Store closures for 2009? [Merged]

OPENROAD

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

The prices of game consoles are usually set by the manufacter (same with apple ipods). Selling them at below the price they set, generally isn't a good idea, at least not for extended periods anyways. So blame that one on Nintendo.

Indeed for that single item, but with the fx rate set to reach parity Irish shops are going to suffer but then again maybe they don't mind, I called a store close to closing time, got transfered to the sales assistant and overheard him saying,"who is this calling at this time of the day" :rolleyes:

Tchaikovsky

themadchef wrote: »

Can the last person left in the country please turn out the lights...or more likely blow out the candle.

...should have been the newspaper headline after the 2007 election.

themadchef

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

We have to spend a certain amount of money, food etc will always be needed

yeah, but you buy food in a shop!

Shops that are closing down locally every other day of the week because people are going up North or to big chain discount stores. Those local shops will be missed, as will their coffers in the revenues pocket, and jobs.

Senna

drunkmonkey wrote: »

how can Irish shops compete when there's so many variables, 2 different vat rates and 2 different minimum wages just to start..

they only way possible is through Government intervention maybe a lowering of minimum wage, a reduction in the vat rate, lowering of import dutys etc

Our Politicans are going to sink the country if something isn't done rapidly, anyone know when there back from Christmas holidays:mad:

EDIT:

Maybe I could run the place till they get back, Any Objections? : )

Everytime the gov has intervened, they fúck it up. Lowering minimum wage will only make more people go on the dole, it wont help anything. If the shops cant compete then they close, thats business, some make it some wont.

Until business owner realise that just because they own something does not give them a god given right to be a millionaire. A decent wage should be enough.

OPENROAD

themadchef wrote: »

yeah, but you buy food in a shop!

Shops that are closing down locally every other day of the week because people are going up North or to big chain discount stores. Those local shops will be missed, as will their coffers in the revenues pocket, and jobs.

But what do you suggest? of course people should ideally shop locally but where big savings can be made, you can hardly blame people taking advantage.

CantGetNoSleep

themadchef wrote: »

yeah, but you buy food in a shop!

Shops that are closing down locally every other day of the week because people are going up North or to big chain discount stores. Those local shops will be missed, as will their coffers in the revenues pocket, and jobs.

Every shop won't close down, believe me - my local SuperValu's takings are exactly the same as last year despite a Tesco opening 3 minutes away

The reality is a large amount of shops will close, I would say even up to 40%, the only shops that will remain open are those that offer value for money or sell necessities, in the long run this could be a positive thing

Biggins

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Every shop won't close down, believe me - my local SuperValu's takings are exactly the same as last year despite a Tesco opening 3 minutes away

The reality is a large amount of shops will close, I would say even up to 40%, the only shops that will remain open are those that offer value for money or sell necessities, in the long run this could be a positive thing

40% - Nope, thats a bit too way out there.

5% to 10% tops.

Saint_Mel

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

the dole isn't so bad though

True, the money is sh!t, but the hours are handy :-)

SimpleSam06

drunkmonkey wrote: »

they only way possible is through Government intervention maybe a lowering of minimum wage, a reduction in the vat rate, lowering of import dutys etc

The Germans, a first world nation, compete just fine, being the number one exporter on earth. Maybe we could learn a lesson or two from them. As for lowering the minimum wage, you are already almost as well off on welfare as doing 40 hours on minimum, taking healthcare and rental allowances into account.

themadchef wrote: »

exactly who is going to be left paying the tax that pays that dole? the toothfairy? The Easter bunny? Even the Civil service jobs are experiencing cut backs on the cards.

Yep, you're getting it now. The ruinous public sector pay rises and increases in the payroll put in by Bertie have destroyed this country for the foreseeable future. I honestly have no idea how we're going to get out of this one, short of cutting back on public sector staff in an unprecedented manner, both in terms of pay and personnel. Any union reps reading this, don't shoot the messenger.

Senna wrote: »

Until business owner realise that just because they own something does not give them a god given right to be a millionaire. A decent wage should be enough.

Most small businesses fail in the first three years, and thats after the owner accepts earning less than his or her employees and works 80 hour weeks just to make that happen. Don't begrudge people a profit or you'll lose the entire sector. With that said, fcuk the gougers, and I'm looking at Dunnes and most clothing retail chains in particular here, not leaving out commercial landlords who rip off the small retailer in turn.

Run_to_da_hills

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Not everyone has access to a fast connection, not everyone knows how to download stuff like that, not everyone likes to break the law or risk getting caught (regardless of how small the chance is).

You can legally stream almost any mp3 without breaking the law however I still pref ere to have the original CD if you have a credit card or Paypal account. "Track it down.com" is a popular site.

Most club DJs still depend on hard copies rather than MP3 as they are more dependable.

Flesh Gorden

If you believe Harvys are closing down, you deserve exploding diarrhoea


I still can't figure out how people heard about This!!!! and managed to find the words "We're closing Down"

But again its always from an "Industry Source" so who am I to argue



The one other thing thats really p!ssing me off is that Debenhams are still using those duel currency stickers on items at a .66 exchange rate

I'd be Very Very tempted to get myself a Sterling Chequebook


On a more positive note, I'm usually around the retail park in Mahon down here in Cork a few times a week - the place has been packed since Xmas - and I mean every single space in 5 acre parking lot

Its 5 to 20 min drive from the almost any part of the city (9 if you drive at my speeds )

The day things start closing there - AND I Mean Actually Closing - not this Vicky Pollard style rumour crap - Then, we will be B*lloxed




Purple Monkey Dishwasher ...... :pac::pac::pac::pac:.

themadchef

Will i travel up North for bargains? no. It's just more useless crap that i don't really need. People were really in a buying frenzy i think at one point. As a woman, i can tell ya some people love to shop just because they can

If i needed a specific item, a necessity, i would travel to where i got the best value product for my euro. I'm human, of course i would. But value isn't always dictated by a price tag. Not all products are comparable.

My day to day shopping, is done locally because i like to support local business. Are they miles more expensive? not really. Are they there if i want my 2 liters of milk at 9pm on a sun night.. for now they are.

My point is, people need to be conscious of the small guy. Yes the arrogant fleece merchants, or big, couldn't care less chains probably will end up going busto, but I'm not wishing it on anyone. Those jobs are keeping roofs over peoples heads.

Shop keepers also need to stop with the fleecing, and suck up the profit margin loss. Breakeven may be a very good thing to see on your balance sheet this year for some shops that were creaming it 2 years ago.

I'm in bits with man flu and off to bed, this may be lemsip induced ramblings of a crazy woman

sillymoo

themadchef wrote: »

I'm in bits with man flu and off to bed, this may be lemsip induced ramblings of a crazy woman

Blush_01

One of the girls I work with is pregnant. The carrytot/pushchair she wants was €200 cheaper in the north, and that was before Sterling dropped even further at christmas and the new VAT rate was introduced. Ditto for the cot, high chair etc.

If you're talking that kind of saving, why wouldn't you go up to get it?

That said, I'm not advocating running up on a weekly basis for all the shopping. I prefer to buy locally (ironically I mean at home, not where I live during the week, and I do bring my shopping back to Dublin from home most weeks) because I'm supporting the people I've known all my life, including my own family, by buying groceries in shops they work in/have shares in, buying the produce they've generated etc.

themadchef

Blush_01 wrote: »

One of the girls I work with is pregnant. The carrytot/pushchair she wants was €200 cheaper in the north, and that was before Sterling dropped even further at christmas and the new VAT rate was introduced. Ditto for the cot, high chair etc.

If you're talking that kind of saving, why wouldn't you go up to get it?

.

This is it in a way, and i know i'm going to get shot for saying it.

People want the best of everything. No ordinary push chair or cot will do now. Mary down the road has the superduper gold plated buggy therefore i should have it. A new baby in the family is a prime example. People are spending insane amounts of money on products they will have for a short space of time. Some buggys cost over 1k! because it's a so super duper.......


i'm having a kid, im getting married (other reason here) and i deserve the best ,even if i cant afford it i have to have it. This is the attitude that will sink our country.

We need to buy products that are functional, end of story, not just a brand.

trout

themadchef wrote: »

We need to buy products that are functional, end of story, not just a brand.

+1

Unchecked, runaway consumerism will be the ruination of us all.

What people want, and what people need are rarely the same thing.

Ckal

themadchef wrote: »

This is it in a way, and i know i'm going to get shot for saying it.

People want the best of everything. No ordinary push chair or cot will do now. Mary down the road has the superduper gold plated buggy therefore i should have it. A new baby in the family is a prime example. People are spending insane amounts of money on products they will have for a short space of time. Some buggys cost over 1k! because it's a so super duper.......


i'm having a kid, im getting married (other reason here) and i deserve the best ,even if i cant afford it i have to have it. This is the attitude that will sink our country.

We need to buy products that are functional, end of story, not just a brand.

I agree.

My parents never had a buggy for me or my sister because they couldn't afford one. Believe it or not, we were carried in baskets. I don't know if that was a common occurrence in 1985 or 1990, but people these days just look at me like I have three heads when I mention the basket. It did the job.

It's quite horrible to see parents spending €800 on a buggy that is the size of a land rover and has gears, brakes and all that crap. Why must they buy a top notch buggy worth most people's 1 month wage, when they can buy a standard buggy that is just as comfortable for the child and it does exactly the same thing for a quarter of the price? Because they want the Chanel of buggys so they look good with their friends when they go for coffee while they "omg" over the new 8* Spanish tapas restaurant down the road. The amount of money people waste these days is frightening.

I'm looking forward to the days when people only buy what they need, and not buy what they want. I want a lot of things, but I'm not prepared to spend hundreds of Euro on something that I don't necessarily need.

Wibbs

trout wrote: »

+1

Unchecked, runaway consumerism will be the ruination of us all.

What people want, and what people need are rarely the same thing.

Yea but it's mostly a nouveau rich thing, hence we see a lot of it here in the last decade. The rich (over a few generations) are quite similar to the poor. They make do and pass (usually actual good quality)stuff from one generation to the next. Constantly buying frivolous over priced status items can be for other reasons, but usually is a sure sign of the insecurity of the nouveau.

Darragh29

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/business/staff-laid-off-as-tile-market-goes-into-liquidation-1588621.html

Canis Lupus

How many people here have experienced a proper recession before? Particularly the ones happily waving bye bye to shops??

I would imagine a good number of posters are, like me, from 1980 onwards and so by the time we grasped an understanding of money the old celtic tiger was in full swing. We all had money and we spent spent spent and the stupid ones amongst us figured they had money but wanted MORE so took out loans cos the money wouldn't ever stop coming in would it? They bought their 4x4s for taking the kids to school. They bought multiple houses (cos one just isn't enough) and they had the comfiest sofa and the biggest tv their credit cards could buy.

Being glib, whilst your countrys economy goes down the pan one shop at a time doesn't strike me as intelligent. It's going to be tough time I reckon for Ireland. It'll hurt all the more because you've never faced deprivation before.

I'm in the UK. I think my company is doing alright (we're apparently on target this year). I'm counting my blessings that I'm not one of the thousands facing the start of the new year unemployed or with jobs on the line.

Wibbs

Well I grew up in the 70's and it was bad and then I watched most of my class in the 80's go abroad seeking work as there was sod all here. I remember a graffiti near the ferry terminal; "will the last to leave, please switch off the lights".

I agree with Canis Lupus, there is a whole generation who have no or little clue what they may be looking down the barrel of with this recession.

I personally suspect(though really hope I'm wrong) that this one will be worse in some ways than the 80's here. For a start back then you could go off to the US, UK or Oz, there was work outside this country. We're looking at a worldwide event this time around.

Secondly, back in previous recessions if you had no money in your pocket, you couldn't spend it, simple as that. Now more and more people are spending money they don't have(credit etc) or even money they never had. If it does come to the crunch that will be a serious issue. Because there exists a generation here that largely thinks "ah sure theres always gonna be money for me", it will hit them even harder. Even most of the frugal younger types I know are mostly only frugal by comparison.

British owned shops closing will impact us badly. AFAIR our biggest trade partner is the UK so all this gloating is premature to say the least. Sterling dropping is really gonna hit our exports.

Now I look at this from a glass half full. Lets say the jobless numbers hit 10%. Bad for them, but it still means that 90% are in jobs so just sell to them.

Toto Wolfcastle

I was born in 1985 so no memories of any recession but my parents went through the 80s with their first mortgage and 2 babies but felt no recession.

Tbh, as regards store closures, I wouldn't rule out a few surprises. Whatever bit of money shops have clawed back over Christmas will simply not do. I was in town (Cork city) the other day and it was so quiet. There were a lot less people around than usual. People seem to be going beyond their usual lack of spending in January, and I have no doubt that this will result in more closures.

ejmaztec

There's always been a recession in North Kerry. They only started wearing shoes in 1973, about the same time that tarmac appeared.

Dyr

themadchef wrote: »

This is it in a way, and i know i'm going to get shot for saying it.

People want the best of everything. No ordinary push chair or cot will do now. Mary down the road has the superduper gold plated buggy therefore i should have it. A new baby in the family is a prime example. People are spending insane amounts of money on products they will have for a short space of time. Some buggys cost over 1k! because it's a so super duper.......


i'm having a kid, im getting married (other reason here) and i deserve the best ,even if i cant afford it i have to have it. This is the attitude that will sink our country.

We need to buy products that are functional, end of story, not just a brand.

A couple I know went out a bought a new car because the boot of the car they owned was'nt big enough for the super duper buggy they'd bought widdums...

faceman

I heard yer man from Harvey Normans saying they regretted opening up in Ireland on the radio about 2 weeks ago. I cant see them pulling out tho, they have a new offer now of 24 month interest free payments on purchases in excess of €500. Not sure if its the sort of campaign they'd be running if they were planning on leaving soon.

We'll see plenty of housing industry related stores suffer, bathroom suppliers etc.

Any stores that over traded in recent years or expanded rapidly resulting in high short term costs will suffer the most regardless of what industry they are in.

gurramok

themadchef wrote: »

i'm having a kid, im getting married (other reason here) and i deserve the best ,even if i cant afford it i have to have it. This is the attitude that will sink our country.

Fyi, you better head north for those nappies & other baby products for your future kids, they are about half price.

Not a neccesity after all? Then, pay double down here as you can afford it.

Anyway to your other posts, private sector debt in Ireland is one of the highest in the EU, thats why a huge chunk of the population cannot spend money they do not have hence the trek up north for savings on basic neccessities as well as for those luxury goods.

Ckal

Canis Lupus wrote: »

How many people here have experienced a proper recession before? Particularly the ones happily waving bye bye to shops??

I was born in 1990. So I'm not sure if we were still in recession, or just coming out of one. But I remember moving around a lot. My parents always rented because they couldn't afford to take out a loan for a house, so when the renting lease would end, we'd have to move because the owner wanted new people in to guarantee another solid year of income [ie. a new lease]. It was kinda getting weird... "Where are we moving to today? :pac:" But yeah, that was difficult for my parents... I really didn't know what state the economy was in because I never paid that much attention.

I'm all ready for this recession. I know it's gonna be bad and I'm not going to bother trying to be positive about it. I'm a bit pissed about it hitting just when I finish my leaving cert. That's life, I suppose.

But, thankfully, I've got a job. The hours aren't great, but it gives me something to do on my gap year. Hopefully when I'll start college, I'll be able to secure a job. I don't care what it is. I'll gladly work in McDonald's or clean office toilets. Anything in a recession and I'm happy.

swingking

Recession? What recession?

I was driving past Dundrum shopping centre this morning and the queues to get in to the place were unreal. My gf went there today and there was no parking in the centre so she had to park down the main street. :eek:

Does this sound like a recession to you? I only hope these people are paying for items by cash and not credit, otherwise it's gonna further the problem of the credit crunch

faceman

swingking wrote: »

Does this sound like a recession to you? I only hope these people are paying for items by cash and not credit, otherwise it's gonna further the problem of the credit crunch

Only if they dont pay their credit card bills!

Biggins

Canis Lupus wrote: »

How many people here have experienced a proper recession before? Particularly the ones happily waving bye bye to shops?

Been there before when things were really bad. Can't believe that things are going that direction again.
Are we not supposed to learn from history?
This is a thread about closures so I won't change the topic but if I did I'd be discussing related to how we haven't learned from previous times and what we have now is a lack of recognition for history and its value to a future population.