More and More job losses - What can we do?

Media999

mfitzy wrote: »

I was (dragged along!) in Waterford a few Saturdays back and have to say the level of customer service in two of the flagship stores was pretty bad...

First was in Debenhams, in the Mens section. I bought something, salesperson was not overly courteous, just adequate, but when I had paid and was walking away she barks "who's next" at the customers behind me!!

Arnotts or the likes would leave it standing.

Second was in Superquinn, a store famed for it's customer service...I had a basket no trolley and there was absolutely no attempt made to help me pack my groceries. In fact, he just kept on that belt thingy going as I tried keep up.

I know these are two very minor things but would hardly encourage me back.
Sadly there is not a lot in Waterford over and above where I live and to be honest Kildare village or Dublin are far better propositions for a shopping trip. Bought little enough in Waterford, shops seemed expensive. Tommy Hilfigers is a noice store but had no offers or reductions. Last one I was in in Dublin a few months back had lots half price. As had Arnotts.

Sorry but thats really pathetic. You wouldnt go back to a shop because the cashier says "whos next".

Really thats very sad. Id love to shop in the dreamland you shop in where the whole centre revolves around you.

road_high

Media999 wrote: »

Sorry but thats really pathetic. You wouldnt go back to a shop because the cashier says "whos next".

Really thats very sad. Id love to shop in the dreamland you shop in where the whole centre revolves around you.

Seriously? Never said I wouldn't go back, said it wouldn't encourage me back. Slight difference. And as I did point out and noted myself there are minor things. If you like to go into supposedly upmarket shops and think it's perfectly ok to be shouted "who's next" by a sales person (when you are spending money) then you have clearly a different understanding to me of what is acceptable as customer "service".

Dan133269

mfitzy wrote: »

Tommy Hilfigers is a noice store but had no offers or reductions. Last one I was in in Dublin a few months back had lots half price. As had Arnotts.

mfitzy wrote: »

If you like to go into supposedly upmarket shops

Is that you, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly?

road_high

Dan133269 wrote: »

Is that you, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly?

LOL, if only
It's not me, roight.

Bringthethunder

Tourism is the key. We have to get the tourists in and encourage them to spend there money here there is no point in waiting for a major business like a Genzyme to set up here manafacturing is dead at least in this town it is.

Jason Todd

Bringthethunder wrote: »

Tourism is the key. We have to get the tourists in and encourage them to spend there money here there is no point in waiting for a major business like a Genzyme to set up here manafacturing is dead at least in this town it is.

Good point actually. Tourism is something we can work on ourselves. Like Max Powers says too, people can all be nicer and more helpful when we see tourists too. Shops only need to give their premises a fresh lick of paint to brighten the place up. Maybe even new signage if the money was there. You'd be surprised at how powerful word of mouth is.

Then when major manufacturers or whatever multinationals business pick back up we can bid for those again.

Max Powers

Media999 wrote: »

Sorry but thats really pathetic. You wouldnt go back to a shop because the cashier says "whos next".

Really thats very sad. Id love to shop in the dreamland you shop in where the whole centre revolves around you.

+1 that

hardybuck

Just on the shopping front lads, aside from customer services etc., I find that the quality of choice in Waterford very poor as a whole.

I currently live in Dublin, and used to try and buy goods at home when I could to try and support local business. I think in the last couple of years I've been able to do that far less. Now if I was buying clothes for work or casual wear I wouldn't even consider doing it at home.

A good example was about four months ago when I wanted to buy a sports product. It's a fairly standard piece of kit - nearly every sports store stocks it. On a Saturday in Dublin I saw it in four shops, two of them chains, who all had it stocked at more or less the same price. I didn't urgently need it, and as I was in Waterford the following weekend I decided I may as well buy it there.

When I got home I tried four sports shops. The two chain stores weren't even stocking the item - very unusual. The other two were between €10 and €25 more expensive than I would have paid in Dublin. So, 45 mins after making the effort to get into town I went home empty handed.

It's a bit of a Catch 22 for Waterford. Without the custom the shops won't be there, but without the shops being there neither will the customer.

Backstreet Moyes

The selection of clothes in town is terrible. I went in last week for jeans and a t-shirt and came home empty handed. For a small spin up the road the selection in Kilkenny is much better. They also have better deals on clothes and in general i found them cheaper. If im doing any shopping for clothes its online or in Kilkenny. Most people i know do the same. Something has to be done i would like to support locals but they need to really offer better range of clothes.

cartell_best

More and More job losses - What can we do?

I'm not being smart or nasty lads but why do soo many people place their posts on retail? I remember moving to Waterford and granted, the jobs were there. But we're living in different times. Some people are going on about clothes and stuff....in fairness like! We are a hub for a lot of things. Fook going to the Mcdonagh centre and whatever... We have a beautiful city. There are unique people and experiences here.

In a play on what a great man once said "ask not what your county can do for you; ask what you can do for your county"

Max Powers

Nuts102 wrote: »

The selection of clothes in town is terrible. I went in last week for jeans and a t-shirt and came home empty handed. For a small spin up the road the selection in Kilkenny is much better. They also have better deals on clothes and in general i found them cheaper. If im doing any shopping for clothes its online or in Kilkenny. Most people i know do the same. Something has to be done i would like to support locals but they need to really offer better range of clothes.

I find all this talk about KK hard to believe, i have been to KK obviously, they dont have Tommy Hilfiger, debenhams and numerous other shops we have here. Obviously for jeans there is also heroes, jack jones and few others. To say KK is better for clothes is just ridiculous. We have more shops here, people are talking abouot supporting local but arent following thru on their actions, just ill-founded whining.

Peopel happy to spout on about shoppin on line and elesewhere then complaining about local stuff should have a think on their actions, obviously shopping on line is grand but slaughtering your home town and then complaining about choice or jobs is plain stupid.

Max Powers

More retail..... i know, its shouldnt be the be all.

For all those who think KK is some sort of shopping mecca compared to Waterford, I find it very hard to see why you thnk it sso good up there. I maitain we have more shops here and a better selection, i have been up there a few times and looking on line, the only shops that I would like o see come to Waterford are H&M, maybe HMV but the way CD/download sales are with online and that I cant see much of a future in those shops.

We have a good few shops that they dont have, notably Debenhams which is better than anything up there and ask any KK people they would love to have that, Tommy Hilfiger and bigger shops than they have penneys etc. We have a good few of those small boutiques that some women love, a crazy selection of cafes, more pubs, restaurants etc yet people still complain. Yes I would love to see more in Waterford but a bit of rational cop-on is needed here before looking over the fence.

jad2007

Not really going to comment on the retail thing as i dont think its is the answer to all our problems. If a shop like M&S comes to waterford they will create a few jobs but any profit goes out of the county and indeed country.

There are two things that will boost this city in the short term,

1. University status, brings in more students, investment, raises profile. Not a awful lot people here can do to help that sadly.

2. Tourism. Tourists come to a area spend money and dont use services so postive impacts all round. Their spend has a multiplier effect and trickles down through the local economy. Waterford is about twenty years behind other cities when it comes to tourism but we are trying to catch up.

If people are serious about helping the city one option is to start even a modest event that brings guests to the city. There was a guy on nationwide last night that started a niche patchwork quilt festival in Galway that attracts 400 international guests for a week. One option is to try and organise something on the river ( our greatest natural asset). They do a Dragon Boat race on the liffey every so perhaps something like that,

So in summary one thing we can help is by encouraging tourism.

Max Powers

jad2007 wrote: »

Not really going to comment on the retail thing as i dont think its is the answer to all our problems. If a shop like M&S comes to waterford they will create a few jobs but any profit goes out of the county and indeed country.

There are two things that will boost this city in the short term,

1. University status, brings in more students, investment, raises profile. Not a awful lot people here can do to help that sadly.

2. Tourism. Tourists come to a area spend money and dont use services so postive impacts all round. Their spend has a multiplier effect and trickles down through the local economy. Waterford is about twenty years behind other cities when it comes to tourism but we are trying to catch up.

If people are serious about helping the city one option is to start even a modest event that brings guests to the city. There was a guy on nationwide last night that started a niche patchwork quilt festival in Galway that attracts 400 international guests for a week. One option is to try and organise something on the river ( our greatest natural asset). They do a Dragon Boat race on the liffey every so perhaps something like that,

So in summary one thing we can help is by encouraging tourism.

Cant argue with any of that Jad, we got bogged down in the retail thing due to people's i feel unfounded pessimisim/complaints. The only things i will say re:retail is that it is important for attracting visitors for the day/weekend.

On tourism, fantastic work going on down in Viking Triangle, people should get down there/into city and support it/busineses. I was in new museum yesterday , absolutely fantastic for anyone with any intersest in history, top floor has a few things kids will find interesting. The famous names and places that have links with the city in the museum is astonishing.

More investment announded recently is only more good news. Finally, our city has an amazing amount of history and interesting points/musuems, any other city in Ireland would kill for the heritage we have here. Get out there, see the museums, encourage others to do so, talk them up if you are impressed by them and if you had to wait 5 minutes to get in, there was a queue, it was crowded, the assistant didnt offer you a bag ring Billy or Joe.

BTW, planning notice in Munster for new bar in old reg bar, more good news.

jad2007

There was always plans to encorporate the Reg into the Viking Triangle all that was lacking was a private investor. If the bar is opened and that building beside it is knocked it will be a great boost to that area.

All we need now is more visitors and people should try and put there minds towards how they can encourage that,

hardybuck

cartell_best wrote: »

More and More job losses - What can we do?

I'm not being smart or nasty lads but why do soo many people place their posts on retail? I remember moving to Waterford and granted, the jobs were there. But we're living in different times. Some people are going on about clothes and stuff....in fairness like! We are a hub for a lot of things. Fook going to the Mcdonagh centre and whatever... We have a beautiful city. There are unique people and experiences here.

In a play on what a great man once said "ask not what your county can do for you; ask what you can do for your county"

I think that posts on retail are relevant as they are an area where results can be seen quite quickly and impacted upon by ordinary people. Very few people who contribute here will ever have any impact on the large jobs announcements which we all crave, but they can have some role to play in areas like retail.

Also, with all the emphasis on tourism, it would be natural to be placing some more emphasis on retail to compliment it. Let's get them spending during their visit. This sort of activity should not be overlooked.

Media999

jad2007 wrote: »

There was always plans to encorporate the Reg into the Viking Triangle all that was lacking was a private investor. If the bar is opened and that building beside it is knocked it will be a great boost to that area.

All we need now is more visitors and people should try and put there minds towards how they can encourage that,

I firmly believe the key is WIT.

Think of how many people come in from other counties / countries every year.

Not sure what exactly to do. No point in me saying University as its been said a million times, But it would give the area a lot of respect if it was a University.

Media999

Max Powers wrote: »

More retail..... i know, its shouldnt be the be all.

For all those who think KK is some sort of shopping mecca compared to Waterford, I find it very hard to see why you thnk it sso good up there. I maitain we have more shops here and a better selection, i have been up there a few times and looking on line, the only shops that I would like o see come to Waterford are H&M, maybe HMV but the way CD/download sales are with online and that I cant see much of a future in those shops.

We have a good few shops that they dont have, notably Debenhams which is better than anything up there and ask any KK people they would love to have that, Tommy Hilfiger and bigger shops than they have penneys etc. We have a good few of those small boutiques that some women love, a crazy selection of cafes, more pubs, restaurants etc yet people still complain. Yes I would love to see more in Waterford but a bit of rational cop-on is needed here before looking over the fence.

I think the same thing about KK.

But i think the reason is Men vs Women. KK has better shops for women as far as i know. For Mens clothes it wasnt much better. I think its just an illusion as in if its a good trip up or a day out or whatever then its obviously better.