New Business openings and closures around you?

Gareth Keenan

qb123 wrote: »

Oh no!! W&C looked to be working very well, good food at a reasonable price. Hard to see Carluccio's doing as well, especially when larger Caviston's opens up.

as well as Cavistons, the restaurant that used to be Tribes is getting done up at the moment. It's going to be quite the wee boulevard along there soon.

fjon

Gareth Keenan wrote: »

Always peed me off that it wasn't called the Frescati Centre.

Um, why?

Gareth Keenan

fjon wrote: »

Um, why?

Because that is what it was originally called

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frescati_House

Frescati, according to that article was itself a deliberate misspelling of Frascati, but I didn't know that in the 80s. So I'd still like to call it Frescati if that's OK.

Chinasea

Gareth Keenan wrote: »

The Frascati centre in Blackrock has been granted planning permission for a huge extension

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/67m-plan-will-double-size-of-shopping-centre-30917783.html

.

To do what exactly. Sit with empty units.

Aard

There's huge demand for high end retail in Blackrock.

Chinasea

Well hopefully, but some of the big shops are a bit quiet.

coylemj

Chinasea wrote: »

Well hopefully, but some of the big shops are a bit quiet.

If there was a full size M&S in the place instead of the mini version that's there now, it would attract an awful lot more people to the place.

Chinasea

coylemj wrote: »

If there was a full size M&S in the place instead of the mini version that's there now, it would attract an awful lot more people to the place.

And we're sure Debenhams won't bail....
let's fill all the empty units first.

Larbre34

Another knife into Dun Laoghaire. Although fair play to Frascati for putting their money where their mouth is, if theyre confident itll be a money maker.

Marcusm

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Carluccios in Glasthule? wow.

I've been to Weafer and Cooper quite a few times and its only in the last year I haven't been disappointed. So I'm sad to see it go, but Carluccios is a fantastic chain that will be a big plus for the village.

I've found the Dawson St CArluccio's to be quite inconsistent compared to the ones I frequent in London (were I live most of the time). That being said, they have moved more to an integrated chain over the past year or so and I think there is less focus on ingredients and a general reduction in standards across many of the London ones.

CatFromHue

I wonder how the proposed new Frescati centre will effect traffic, it gets pretty busy in Blackrock already.

Fratton Fred

Marcusm wrote: »

I've found the Dawson St CArluccio's to be quite inconsistent compared to the ones I frequent in London (were I live most of the time). That being said, they have moved more to an integrated chain over the past year or so and I think there is less focus on ingredients and a general reduction in standards across many of the London ones.

That's a shame, but I guess it's inevitable the bigger it gets.

coylemj

Chinasea wrote: »

And we're sure Debenhams won't bail....
let's fill all the empty units first.

It may seem odd to be expanding a SC where there are currently units sitting idle but the overall size of the place is the issue - the empty units are not going to be filled until they get another 'big name' store into the place. That's the current problem and the reason for the expansion.

Directly competing units in the same shopping centre seems to be the new world order, there's now two opticians in Stillorgan SC and Frascati has a Boots and a Lloyds (pharmacy) in a relatively small SC.

I can't see any reason why two big stores selling clothes couldn't survive and thrive in an expanded Frascati. Look at all the units selling clothes in Dundrum - much bigger I know but if Frascati expands by 75% or more, they will have to get another big clothes store or Dundrum will continue to scoop up the lion's share of mobile shoppers' cash.

stehyl15

Asdfghjkl987 wrote: »

Omni Shopping Centre in Santry has seen a good few openings over the last few months.

Nandos
Peacocks (clothing store
H&M
Lidl

Southside thread in case you didnt know

djburchgrove

stehyl15 wrote: »

Southside thread in case you didnt know

Yeah, get outta here!

Asdfghjkl987

stehyl15 wrote: »

Southside thread in case you didnt know

Whoops! sorry, didn't see that :P deleted it

spillit67

Gareth Keenan wrote: »

The Frascati centre in Blackrock has been granted planning permission for a huge extension

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/67m-plan-will-double-size-of-shopping-centre-30917783.html

Always peed me off that it wasn't called the Frescati Centre.

Brave considering the trends worldwide with shopping centres

coylemj

spillit67 wrote: »

Brave considering the trends worldwide with shopping centres

Been to Dundrum lately?

spillit67

Dundrum is busy obviously but in the West the trend is shopping malls are under strain and we can see that on our doorstep. People have been talking about online sales killing large chain stores for years and whilst it happened with books/music/dvds (see HMV, Waterstones) in the past few years this is hitting clothing stores more and more now as people trust putchasing clothes/footwear online.

Not saying I necessarily disagree with the move. If you look at the area you have Stillorgan (which has repositioned themselves smartly focusing on food/cafes/restaurants), Blackrock Shopping Centres (small units), Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre (so many problems) and Bloomfields (small). There is scope for another larger centre but I will be interested to see what they plan on doing inside with it. It's a brave move but to be applauded.

Aard

spillit67 wrote: »

Brave considering the trends worldwide with shopping centres

Really that trend pertains to US strip malls in the main. Low population density, suburban, car oriented, built in the 70s/80s/90s. Blackrock has a highish population density for outside Dublin city centre. It's an established business district. There's excellent bus, rail, and car access. The area is one of the most affluent in the country. I wouldn't call it brave to expand a shopping centre there -- more like a no brainer!

djburchgrove

Excellent bus and car access? That road is a f***ing nightmare at the best of times.

I agree with the rest of what you said though.

A topman/topshop/river island and a burrito place in there would nail down 2 markets that nobody else is ticking anywhere near the area.

Chinasea

Bigger does not mean better. Do you think a TK Max, a Zara, yada yada on every street corner is the saving grace. Dundrum is here to stay, no competing with that. But before extending, fill the umpteen spaces first. Shopping trends have changed.

Fratton Fred

Are there any empty units in Frascati currently

strandroad

There is simply no middle tier clothes shopping in Blackrock/DL/Stillorgan for a 30+ woman like me. It's either plastic tat in Penneys, middle age focus in M&S/Debenhams/Shaws/Stillorgan, or super pricy boutiques. A-Wear in Stillorgan is gone, Vero Moda in Bloomfields is tiny (I wouldn't consider Bloomfields a SC anyway, it's a Tesco with a few shops attached). A good mix of Zara/Parfois/River Island/French Connection type of shops would bring a whole new audience to the area. A TK Maxx would bring in crowds.

Larbre34

TK Maxx in Dundrum and Carrickmines is plenty for the catchment.

strandroad

Only if you drive and like huge centres... Apart from the residents, there's plenty of people living on the DART line, who would like to do their shopping after school/work without going inland - but there's really nothing on the coast right now. For teenagers it's hard to get to Dundrum from where 75 doesn't go, and harder even to Carrickmines.

Aard

Larbre34 wrote: »

TK Maxx in Dundrum and Carrickmines is plenty for the catchment.

That's really up for TK Maxx to decide though. There's so much money in and around Blackrock that you can't really measure things simply by distance. And as mentioned Carrickmines is car-oriented, and its Luas catchment doesn't overlap with Blackrock's catchment. Dundrum is the only competitor in town, but Blackrock is easier to get to from Dublin 4 and most places east of the N11. The two can comfortably co-exist, especially in affluent south Dublin.

Larbre34

I agree that there is room for both centres, and about the money locally, but I think the new retail space in Blackrock will have a higher potential value than a TK Maxx outlet. John Lewis comes to mind.

coylemj

Larbre34 wrote: »

I agree that there is room for both centres, and about the money locally, but I think the new retail space in Blackrock will have a higher potential value than a TK Maxx outlet. John Lewis comes to mind.

+1 it would be a seriously bad move for the refurbished & expanded Frascati if a big slice of it was taken by TK-Maxx which is primarily populated by tyre kickers and not real shoppers. The nature of their stock is that you go in looking for a bargain from 'end of line' stuff they pick up from other stores. Most times I go in I come out empty handed.

Aard

Larbre34 wrote: »

I agree that there is room for both centres, and about the money locally, but I think the new retail space in Blackrock will have a higher potential value than a TK Maxx outlet. John Lewis comes to mind.

Oh right, if that's what you meant then I completely misunderstood you. Yep, I agree that the more pricey shops are likely to be able to afford whatever rent the centre will have to charge to make a profit. I wouldn't even be surprised if Apple set up there, for example.