The merchants of Ennis at Xmas

poppyvally

Drumcliffe is better decorated & more cheerful than the town of Ennis..I have never felt such misery at the seeming apathy of the town traders/shopkeepers attitude to Xmas decorations. With the exception of Collins Jeweller's & a few more the place is bereft of any xmas atmosphere. Shame on the dark corner of SIPTU, the cash co. the phone shops, Dunnes Stores, to mention but a few prime examples. Thanks to the town Council for the lights

kn1

ennis town centre is dead and gone
first they moved all business to the quin road,made the carparks smaller,moved taxi rank away from the square etc
but at least free car parking till xmas up to 12 pm !!!!! WTF :mad:

CptSternn

No pedestrianised roads, but just the opposite - free parking on the same roads.

I guess we wait and see how the numbers stack up against each other.

buck65

I thought the street lights look well and Cassidy's does look well. Town is shocking quiet.
Can't understand the anti pedestrianise attitude. Car parking is a joke around town. Personally I love going into town but the hassle of getting there forces me to Limerick instead for most of the present buying.
The only time to get into Ennis is around 10am after that good luck, Also is it just me or is everything dearer in town?

Stuxnet

so the Ennis Town- Share the Feeling video was all staged propaganda & lies....I feel cheated

CptSternn

Has anyone been listening to the 'Ennis Town Radio' that is setup in town now?

I find it ironic they didn't pedestrianise the streets, but instead allowed for free parking, and now offer a free radio service which they have setup speakers for throughout town that you can't hear over the sound of all the cars and even if you could you are too busy fighting over the small sliver of footpath to really care about the fact the same Christmas music playing in the shops is now being broadcast onto the streets.

Also, in the days of smartphones and MP3s does anyone really hear anything when walking through town?

buck65

Just after having lunch in town and walked up the streets for a look, crowds everywhere out and about falling over each other no room to pass on the footpath as cars move at about 5kph up the streets.
Who are these clowns that don't allow pedestrianisation?
Couldn't be bothered going near town again until after Xmas.

Stuxnet

its all a bit Oirish isnt it !!

MyKeyG

CptSternn wrote: »

Has anyone been listening to the 'Ennis Town Radio' that is setup in town now?

I find it ironic they didn't pedestrianise the streets, but instead allowed for free parking, and now offer a free radio service which they have setup speakers for throughout town that you can't hear over the sound of all the cars and even if you could you are too busy fighting over the small sliver of footpath to really care about the fact the same Christmas music playing in the shops is now being broadcast onto the streets.

Also, in the days of smartphones and MP3s does anyone really hear anything when walking through town?

I find it a bit annoying. For years Christmas shopping was a pain because of the repetitive music in every single shop and now we get to hear it walking up the street as well.

I felt particularly sorry the other day for a choir of ten year old's up at the monument trying to sing Christmas carols and Mariah Carey is blasting out 'All I want for Christmas' on a loudspeaker fifteen feet away.

CptSternn

buck65 wrote: »

Just after having lunch in town and walked up the streets for a look, crowds everywhere out and about falling over each other no room to pass on the footpath as cars move at about 5kph up the streets.
Who are these clowns that don't allow pedestrianisation?
Couldn't be bothered going near town again until after Xmas.

I stopped shopping in Ennis full stop four years ago when my son was born. I found I couldn't get the buggy through town as the footpaths are just not big enough and the whole time people are literally falling over top of the buggy trying to get past you. That's on a normal day. You can forget about busy times, weekends, or holidays.

God forbid if you have a friend in a wheelchair and are trying to help them do shopping in town.

Also, to be fair they are pedestrianising the streets, for six hours on the 17th and 24th - 12-6. I read it in the paper last week. It's a start and at least they will have some numbers to compare.

buck65

It was 3pm when I was up the street yesterday the 22nd and I can guarantee the streets were full of cars - do you mean next year?

Balagan

buck65 wrote: »

It was 3pm when I was up the street yesterday the 22nd and I can guarantee the streets were full of cars - do you mean next year?

Ah no, not pedestrianised from the 17th to the 24th - that would be, like, pedestrianization. It was the 17th AND this Saturday, the 24th, which is like, mucking around, and not displeasing the powers that be among the shop owners in the town, because the town belongs to those shop owners and not to the 22,000 approx people who live in it and its environs.

dr.fuzzenstein

Balagan wrote: »

Ah no, not pedestrianised from the 17th to the 24th - that would be, like, pedestrianization. It was the 17th AND this Saturday, the 24th, which is like, mucking around, and not displeasing the powers that be among the shop owners in the town, because the town belongs to those shop owners and not to the 22,000 approx people who live in it and its environs.

Was in town today, Abbey and O'Connel Street where closed to traffic, thank Christ.
It was fabulous, why don't they do it more often? Just have more and more pedestrian days, till the streets are closed to cars most days.
That way everyone has time to get used to it.
And any retailer that still says "I'll chain myself to the railings of the town council!" should be told "OK, knock yourself out, but this is happening, so deal with it!"
The biggest problem is still rents and rates, but those two streets don't have to have cars on them, a six year old can tell you that.

jonon9

Went up town today for some final bits and it was crazy people walking over people cars on top of cars it was absolutely ridiculous today and yesterday should have been pedestrian days for sure. and to hell with the ranting and raving shop keepers they stop after a while, pedestrianization of o O'Connell street would be the best way forward for this town. Oh and Happy Christmas everyone.

dr.fuzzenstein

jonon9 wrote: »

Went up town today for some final bits and it was crazy people walking over people cars on top of cars it was absolutely ridiculous today and yesterday should have been pedestrian days for sure. and to hell with the ranting and raving shop keepers they stop after a while, pedestrianization of o O'Connell street would be the best way forward for this town. Oh and Happy Christmas everyone.

I was in town between 1 and 3 today and Abbey and O'Connel Street where closed to traffic.

jonon9

I blame the wife she wanted to go early

CptSternn

I have been in Dublin for work the past few weeks but did do a small bit of shopping in Ennis and I must say, I was less than impressed. Besides the issues getting around, one shop in particular which I won't name here but have on a review website was running a classic bait and switch scam.

We got a voucher from a relative on Dec 1st for this shop and went to use it in the shop in Ennis. They didn't have one single style for my child and tried to sell us some older style inventory. We told them we would call back in two weeks.

Two weeks passed and we returned only to have the same thing happen again. Again we were told by another member of staff it would be two weeks until any of the display models in the window and on the cool stands would be in and they tried to sell us some older inventory.

Well yesterday was six weeks and again we returned and guess what? Same story, same sales tactic. We decided to just get the damn things then and turns out they cost more than any of the 'new' styles they had on display meaning we had to fork out extra dosh for crappy stuff we didn't want just to get rid of the voucher.

Needless to say we were less than impressed with the whole ordeal and will not be doing any shopping there again ever and will make sure to specify next year to all relatives in town that they steer clear of this shop.

If this is what shopping in Ennis is like, then maybe all these shops need to close to make room for some good ones.

MyKeyG

CptSternn wrote: »

I have been in Dublin for work the past few weeks but did do a small bit of shopping in Ennis and I must say, I was less than impressed. Besides the issues getting around, one shop in particular which I won't name here but have on a review website was running a classic bait and switch scam.

We got a voucher from a relative on Dec 1st for this shop and went to use it in the shop in Ennis. They didn't have one single style for my child and tried to sell us some older style inventory. We told them we would call back in two weeks.

Two weeks passed and we returned only to have the same thing happen again. Again we were told by another member of staff it would be two weeks until any of the display models in the window and on the cool stands would be in and they tried to sell us some older inventory.

Well yesterday was six weeks and again we returned and guess what? Same story, same sales tactic. We decided to just get the damn things then and turns out they cost more than any of the 'new' styles they had on display meaning we had to fork out extra dosh for crappy stuff we didn't want just to get rid of the voucher.

Needless to say we were less than impressed with the whole ordeal and will not be doing any shopping there again ever and will make sure to specify next year to all relatives in town that they steer clear of this shop.

If this is what shopping in Ennis is like, then maybe all these shops need to close to make room for some good ones.

Why not name it? Businesses are named and shamed all the time on Boards.

Balagan

CptSternn wrote: »

I have been in Dublin for work the past few weeks but did do a small bit of shopping in Ennis and I must say, I was less than impressed. Besides the issues getting around, one shop in particular which I won't name here but have on a review website was running a classic bait and switch scam.

We got a voucher from a relative on Dec 1st for this shop and went to use it in the shop in Ennis. They didn't have one single style for my child and tried to sell us some older style inventory. We told them we would call back in two weeks.

Two weeks passed and we returned only to have the same thing happen again. Again we were told by another member of staff it would be two weeks until any of the display models in the window and on the cool stands would be in and they tried to sell us some older inventory.

Well yesterday was six weeks and again we returned and guess what? Same story, same sales tactic. We decided to just get the damn things then and turns out they cost more than any of the 'new' styles they had on display meaning we had to fork out extra dosh for crappy stuff we didn't want just to get rid of the voucher.

Needless to say we were less than impressed with the whole ordeal and will not be doing any shopping there again ever and will make sure to specify next year to all relatives in town that they steer clear of this shop.

If this is what shopping in Ennis is like, then maybe all these shops need to close to make room for some good ones.

Ordeal? Ordeal? You jest, surely?