To be perfectly honest, apart from Sainsbury's and the chemist, I did not think there was all that much in Newry. My sister got her wedding ring in Jack Murphy Jewellers - she made a good saving on that and it was gorgeous, but we went up specifically to buy that. There is a very nice coffee shop in up the street from Jack Murphy Jewellers. Have really nice cakes. I would not bother going to Newry unless just for Booze or groceries and even then I usually go to Lisburn for that.
The debenhams in the Quays is not great, would not be a patch on Jervis Street and I the shops to me in Buttercrane would be similar to, say, the Ilac Centre. There is a couple of high street favourites, but overall nothing great.
Would rather go to Belfast, where there is a serious selection of shops and different than we have here. The castlecourt centre has a decent Debenhams. There is also a selection of shops that you would not find in Dublin which makes for more interesting browsing and may mean you will pick up something different. My other half had to work in Belfast, so I went along and while he ended up working, I hit the shops. We stayed the night in Jury's Inn, it was very basic and very expensive, but had a nice meal out and it was a relaxing day.