Shops you miss or wish were still around

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881423#Comment_120881423

If you are anywhere near Clontarf try to pop into Nolans on Vernom Ave for a different / old school shopping experience. Not cheap mind.

road_high

Debenhams, often much derided was a very good store in my opinion. They had good sales and for everyday menswear and household it was very good too. It’s a shame it is gone but I’d say the overheads on those massive stores would bury any business

pat_sconce

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120882816#Comment_120882816

Most people did not like paying the Paddy tax Debenhams had. If it was £40 in the UK it was €65 here.

Also their misleading signage annoyed many people. EG 2 mens shirts for €75 but you had to read 10 line of miniscule text to realise that it was a specific range even though all were bunched together. Then there was the service - non existent, rude, condescending.

Debenhams is one store that has not been missed

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120882786#Comment_120882786

+1, excellent spot. Not cheap indeed but they have lots of nice stuff the regular supermarkets haven’t got and the staff are really excellent.

messrs

Evolution in the GPO Arcade. Used to love going in for a browse and picking up all sorts of random stuff that I didnt need!

Baybay

Heatons

Great to pop down to pick up things that were needed all of a sudden like socks or extra glassware or stuff that you didn’t know you really needed until you saw it.

kowloonkev

XtraVision. It should have been an opticians really. Just miss going there on a Friday evening renting a couple of videos to watch with the family. The worse the movie was the more fun we had.

Fox Tail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120882786#Comment_120882786

Good shout.

Dublin actually has more food stores than ever that sell fresh produce. Nolans, Mortons, Lotts&Co, Fallon&Byrne,Avoca,Fresh, Donnybrook Fair and plenty more local stores.

None are cheap, but there is a wealth of choice outside your bog standard supermarkets like Supervalu, Dunnes, Tesco.

o1s1n

Does anyone have any images inside Virgin Megastore on Aston Quay when it was open?

The only footage I've ever been able to find of it is from the opening on the RTE archives and most of the footage is outside.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/1201/835827-virgin-megastore-opens-in-dublin/

I absolutely loved the place as a kid/early teen, used to get the Dart in from Bray every Saturday and go in for a browse. Usually came home with an A1 poster or if I had a few extra quid, a Manga Entertainment VHS.

Haven't really been able to find any photos of the place inside online.

Hotblack Desiato

Well there is this 😉

https://www.rte.ie/archives/collections/news/21366337-illegal-sale-of-condoms/

NewbridgeIR

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120881382#Comment_120881382

Shouldn't be an issue now. Region free DVD players have been dirt cheap for 15+ years

For my first player (1998), I had to enter in a code via the remote control.

NewbridgeIR

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058305977/shops-you-miss-or-wish-were-still-around

On the other hand, the internet has made the unattainable accessible. Trying to buy foreign LP pressings (Japanese, US) or Euro 7"s (with picture sleeves) in Ireland was always difficult if you relied solely on the second hand shops. Whereas buying vinyl in our charity shops was nearly always a fruitless endeavour (compared to chazzas in UK). Bad stock selection, poor condition, high prices.

I lived in Dublin from 1991 to 2003 and would spend every Saturday doing a circuit of all the record shops in the city centre. It was good fun. Then when I moved out, that become once a month. A bit more of a chore and I started to find certain titles harder to obtain (particularly reissues). In May 2006 I had a very frustrating day traipsing around every shop looking for Scott Walker's The Drift (a new release). Nobody had it. Came home and ordered it from Amazon UK and had it within 2 days. Since then, about 95% of my music purchases are from online retailers.

QueensGael

Savins Music in O'Connell Street in Limerick

cml387

I miss the old Game store in Cork near McDonalds. Always a treat going in to find al kinds of game CD's.

jonnreeks

Anyone remember the old record shop on MacCurtain Street Cork. 🙄

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120882786#Comment_120882786

Funnily enough we started doing the odd shop there and our bill was no more than you would pay in Duness or Supervalu. All the veg is pay by weight so you just get what you need, the meat counter is expensive so we just bought less of it and cheaper cuts, things like tins of tomatoes, herbs are actually cheaper there. Like it definitely a premium experience but keen enough/similar prices for a lot of the essentials. We noticed a lot less food waste and shoving things into the freezer to forget about them.

XLR 8

H.Williams

Five Star

3 Guys

BHS

King Burger

Fusco

Tea Time Express

Winstons

Fitzgeralds

coylemj

Roches Stores were very good for small electrical appliances.

Amberjack

Loved Awear, their jeans were fab and catered for short people (like myself)

in the early 90s there was a great denim, bomber jacket type shop in the GPO arcade (think it could have been Gap, but no relation to Gap as we know it)

o’Connors was also great for denim, Also loved No Name for cheap clothes as a student and He for Grays for Knick knacks

Doodah7

Tea Time Express!!! Their cakes were fantastic!!!

L1011

About 6 or so years ago I did market research on a proposed relaunch of Tea Time Express, just as a brand for cakes sold in other shops. Was trying to decide which cake to restart with - fairly sure Australian was my choice.

Nothing happened from it obviously.

o1s1n

Couple from Bray Mainstreet that I loved as a kid.

E.R Harris, 78 Mainstreet Bray. Was an incredible toy shop, I think they were partnered with Toymaster at one stage.

Stupidly expensive but a place of magic and dreams as a kid. I used to buy Warhammer in there was I was a young teenager.

Only photo I can find of it online from the 80s. Can see it's red front by the green car on the corner.

A little further up then you had W.J Owens, a camera shop but it has an absolute massive selection of Airfix models and other similar bits and pieces. Many a Spitfire and a Hurricane bought in there, only to go home, try to build it and end up covered in that stinky Airfix glue.

AndrewJRenko

Gaywear. Just because.....