Limerick Businesses Closed V 2.0 [Mod note post 1]

Totally Tropical

tommy249 wrote: »

Helene Modes closed today after 70 years in business according to the Limerick Leader

Another blow for the city centre but sure we'll open up another out of town shopping centre/retail park in the suburbs and everything will be grand!:rolleyes:
Here is what the owner of the store said on the leader.

“I don’t want to knock Limerick; everyone is doing the best they can for the city. The footfall just isn’t coming into Limerick for whatever reason. Some customers said their bus routes changed, others talked about parking. There are a multitude of factors, and the Crescent [shopping centre] is a very powerful presence.”

It's just so sad to see a city centre with the potential to be the finest in Ireland ruined by such incompetence from the city council.I was in Limerick a few weeks ago and i did find the centre of town to be actually very vibrant but it's like a case of 2 steps forward and 20 steps backwards.Things were gradually improving i think but there always seems to be a kick to the rear end just around the corner.Of course it's not all doom and gloom there's the coffe shop opening where HMV used to be and one of the vacant stores across from Brown Thomas will be filled but it's sad to see a landmark business like Helen Modes bought to it's knees.It goes to show that people going on about the impact of out of town shopping centres are having on the city centre aren't b!tching and moaning for the sake of it as a poster on here put it before.It's a genuine and realistic concern.

Totally Tropical

I hate to add to the gloom but Copper and Spice are also abandoning the city centre.From the Leaders website:

Elsewhere, Indian restaurant Copper and Spice has confirmed it has ceased trading at its restaurant in the Cornmarket after 12 years.

A notice placed on the firm’s web site says: “We have had 12 action-packed years here with lots of memories and events taking place. We look forward to making more in our Annacotty restaurant”.

Ms O’Donnell feels this closure demonstrates the need to get people back working in the city centre.

“We just have a small concern that everybody is pulling from the same basket. We are not increasing the footfall at the moment. This is why we need jobs in the city. This goes to the same bald argument –we need jobs in the city. We need more people working in the city to keep the coffee houses and the cafes going,” she said.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/perc-life-at-old-hmv-shop-in-limerick-1-6207439

flutered

every city and town in ireland has had shopping centers built on their outskirts, this must have been a decision from the planning bods in dublin, one cannot blame the city council on this one. tipperarey were luckey in a way that the new shopping center was onlt been started when the collapse came, but the little which happened has affected them badly.

shaka

flutered wrote: »

every city and town in ireland has had shopping centers built on their outskirts, this must have been a decision from the planning bods in dublin, one cannot blame the city council on this one. tipperarey were luckey in a way that the new shopping center was onlt been started when the collapse came, but the little which happened has affected them badly.

It was the county council that granted permission nothing to do with Dublin or City council regarding permission for the county areas where crescent and other centres were built.

I believe city council do come into equation for why businesses have not come into or are leaving our city but as has been said before fault does not ly with one single reason, parking, planning/over abundance of taxi ranks and rates all come into the mix .

Hopefully now that it is one body we will finally have some joined up thinking

Poxyshamrock

I, like many others, am saddened to see well established local businesses like Helene Modes close but it has to be said that certain businesses in this city have a limited life span unless they are willing to move with the times. Businesses need to adapt and I don't think Helene Modes did enough to cater for a younger audience.

peking97

shaka wrote: »

<snip
I believe city council do come into equation for why businesses have not come into or are leaving our city but as has been said before fault does not ly with one single reason, parking, planning/over abundance of taxi ranks >snip

Have to agree there! Taxi ranks everywhere and usually all full of cabs that nobody wants!

Pumpkinseeds

I'm confused at the number of coffee shops/cafes opening in Limerick city centre. There seems to be a fair few popping up while city centre footfall continues to decline. If people are shopping out of town who is going to go to use them? There's 2 new ones in Foxes Bow, Costa are opening in the old HMV, there's one above Easons, the Gelato place does coffee and cake, there's a cupcake place next to Fitzgerald Electrical, I could go on and on.

Not sure where the business to sustain them is going to come from.

Silentcorner

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I'm confused at the number of coffee shops/cafes opening in Limerick city centre. There seems to be a fair few popping up while city centre footfall continues to decline. If people are shopping out of town who is going to go to use them? There's 2 new ones in Foxes Bow, Costa are opening in the old HMV, there's one above Easons, the Gelato place does coffee and cake, there's a cupcake place next to Fitzgerald Electrical, I could go on and on.

Not sure where the business to sustain them is going to come from.

Believe it or not coffee shops opening are a positive economic sign, there has been a large number opening over the last 2/3 years, there are not too many closing if any, and certainly the places I go to tend to be very busy, therefore it would seem there is an improving footfall in the city centre or improving spend or both...

I know there are a lot more tourists in the city centre over the last 2 years, anybody in the restaurant trade in the city centre will have seen the improvements, you would be very surprised at how busy those restaurants have gotten midweek, they may be feeding into the coffee shops also....I do have to disagree you tho, I think the declining footfall argument is not tallying with reality...bear in mind even during the boom our streets were never heaving with people, we have a lot of streets to fill and up until recently we had no tourists to fill those streets with.

The occupancy rate in the city centre is picking up also, gruadually, the occupancy rates in the suburbs has remained very strong, who knows maybe we are not living in the economic basket case (not suggesting you are in this instance) many people on here would have us believe...

Pumpkinseeds

Silentcorner wrote: »

Believe it or not coffee shops opening are a positive economic sign, there has been a large number opening over the last 2/3 years, there are not too many closing if any, and certainly the places I go to tend to be very busy, therefore it would seem there is an improving footfall in the city centre or improving spend or both...

I know there are a lot more tourists in the city centre over the last 2 years, anybody in the restaurant trade in the city centre will have seen the improvements, you would be very surprised at how busy those restaurants have gotten midweek, they may be feeding into the coffee shops also....I do have to disagree you tho, I think the declining footfall argument is not tallying with reality...bear in mind even during the boom our streets were never heaving with people, we have a lot of streets to fill and up until recently we had no tourists to fill those streets with.

The occupancy rate in the city centre is picking up also, gruadually, the occupancy rates in the suburbs has remained very strong, who knows maybe we are not living in the economic basket case (not suggesting you are in this instance) many people on here would have us believe...

Most of the shops I'd have gone to have moved to the Crescent. William street is essentially discount and charity shops. At this point, other than Peter Marks and Tesco, I go out to the Crescent to clothes shop. There's no choice for men or women in the city centre. We went into a cafe we used to frequent last Friday, they had let their waiting staff go, by the look of it.

There were only about half a dozen tables occupied, there were dirty plates and cups uncleared on tables and after 10 minutes of sitting there, without even an acknowledgement that we were there, we just left and went elsewhere. That place would have been very busy on a Friday and has been around for decades. If business for them continues to be as dismal as it was last Friday they won't be trading for much longer.

pigtown

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Most of the shops I'd have gone to have moved to the Crescent. William street is essentially discount and charity shops. At this point, other than Peter Marks and Tesco, I go out to the Crescent to clothes shop. There's no choice for men or women in the city centre.

The choice of reasonably priced (€40-50) clothes in Limerick and the Crescent is dire, for guys anyway. I don't understand how retailers don't see a demand for decent mens clothes in the region at a lower price than Brown Thomas or Connolly's.

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

We went into a cafe we used to frequent last Friday, they had let their waiting staff go, by the look of it. There were only about half a dozen tables occupied, there were dirty plates and cups uncleared on tables and after 10 minutes of sitting there, without even an acknowledgement that we were there, we just left and went elsewhere. That place would have been very busy on a Friday and has been around for decades. If business for them continues to be as dismal as it was last Friday they won't be trading for much longer.

If they continue to treat customers like they did you then they shouldn't be around for much longer.
Retailers have to take some responsibility here. Compu-B moving to a bigger outlet is what should be happening all the time. Stores need to constantly upgrade and change if they want t o stay relevant, like Matthew Stephens did last year.

Silentcorner

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Most of the shops I'd have gone to have moved to the Crescent. William street is essentially discount and charity shops. At this point, other than Peter Marks and Tesco, I go out to the Crescent to clothes shop. There's no choice for men or women in the city centre. We went into a cafe we used to frequent last Friday, they had let their waiting staff go, by the look of it.

There were only about half a dozen tables occupied, there were dirty plates and cups uncleared on tables and after 10 minutes of sitting there, without even an acknowledgement that we were there, we just left and went elsewhere. That place would have been very busy on a Friday and has been around for decades. If business for them continues to be as dismal as it was last Friday they won't be trading for much longer.

OK I am not sure of your point, you had a bad experience in a coffee shop therefore what?

The reason I responded to your post was because of the opening of coffee shops, and the fact that most if not all are still open, if footfall was declining like you suggested then the opposite would be the case would it not.

A number of very good restaurants have opened since the new year also, these places are rammed.

I am sure coffee shops and retail shops will open and close as time goes on, such is the nature of business, I think it is fair to say the city bottomed out a number of years ago and has been slowly recovering since...footfall is definitely not declining

I don't shop on William St myself but I do manage to cope shopping where I can in the rest of the city centre, despite the limited choice for men(which as always been the case)...

Pumpkinseeds

Silentcorner wrote: »

OK I am not sure of your point, you had a bad experience in a coffee shop therefore what?

The reason I responded to your post was because of the opening of coffee shops, and the fact that most if not all are still open, if footfall was declining like you suggested then the opposite would be the case would it not.

A number of very good restaurants have opened since the new year also, these places are rammed.

I am sure coffee shops and retail shops will open and close as time goes on, such is the nature of business, I think it is fair to say the city bottomed out a number of years ago and has been slowly recovering since...footfall is definitely not declining

I don't shop on William St myself but I do manage to cope shopping where I can in the rest of the city centre, despite the limited choice for men(which as always been the case)...

I wasn't talking about a bad experience in a coffee shop. I was describing how a once busy, long established city centre cafe, seems to be struggling to stay in business if they have to let their waiting staff go. If it's the case that a cafe like that is struggling, I'm not sure where the business to support new cafes will come from. That was my point.

Silentcorner

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I wasn't talking about a bad experience in a coffee shop. I was describing how a once busy, long established city centre cafe, seems to be struggling to stay in business if they have to let their waiting staff go. If it's the case that a cafe like that is struggling, I'm not sure where the business to support new cafes will come from. That was my point.

I am not sure if you get my point, my point is the opening of coffee shops is a good economic indicator the world over, not just Limerick, therefore it would seem that footfall is not declining, that is my point.

If the cafe you describe does not up its game it will go out of business, not because of a decline in footfall, but because they haven't responded to the increase in competition, this is what happens in business, the world over.

You are of the opinion that footfall in the city centre is falling, I disagree, I point to those coffee shops and restaurants that have opened as an indicator that footfall is actually picking up. You have an example of what would seem poor management (if tables are left uncleared, it would suggest they had customers but do not have the staff to serve them and clean up after them).

Vanquished

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I wasn't talking about a bad experience in a coffee shop. I was describing how a once busy, long established city centre cafe, seems to be struggling to stay in business if they have to let their waiting staff go. If it's the case that a cafe like that is struggling, I'm not sure where the business to support new cafes will come from. That was my point.

Or maybe newer, fresher cafes/restaurants that have opened in recent times are offering superior levels of service and choice and people are voting with their feet!

I have lunch in town every afternoon during the week and often at weekends and every cafe or restaurant I frequent (a mixture of new and established businesses) do a very brisk trade.

In a competitive business environment it's survival of the fittest and those who fail to hit the mark in terms of quality will fall by the wayside!

Pumpkinseeds

Silentcorner wrote: »

I am not sure if you get my point, my point is the opening of coffee shops is a good economic indicator the world over, not just Limerick, therefore it would seem that footfall is not declining, that is my point.

If the cafe you describe does not up its game it will go out of business, not because of a decline in footfall, but because they haven't responded to the increase in competition, this is what happens in business, the world over.

You are of the opinion that footfall in the city centre is falling, I disagree, I point to those coffee shops and restaurants that have opened as an indicator that footfall is actually picking up. You have an example of what would seem poor management (if tables are left uncleared, it would suggest they had customers but do not have the staff to serve them and clean up after them).

I have to disagree with your opinion on footfall. I only go into the city centre a few times a month and the place is very quiet whenever I'm in there. The majority of businesses opening up seem to be discount shops, cafes and these Cex type places that are overpriced second-hand shops. Not sure that's a good indication of increasing footfall. I suppose we'll see how strong footfall is next year, based on how many of the new cafes are still in business.

vkid

Was in town Wednesday for the first time in ages ( during the week) and I was surprised how busy the place was...that was from about 12 - 2.30 / 3pm. All the restaurants were busy, which considering how many have opened recently I was surprised at. I was in a few shops on Cruises Street and all were busy,. Last few times, I have been around town, I have noticed a definite pick up but day/time etc tell a lot.

Personally I hate the Crescent but I do use the Retail parks...they are just handy depending what I need. I don't find the Crescent any better for mens stuff than town to be honest. But I go to Tony Connollys/Chapps/Superdry, Timberland, Sextons on Thomas Street and Noels for more formal stuff. Very odd time BT. Not a fan of River Island/Jack and Jones and that kind of stuff so isn't really that much in the Crescent for me at all to be honest. Its a souless kip imo but each to their own.

I wish they would do something with O'Connell street though. Its looks particularly rough, no matter who or what is going on there. the Munster/GAA/Limerick FC flags do not help, they look tatty to be honest. ...even the Christmas lights don't make much of a difference. The surface of the footpaths is just manky and the badly maintained buildings do not help.

Have to say, very impressed with some of the businesses that really went all out with the floral displays on their buildings this year. That does help.

Kess73

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I have to disagree with your opinion on footfall. I only go into the city centre a few times a month and the place is very quiet whenever I'm in there. The majority of businesses opening up seem to be discount shops, cafes and these Cex type places that are overpriced second-hand shops. Not sure that's a good indication of increasing footfall. I suppose we'll see how strong footfall is next year, based on how many of the new cafes are still in business.

Most of the footfall figures have come from official surveys and also from the footfall counters that a large number of stores have by their entrances.

Limerick's figures have been steadily declining and when spends are put against square footage figures Limerick has fared poorly against similar sized sized ( and smaller) cities and towns.

Footfall is a useful indicator, but what is more important for businesses is spend figures as in how what is the average sale figure for transactions or what is the spend figure per square foot and so on.

Personally I will be very curious to see the 2014 figures when they come out next year so we get an idea as to what impact the city of culture has had, and also to see if recent negative trends have continued or reversed.

But will leave my comments at that as I don't want to derail this thread.

Mr. G

Folks, can we please be conscious as to making unconfirmed claims about a business as it could potentially be damaging them if not true. Thanks

Cityslicker1

vkid wrote: »

Was in town Wednesday for the first time in ages ( during the week) and I was surprised how busy the place was...that was from about 12 - 2.30 / 3pm. All the restaurants were busy, which considering how many have opened recently I was surprised at. I was in a few shops on Cruises Street and all were busy,. Last few times, I have been around town, I have noticed a definite pick up but day/time etc tell a lot.

Personally I hate the Crescent but I do use the Retail parks...they are just handy depending what I need. I don't find the Crescent any better for mens stuff than town to be honest. But I go to Tony Connollys/Chapps/Superdry, Timberland, Sextons on Thomas Street and Noels for more formal stuff. Very odd time BT. Not a fan of River Island/Jack and Jones and that kind of stuff so isn't really that much in the Crescent for me at all to be honest. Its a souless kip imo but each to their own.

I wish they would do something with O'Connell street though. Its looks particularly rough, no matter who or what is going on there. the Munster/GAA/Limerick FC flags do not help, they look tatty to be honest. ...even the Christmas lights don't make much of a difference. The surface of the footpaths is just manky and the badly maintained buildings do not help.

Have to say, very impressed with some of the businesses that really went all out with the floral displays on their buildings this year. That does help.

I completely agree with you on these points you've made. I've also noticed a more obvious presence of tourists especially on the streets after 6pm.

I'm so frustrated with O' Connell st. It just makes no sense that the main street is being completely ignored. In fairness an effort has been made with the adjoining streets such as William st, Thomas st, Bedford Row etc and down by the river yet the most obvious spot where most outsiders will get their first impression of the city is the main thoroughfare. There isn't even one indication along that street of Limericks title of being National city of culture 2014.

It's a fine long street much longer than Patrick street in Cork and even longer than O' Connell street in Dublin, with so much potential. Footpaths badly need doing and I think it would look fantastic if they lined it on both sides with trees the whole way up to give it that avenue/Boulevard feel as opposed to a long bland soulless street. I think re modelling work would provide a greater reason to stroll around the city centre as visually it would result in a more pleasant place by taking the grit from the atmosphere.

Thomas street was pretty bland before the great work put into it. It's almost unrecognisable as it has totally changed the ambiance of that section of the city centre and is now the cafe area and probably the nicest street in Limerick.

Poxyshamrock

Ray's Plaice on Parnell Street is closed.

Kess73

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Ray's Plaice on Parnell Street is closed.

That closed about a month or more ago. The unit has been to let for a bit now.

RhubarbCrumble

Dragon I Chinese in Patrickswell appears to be closed. Went out there yesterday evening, everything in darkness. Anyone have any more info on it at all?

susita06

Bourkes on Catherine street is closed

you wha?

susita06 wrote: »

Bourkes on Catherine street is closed

Seriously?!oh no....i liked that place

vkid

you wha? wrote: »

Seriously?!oh no....i liked that place

Did they not have some issues with IMRO or someone over fees for playing music in the bar? No idea if thats related or not.

sioda

Relihans butcher in the milk market closing today. Have to say I'm gutted loved their food

Is Angel Lane or whatever its called now closed down?

unichick

Is the new Vic snooker place closed?

tommy249

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

Is Angel Lane or whatever its called now closed down?

Seems to be - it's up for sale

http://www.property.ie/commercial-property/Angel-Lane-Nightclub-Nos-6--7-Robert-Street-Limerick-City-Co-Limerick/181838/

Berty

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

Is Angel Lane or whatever its called now closed down?

Yes, heard about it being closed last week. Great news for Smyths of course as they will Hoover up those needing a club.

For me I've reached that point in my life where a late bar with not loud music will be better.