Govt ‘will have to stem flow of shoppers across border’

Given the 6 hour queues to get into Newry on Saturday I wonder why shoppers don't go to Enniskillen or Belfast?
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I left South Dublin via the m50 and the M1 for Newry at 7.15 last Saturday morning and was in Sainsburys car park at 9.15. Possibly helped by taking the wrong turn at the round about and entering Newry from the Daisy Hill Hospital side.

The checkout queues were too long at that point for me to do a grocery shop in Sainsburys but did pick up the Christmas drinks. £11.99 for 24 bottles of Budwiser, £4.92 for 24 cans of coke. Other brands seemed to be similarly priced.

Bought clothes in Monsoon, Oasis, River Island and Debenhams and saved on average 40% on the cost here due to the sterling exchange rate.

Went back in to Sainsburys around 3pm and there are no queues at all.

Personally I prefer Belfast for the variety of shops. But Newry is good value for everyday items.
 
Caveat said:
Yes, but not everyone is from Dublin don't forget.

There is a sizeable population in Louth, Monaghan, Cavan & Meath for example for whom a trip to Newry involves between a 15 and 45 minute drive.
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It's only natural for people living that close to the border to go across it to shop.

At first I felt the issue in all of this was loss of tax revenue to the state, but this would apply to everyone regardless whether they were from kerry or louth.

Now I'm coming round to thinking the real issue is the sheer waste of human effort of making a six hour round trip rather than a one hour local shop.

Just to balance the arguement, I think there will be a positive benefit from all of this if it forces shops down here to react, so thanks to all those selfless (did i say greedy earlier??!!) people who spend their weekends in traffic on the N1!
 
Good [broken link removed] in today's Irish Times

Extract ..
"An obvious problem with the crusade against cross-Border shopping is where to draw the line. If it is wrong to go to Armagh to shop, and in the process perhaps to buy goods manufactured in the Republic from a sales assistant who lives in Emyvale, what's the rule about buying British goods in a British-owned store in the Republic with the help of a sales assistant from Krakow?"
 
TarfHead said:
Good [broken link removed] in today's Irish Times
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Indeed, its a classic, summed up in the sub-heading

Cross-Border shopping will reduce retail prices in the Republic, leading to lower costs generally, writes Jim O'Leary
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Jim O'Leary is the Economics professor at NUI Maynooth, who honourably resigned from the Benchmarking Body rather than stand over the pretence of its "scientific" analysis.
 
My wife called into gamestop castlebar to purchase a wi fit, the price was twenty euros more than elsewhere but gamestop was the the only shop with this item in stock. It was advertised in shop at €99. but on paying at the counter the assistant said the price was now €120, the reason being they were the only ones with this item in stock and head office had informed them to now up the price, this despite it clearly being advertised at €99.
My wife refused to pay this amount and quite rightly pointed out it is clearly against the law to offer an item at one price then demand more when purchaseing, she made a fuss and following a call to head office was sold the item at its original and already inflated price, along with an accessory that was also over priced from the advertised price.
Gross Profiteering is clearly alive and kicking despite the economic downturn, will theese people never learn?
I for one will not be shopping in Gamestop again after spending nie on a thousand euro the past year in this shop from last christmas through to this....My custom will be going North, after being systematically financially raped for years in the Republic I have not an iota of sympathy for the retailers or the lethargic imbecilles in Government that allowed this rip off culture to flourish unabated....The idiom you reap what you sow springs readily to mind
 
Hey just maybe the Government may decide to tackle this issue...........when they return from their thirty nine days Christmas holidays....pffft!
Perhaps had I tendered for the contract of fixing the leaky pipe and installing the new toilet and fixing the spoiled plaster in Government buildings that cost the taxpayer a jaw dropping €47,000 I would feel obliged to shop in the Republic on the back of such Government generosity, after all had I done that one week job I could have had the rest of the year off and had plenty of time on my hands to search out the bargains.
 
I was in Debenhams today. Prices are in both sterling and euro. The item I wanted to purchase was marked £20/€31. This is a huge difference considering the current exchange rate. I asked the assistant if I could pay the sterling price, and was met by a well rehearsed 'blah, blah cost more in Ireland, etc, blah blah'. I left the item behind.

I'm sick of it at this stage. I'm buying as much as possible on the internet.
 
Its extremely difficult to tow the patriotic line when it comes from bone idle bloated cretins that show nothing but self intrest with their snouts deep in the the trough of greed.
I can not hide my rage at being preached to by persons who deem it their rights to draw massive salaries while availing of a grotesque vacational period of 39 days Christmas leave in a time of crisis. Had I merely one speck of respect for anyone of them I may be inclined to think twice.
 
Sure aren't we all European now anyway

It's the people shopping in places like New York and then not declaring anything on their return that need to be targeted, if you want to target anyone.
I'm not saying they need to be targeted but despite the limited numbers, I don't remember any outcry. Why now?
 
I regularly shop in Northern Ireland. I certainly don't feel unpatriotic as I consider it part of Ireland. I have always shopped there irrespective of exchange rates. It is more convenient for me to go to Belfast rather than Dublin. I wonder how many would shop there if the troubles were still raging? I also rememebr Jonesboro days when a lot of dodgy dealers made money out of gullible Southern shoppers buying 'bargains'.
 
Welfarite said:
I also rememebr Jonesboro days when a lot of dodgy dealers made money out of gullible Southern shoppers buying 'bargains'.
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Does the Jonesboro market still exist? The similar market at Clogher in Fermanagh is thriving. God knows why...
 
The tone on this thread is a good barometer of the mood in the country at the moment, the blame game. It's starting to get very nasty with several sections of society being labelled as dossers or idiots.

Consider this example:
An Item in next is €30 in Dublin and £20 in Belfast.
The costs are
Wholesale costs €12/€8
labour €12/£8
Profit €6/£4
At €1 = £0.66 all of this appears fair
At €1 = £0.94 the belfast price is 30% lower

What can the Dublin shop do?
In order to match the Belfast price it must cut its wages and profits by 30%

If we were in some kind of balance relative to the UK a year or so ago, we are now in a position where we all need to cut our wages by 30%!

And what has caused this?

International money markets, in particular the Euro Central Bank and the UK Central bank.

So we can go around blaming all the idiots we like now, but the situation has arisen from factors not alone outside of the retialers control but even the governments control. The only way balance can be restored if this situation persists is for all of us to collectively take 30% wage cuts
 
Excellent post. Still its worth noting that the government were warned about this sort of thing happening once we joined the Euro and the UK opted out.
 

Was in Newry last night and Pound World were giving 80p to the Euro even though the rate yesterday was 93p... So Rip-off-ism isn't only in the Republic.........
 
legs-akimbo said:
My custom will be going North, after being systematically financially raped for years in the Republic
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Your choice of language is insensitive, to say the least, to victims of rape and sexual assault. Did you show your wife your lovely post? I think not.
 
DerKaiser said:
What can the Dublin shop do?
In order to match the Belfast price it must cut its wages and profits by 30%
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It was November 2007 when I first noticed that the custom, of converting euro to sterling, of adding 50% to the sterling price (e.g. £20 = €20 + 10), was no longer valid.

I was in Debenhams Blackrock this week and, while queueing for the checkout, I picked up a jar of Jelly Belly brand jelly beans. The dual pricing showed £20/€31. On closer examination, some of the beans were starting to crystallise.

I asked the sales assistant if I could buy them at the sterling price, i.e charge me £20 sterling for them and I'd take the Mastercard conversion rate. She replied that she could not.

Debenhams have, I assume, already paid the supplier for this product. If they can make a profit on it at £20, then they, and other retailers, need to get clever if they want to shift unsold stock. In the present climate, retailers need cash and need to move old stock so they can buy in new stock. As it stands, that specific product will not be of 'saleable quality' if left on the shelf for much longer and will have to be binned.
 
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