Rant: Arthurs Quay Park, Roches and Dunnes Stores

ninty9er

Apart from Cosmetics mens clothes and gifts Roches sales figs are goin down the drain!!! thats why they won't spend tens of milloions on the store. The SSIA money may change this bus the costs are being pared back. The same is true for Brown Thomas and Sports 2000 has just closed down. But Clery's having posted a profit for the first time in a few years in Dublin might be a sign of better things to come.

What about the Eircom building and the Revenue Commissioners, They are ugly buildings

As for Harveys Quay ~ it is the private property of 1 member of the Roche family.

AFAIK Roches occupies 1 acre in the City centre, but if the customers aren't willoing to buy, Roches won't stay. They will however, not sell the building.

Dunnes is a disgrace and they are definately making money if you look at their turnovewr to cost ratios. They have absolutely no excuse

Amazotheamazing

Is it just the limerick Roches and Brown Thomas that are losing money, or is it a nation wide thing?

I reckon the Eircom building will be torn down soon, as soon as the next phase of Riverpoint is finished.

Crea

Roches is the worst laid out shops i've seen in ages. They have an ancient lift which isn't really for customer use and it doesn't go into the basement. So if you're looking for bedlinen etc you can forget it if you have a buggy or are mobility restricted. The buggy/wheelchair is a no no in the household section because their aisles are so narrow. The whole place looks like a bargain basement shop except that their prices don't reflect this. They have some great shops in the childrens section and they have Principles for women but the shop layout and windows are crap.Whoever is in charge of this area of the store should be shot.
As for BT's probably some of the reason their sales are down is that you can now get the labels in other shops but for a lower price because the BT markup is higher (know this from an employee).

When you see the photos of the old Cannocks don't you just want to cry when you see Penny's?

Spengman

Crea wrote:

Roches is the worst laid out shops i've seen in ages. They have an ancient lift which isn't really for customer use and it doesn't go into the basement. So if you're looking for bedlinen etc you can forget it if you have a buggy or are mobility restricted. The buggy/wheelchair is a no no in the household section because their aisles are so narrow. The whole place looks like a bargain basement shop except that their prices don't reflect this. They have some great shops in the childrens section and they have Principles for women but the shop layout and windows are crap.Whoever is in charge of this area of the store should be shot.
As for BT's probably some of the reason their sales are down is that you can now get the labels in other shops but for a lower price because the BT markup is higher (know this from an employee).

When you see the photos of the old Cannocks don't you just want to cry when you see Penny's?

I wouldnt exactly be a regular visitor to Roches but on the few times i've been there i've also noticed how dated the interior looks,that building is only around 50 years old so it dosent have any ornate period decor unlike the former Cannocks & Todds. Cannocks was indeed a beautiful building dating back to the late 18th century, looking at old photographs it was an imposing and striking structure with a very famous clock, apparently it was the real focal point of the city centre back in the day!. According to the history books a man called Michael Clery(born in Kilmallock) who was once the manager of Cannocks, set up the famous Clerys of dublin in 1883!

I Couldnt find a reason why it was torn down, it seems to have been demolished in the late 60s or early 70s, a picture from the mid 70s shows a very different cannocks to the original building, apparently the premises was renovated & extented back in the 70s and im guessing this is when the old structure was torn down, unfortunately we didnt seem to take architecture and heritage very seriously back then, there probably wasnt any such thing as a listed building registrar:mad: ! Its not surprising that it was during the 60s and 70s that the heart was basically ripped out of this city, the old elegant royal george hotel was replaced by the monster that occupies the site today(albeit after its recladding job!) This period also saw the demolision of 2 very attractive bank buildings the old munster & leinster bank(AIB) and the bank of ireland at the junction of O Connell st/Bedford Row, we all know only too well what stands in their place today!

But in fairness the award for the most unsightly, disgusting, hideous and embarressing building must go to brown thomas!, words fail me on this one, in fairness there is a pretty sad story to this, a huge fire destroyed this whole block back in 1959 and i think its safe to say it changed the face of the city centre forever, again the old Todds (as it was then) was a beautiful and elegant structure and another huge loss to the city! Imagine if these buildings were still standing today, we'd have an extremely attractive city centre!
I just wonder has any other city in Ireland suffered as much damage to its commercial heart as Limerick has in the last 30/40 years?, i guess we only have ourselves to blame really!:(

ninty9er

It's pretty much nationwide as far as I can see with Limerick and Galway being worst hit as the populations can't justify massive renovations right now.

Dunnes are now offering a good line in clothes, river island and Zara aren't exactly rip-off land and Penny's clothes look OK even if you only get 2 or 3 wears outta them they're dirt cheap so it doesn't matter.

Also from a service point of view BT's is gone down the tubes in certain departments. Roches always have somone who at least tries to help, but i've noticed over the last few months whne it's busy they are trying to serve 5/6 people at the same time.

Roches had a fire too. It's neat in there unlike Penny's but then it's nothing compared to BT's but i never see anybody tidying clothes in there. Must be tghat people don't want to touch the clothes at those prices!!!!!!

I like The Jean Scene in the jetland and Zara is fairly good too but i don't get out there too often

mysterious

Limerick more than justifies renovations, its insulting the city as it is to have in such a dire state, Im sure of the top of my head hundreds if not thousands are avoiding Roches Stores because of it's state.

Look at the New Dunnes, is it quiet? hell no, is the pre prabicated one on Sarsfield street busy, no cus it's looks like shed.:mad:

They are just ignorant scum, and greedy..... i just would love if the Roches number one man read this. cus I mean it.

ninty9er

Ah now, Roches has improved massively but the hardware part upstairs is still really back to basics style. The figures seem to be top 3 in the chain when there's a sale on, but some of the worst for everyday buying. People aren't being put off by how it looks

Mens clothes has massively improved in the last while, but their buyers seriously aren't buying for a straight young outside of Dublin market.

If I owned Roches I'd probably move it to Eastway or somewher with parkin. A friend of Mine n Tralee says the one there is alwys busy.


Dunnes On Sarsfield St. is always busy even if it does look like a shed. Cos they've got a decent selection of stuff compared to Harveys Quay whiuch I generally avoid.

Never judge the service by the building