13% sales drop city centre.

gbee

So with ALL the improvements, the super cool lightening, the upheavals the stupid designs the super friendly pedestrianisation, the city centre has lost business to as massive13% in a report on the news this am.

In the same week we are hearing how expensive it is to maintain our 'beautiful' city which is not commercially friendly or successful as result of the multi million euro projects we have been subjected to over the last manager's regime.

RoyMcC

Speaking as a visitor only I'd guess that the drop would have been far greater than 13% without the said investment. Out-of-town shopping, poor car access and parking and the recession have had a great impact. I love coming to Cork. What do you suggest be done to reverse the decline in customer spend?

Owen

Open the City back up to the car. Irish people drive everywhere and if you're doing a big shop, the last thing you want is to have to drag it on a bus, and then walk home from the bus laden with bags.

Cork has become the most unfriendly city for Cars I've been to in a long time. Oliver Plunkett Street was always full with husbands parking here and there for 5 minutes to collect the wife and kids back in the day, and the large parking areas on the grand parade were always bustling with activity. Now we have streets like Tuckey Street that has (I think) 5 disabled spaces which are hardly every used, and are never used at the same time, Multistoreys charging 3.30 an hour, and parking discs costing nearly 2 euro.

I've to get a haircut today, the place I'd like to go is in town. To go there with public transport would take 2 hours between waiting for the bus, walking from the bus to the place I want to get my hair cut, waiting in line, walking back to the bus stop, waiting for it to arrive, waiting for it to leave, and walking home. If the city was car friendly, I'd be able to do it all in 40 mins. Instead, my business will go to a smaller suburb today where I can actually park.

Milly33

Too True they should not have messed around so much with town, I get cleaning it up but pedestrianising (yeah thats how you spell it) most of it is ****e. I would say something if Cork had a good bus system but it doesnt, norammly late or there is something wrong with it anywho you can depend on it.

Only went in there the other day for a walk around and I have to say it is getting boring. it seems to have lost all its quirkiness.

All the shops are the same, that Opera lane is rubbish, dont understand it at all. It should have been thought about more, rather than spend massive money on building all these new fancy buildings they should have said rite merchants quay could do with a upgrade why not stick all those fancy dancy shops in there bring more business to the centre.. The only streets that seem to have a bit of it left are those two street kinds at opposite side to mmm (I can remember the name) is it McCarthys anywho down where the Pavillion is it leads onto Paul Street. No wonder shops have lost out most of the shops are exactly the same. Tis just another Mahon Point, why would people bother heading to town when they can go to Mahon point, park for free and have all the ****e they want under a roof...Tisnt rocket science...

Ahh I feel better now, thanks

Outkast_IRE

I would say that the problem is the fact they were meant to pedestrainising large areas but they didnt actually do that they just got rid of the car spaces , made the roads narrower and still left all sorts of traffic in and out.

If they pedestrianised patrick st properly with access for public transport and taxis only it would of been better, and then work on providing better infrastructure for cheap car parking/short term carparking in the surrounding areas.

munchkin_utd

to be fair, the Black Ash park and ride is a brilliant service and a bargain at a fiver for unlimited parking for the car.

Maybe that should be promoted more?
Or to make it more attractive shops where you spend cash give vouchers towards parking, say a euro off per €20 spend or something along those lines.

hoodwinked

im not surprised tbh, even the shops that would be both in Mahon point and town, the shops in town have far less stock, e.g. monsoon's entire bridal range is now only in MP town doesn't do them anymore,


so if you are looking for an outfit for a night out you are better off heading to MP.

gbee

gbee wrote: »

So with ALL the improvements, the super cool lightening, the upheavals the stupid designs the super friendly pedestrianisation, the city centre has lost business to as massive13% in a report on the news this am. .................

I'd say that's simply the recession rather than anything against the city. The universal social charge alone or whatever it's called now has taken hundreds off most people per month at least.

Discretionary spending is so limited for most folk now.

Hogzy

hoodwinked wrote: »

im not surprised tbh, even the shops that would be both in Mahon point and town, the shops in town have far less stock, e.g. monsoon's entire bridal range is now only in MP town doesn't do them anymore,


so if you are looking for an outfit for a night out you are better off heading to MP.

Do you wear bridal stuff out?

Mahon Point is terrible for menswear, As are most shops (outside the city). Where as the Cork City Center has a much better selection for menswear.

It would be interesting to see if suburban shopping centers have seen an increase in sales. If not then the drop in sales is purely due to over all consumer spending being reduced.

After all, people have alot less disposable income than they had last year given the potential water charges, the household charge, VAT and insurance premiums going up.

lostinsuperfunk

Out of town centres aren't as convenient as they would like you to think. MP in particular is a nightmare. Huge traffic jams, packed car parks, crazy driving, and don't even think about getting there by public transport. There's surprisingly little choice there too, and nowhere decent to eat.
Grand Parade in particular looks very well after all the money invested in the redesign, but its biggest problem is due to private developers acquiring sites and allowing them to lie empty. I'd support changes in planning law to prevent that situation happening again, but the sites are probably all in NAMA anyway by now.

Ludo

munchkin_utd wrote: »

to be fair, the Black Ash park and ride is a brilliant service and a bargain at a fiver for unlimited parking for the car.

Maybe that should be promoted more?

^^ THIS ^^

I bet 90% of shoppers are not overladen with bags and could very easily take the bus but are just too lazy to do so and expect to park right outside the shop they want to go to.

Hogzy

Ludo wrote: »

^^ THIS ^^

I bet 90% of shoppers are not overladen with bags and could very easily take the bus but are just too lazy to do so and expect to park right outside the shop they want to go to.

Getting the bus is convenient if you are going to town to pick up a few items. But if you need to do a serious shop, then travelling home on the bus with a load of bags is not convenient so it justifies bringing the car with you.

Ludo

Hogzy wrote: »

Getting the bus is convenient if you are going to town to pick up a few items. But if you need to do a serious shop, then travelling home on the bus with a load of bags is not convenient so it justifies bringing the car with you.

eh...did you even read what you quoted :-)

I bet 90% of shoppers are not overladen with bags...

Obviously a big shop involves a car but the vast majority of people going to town are not going to end up carrying loads of bags.

run_Forrest_run

the Park n' Ride is an excellent service. At only a fiver we (the family) enjoy the odd trip into town.
We don't go to town a lot mainly because it's not child friendly and with a two year old and a six year old life is easier in Mahon Point (despite the chronic traffic getting in/out at certain times).

However as the kids get older we would see town as a more viable option, especially with the likes of Fitzgerald Park only a short walk away, lovely spot.

hoodwinked

Hogzy wrote: »

Do you wear bridal stuff out?

Mahon Point is terrible for menswear, As are most shops (outside the city). Where as the Cork City Center has a much better selection for menswear.

:pac: no it was just one example of a section removed completely from the branch of a shop in town to the suburbs, i have noticed other shops doing the same!

including river island for outfits for nights out, i probably should have clarified the difference :P


Menswear wise, i agree the menswear shops are very scattered between Wilton/mahon point and even then don't rival anything in town. but then do men shop as much as women? :pac:

EyeSight

obviously the recession it the main cause, but i think the "pedestrianization" failed. its not even pedestrianized! they've made driving much more restrictive(don't even get me started on the 30km speed limit) while still allowing vehicles to drive through almost all the streets?

no matter how god a service black ash is, it'll never be as easy or convenient than parking right outside a shopping center. the city center has about the same amount of traffic as mahon point does IMO

also if you compare cork city to the smaller galway city(which has a large shopping area/center within walking distance to the city with parking). its always packed full of tourists cause there's always some event going on or some sort of buzz. they even have really varied and interesteing buskers(although this obviously is not the councils fault). the shops are varied and there's quite a few cool and different independent shops