Re: Re: well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?
@tomk wrote:
The city centre has also been struggling, with anecdotal evidence suggesting the number of vacant shops there is rising. Five shops at Sarsfield Street alone have closed in recent months.
Retail research company Crest’s annual shopping centre review ranked three shopping centres in Limerick amongst the 10 worst performers in the country. In 50th and last place was Jetland shopping centre while Castletroy and Parkway were also in the bottom ten.
That article bears all the hallmarks of a journalist desperately trying to construct a story out of nothing, although unfortunately this is what we have come to expect in Irish journalism. You have to put those closures into some bit of context. At the moment, Limerick has 6 Dunnes Stores outlets, the Sarsfield Street outlet is no longer needed as a bigger and much more modern store is located only just down the street. The O Connell Street store was the companys first in Limerick but is also the smallest by some considerable distance and is basically obselete at this stage. I just hope that when Dunnes move out next month, the unit wont lie vacant for too long. Also I believe its not beyond the bounds of possibility that Dunnes will take one of three anchor units in the opera complex (which the City Council have requested further info on btw!) As for the units on Sarsfield Street, the three retailers that traded out of them have opted for concession outlets in Debenhams, they havent moved out of the city centre.
In fairness, nobody could be surprised at the performance of the Castletroy sc, it just hasnt taken off at all. Oddly, more retail units are planned for the site immediately adjacent to the complex.:confused: Meanwhile further information has been requested on the proposed redevelopment of the Parkway, I fully expect this project to be scaled back dramatically, I simply dont see where the demand is for another large scale retail complex.
The problems faced by retailers in Limerick are a direct result of the boundary issue. In spite of the incompetence of Limerick County Council, the city centre has continued to fight on and indeed is now busier than ever. More new businesses are due to open on Bedford Row over the coming weeks and a number of new restaurants and cafes are planned for Thomas Street. However now is the time to stop pussy footing around, the City Council and the Limerick business community must continue to pressure John Gormley over the boundary issue because it is plainly obvious that the 2 councils are not going to reach an agreement between themselves.
