron) can have various meanings. Since customs laws and dealers often stipulate an age of at least a hundred years for any item to be legitimately called an antique, the term is sometimes used to describe a collector's item that is technologically obsolete; for example, an older computer or retro toy.

killerbeg

Ok...........well is was just a lighthearted quip but if we are to be pedantic the term 'Vintage Antiques' does not convey any type of clear message to me. The word 'Antique' I understand to mean something that is over one hundered years old, to preface it with the word 'Vintage' is just confusing. Bit like the person outside Donegal that sells potatoes that belong to a strawberry; 'Strawberry's Spuds for Sale':)

muffler

Guys, there's a Collectibles & Antiques forum where things can be debated further. Can we get back on topic again please.

Carrickman

I seen in today's post that Quinnlans Newsagents is closing on the Diamond after 40 years of trading.

laura.

irish1967 wrote: »

Yeah. Got the same text. That leaves 2 left in the county ! Letterkenny and Carndonagh. Looks like the end of me queueing for IPhones on launch day. Have to say the staff were excellent there. Ringing customer service is no substitute for face to face.

there is actually two in Letterkenny, one in Buncrana and one in Carndonagh

Firblog

@ Carrickman:

Chinese beside Toni's bistro closed, Computer Shop up by Super Valu gone, and I believe a coffee shop too (won't name it as not positive it is). 3 or 4 since new year... bloody awful

irish1967

Mill Restaurant gone
Quinlans Newsagents going
O'Donnels Bookies gone
DOms Pier 1 closed mon- thurs

ednwireland

reminds of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhhSBgd3KI

i've did my shopping locally this xmas, and bought a guitar off paddy

donegal_road

Paddy has decent guitars, I have bought a couple there over the years. I heard Martina's video shop had a closing down sale in December.

hairyprincess

irish1967 wrote: »

Mill Restaurant gone
Quinlans Newsagents going
O'Donnels Bookies gone
DOms Pier 1 closed mon- thurs

Mill Restaurant - is that the place in the back of Bank of Ireland, way upstairs?

feelpablo

hairyprincess wrote: »

Mill Restaurant - is that the place in the back of Bank of Ireland, way upstairs?

Nope, the one across from magee's factory and beside cassidy's store.

Rumour around the town is that a few more places aint gonna last till paddys......

Really sad times

hairyprincess

Ah that's too bad. Didn't that used to be Doolittles?

Is that place that I was asking about still there? I'd imagine there will be an awful lot more closures in the next couple of months. It's sad to see.

Oh and another one is that Ryans Bakery place, across from the courthouse, where Kearneys used to be back in the day, it is also closed

Firblog

That coffee shop closed well more than a year ago.

byte

Is the coffee shop up in SuperValu still open, as I was led to believe that the guy who had the computer shop had leased the coffee dock, or whatever it's called now?

As for Quinlans, that was a bit of a surprise, as it's been a mainstay on the Diamond for years. I guess both Timonys and the strange change for Foodys to a similar store didn't help Quinlans, though they'd a fair bit of touristy stuff.

It's wierd driving past a closed Doms during the week. I'm not fully sure, but it seems that The Peak (The National) is also closed midweek?

Carrickman

byte wrote: »

Is the coffee shop up in SuperValu still open

It's open under new management and seems to be doing ok was in a few times and have to say the food is a lot better than it was when it opened away back.

ednwireland

books direct closed up as well today (not really suprising)

Firblog

Books direct only opened as a 'popup' shop, very short term lease just to get part of the christmas spend in Donegal Town and move off again.

byte

It's kinda sad that the "boom" never really affected Donegal Town to much affect, is still suffering the aftershock.

We never got our Dunnes/Aldi/Tesco/Atlantic/etc due to various disputes, yet still, we still seem to be losing what little we had.

donegal_road

retail will come and go, it is industry that is needed

overshoot

byte wrote: »

It's kinda sad that the "boom" never really affected Donegal Town to much affect, is still suffering the aftershock.

We never got our Dunnes/Aldi/Tesco/Atlantic/etc due to various disputes, yet still, we still seem to be losing what little we had.

but we got a huge hole in the ground:pac:
as much as id blame the developers greed in trying to be the only game in town, the planning system was shown up to be a right shambles.... i could go on a long rant here but it may be off topic

a huge amount of houses did go up though, we seemed to just avoid serious ghost estates but how many were saddled with big morgages? its nuts to think how the town could look if the 2 developments (over 100 units) just past the mill park were started, others on the old laghy road and back towards the craft village (and so on)

LoanShark

overshoot wrote: »

a huge amount of houses did go up though, we seemed to just avoid serious ghost estates but how many were saddled with big morgages? its nuts to think how the town could look if the 2 developments (over 100 units) just past the mill park were started, others on the old laghy road and back towards the craft village (and so on)

I suppose we can be thankful to an extent that those developments with 100 apartments etc never did get going..

Although it would have been nice to have a dunnes..
I think the town could make a go of it in becoming a type of an adventure destination, making the most of the outdoors, if you look at all the new groups that have started to revive (cycling club & the rowing club) so there is interest there for more groups to form.. We're never going to become a major hub of industrial development (unfortunately!) so we need to look down other avenues..

Even if you look at the success of the food festival, there is potential ..

byte

Good point, LoanShark.

There are quite a few outdoor activities in and around the town at the moment. Probably the best shot the town has at making its mark.

hairyprincess

Another closure, Melody Maker is due to close its doors in the coming weeks. Sad to see, Gerry was always a pleasure to go into, but I suppose with so many people downloading music on the internet and purchasing concert tickets online it was no longer viable.

bohsboy

Melody Maker gone? Jesus, the town is really dying fast. Very concerning.

A big re-evaluation of rents is needed in the Diamond. If it keeps continuing the way it is, people will just keep to the bypass and give the ghost town a miss.

overshoot

big shame about melody maker, gerry will be missed:(

byte

I was told yesterday alright about MM closing (I've always known the place as "wee Gerry's"), though hoped I was misinformed, as it was supposedly closing down the last time they had a Sale too.

Shame to see it go, though I guess cheap music on the net has killed it off. Admittedly I have not bought any CD's there in a while, just gig tickets.

Indeed, Gerry will be missed, apart from his Folksy Gerry gigs locally.

ednwireland

he s been trying to sell the business for a couple of years now. hope paddy can stay on upstairs . the instruments shop.