O Briens Sandwich bars in examinership

Run_to_da_hills

News just in that O Briens sandwich bars are in Examinership. Not a great fan of them though.

The High Court has appointed an examiner to O'Brien's Irish Sandwich Bars, which employs 20 people directly and 800 indirectly in 85 franchised outlets in Ireland. The company has a total 220 outlets in 13 countries worldwide




http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0709/obriens.html

My name is URL

Not surprised. They overcharge for stale bread

Kernel

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0709/obriens.html

Without the building trade, the breakfast roll was always next.

AnonoBoy

Their sandwiches are muck. I won't miss 'em one bit.

Shame about the jobs though.

phasers

They charge 6 euro for a feckin sandwich :mad:

davyjose

Part of the problem with this country is that places thought they could start charging mad money for a fecking sandwich. It's sad for the employees, but people quickly figure out which side their bread is buttered (:pac:) in times like these.

6 quid a sandwich, pfft

Pete4779

Way overpriced and were never competitive. Once Cafe Ritazza / Starbucks / Cafe Nero or the million other coffee shops started to open in Ireland since ~ 2002 or so, their business model of selling large slices of thick bread for €3 each per slice was going to fail. Not enough coffee choices, etc., compared to the other competitors.

highgiant1985

phasers wrote: »

They charge 6 euro for a feckin sandwich :mad:

as said above sorry for any one who loses their job from their but the cost of sandwhiches there was stupidly expensive. I eat their once never went back.

Dennis the Stone

They always were rip-off merchants.

Run_to_da_hills

They never had the decency to have promos like Insomnia.

Mossy Monk

I can't say that I have ever bought a sandwich from them. The cost is crazy.

davyjose

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I can't say that I have ever bought a sandwich from them. The cost is crazy.

I did once, about ten years ago - I assumed the price represented some kind of amazing sandwich that couldn't be missed. Turned out it could be. I can do better myself with 5 mins to spare and a half-stocked fridge.

latenia

The very last time I darkened their doors several years ago:


"Would you like that toasted?"

"Sure, why not?"

"€6.50 please."

"But the price says €5.50."

"It's a euro extra to have it toasted."

Red Alert

I got a bout of food poisoning thanks to them... good riddance

davyjose

latenia wrote: »

The very last time I darkened their doors several years ago:


"Would you like that toasted?"

"Sure, why not?"

"€6.50 please."

"But the price says €5.50."

"It's a euro extra to have it toasted."

I hope you didn't pay?

bleg

anybody ever have their soup? the most revolting substance known to man.

Run_to_da_hills

With all the above comments how the fcuk did they survive this long.


I gave up going to them after I confronted a very ignorant and rude employee in their Ennis branch some time back.

herya

Can we please have Subway in all their locations reemploying the staff?

tuxy

herya wrote: »

Can we please have Subway in all their locations reemploying the staff?

Why subway?

Yakult

because its nice

Harpie

Shame about the jobs and all that, but will be delighted to see O'Briens go. My main experience of the company is with the branch in NUI Maynooth, which is an absolute joke. Filthy all the time, with old food wedged in the display, over-priced and absolutely rotten. The seating area, I'd say must get one wipe of a j-cloth every day. I've never seen a worse outlet, and because the clientele are students they just don't give a shít.

bleg

subway's worse, the only thing i can taste there when i get anything there is salt.

Max Power1

Cant say i cared for their produce, but its always a shame to see Irish jobs going down the tubes..

Seaneh

Hopefully thr franchise owners are able to keep going and just change names/suppliers and will help save some jobs.

herya

tuxy wrote: »

Why subway?

Cause they copped on and have ham sub offer with all for €1.99 result they are always full. The staff should be safe. Plus I like subs

MrPirate

The one in Longford was decent. And the guy who worked there in the morning was the nicest person you could ever meet!
It actually re-opened recently... Now this..

The days when people made their own sandwiches are back!

Run_to_da_hills

herya wrote: »

Cause they copped on and have ham sub offer with all for €1.99 result they are always full. The staff should be safe. Plus I like subs

What you save on sandwich rolls you spend on bog rolls.

BigEejit

hope those people in the franchises can get another job. As for the quality of food, crap. Anyone asking me for 6 euro better be bringing out the best damn sammich ever made.

catching_streams

Can't believe they failed to cop on and reduce their prices. Insomnia are doing greats deals at the moment and my local one is usually quite busy so hopefully they won't close. 6 quid a sandwich was scandalous.

herya

totalfreeloader wrote: »

Can't believe they failed to cop on and reduce their prices. Insomnia are doing greats deals at the moment and my local one is usually quite busy so hopefully they won't close. 6 quid a sandwich was scandalous.

Well possibly it will be a welcome change for the franchise takers - they can reopen on their own and start charging reasonable prices. I guess their extortionate prices and no offers policy were dictated by O'Briens central.

sunnyside

My name is URL wrote: »

Not surprised. They overcharge for stale bread

Definitely overpriced but I don't think they serve stale bread:)

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

They never had the decency to have promos like Insomnia.

Which is why I've been going to Insomnia around once a week for months now.

latenia wrote: »

The very last time I darkened their doors several years ago:


"Would you like that toasted?"

"Sure, why not?"

"€6.50 please."

"But the price says €5.50."

"It's a euro extra to have it toasted."

They charge extra for cheese too, I've never understood that.

Plenty of people still buy coffee shop food, we just expect it to be reasonably good value.

spurious

What sort of sandwich were you getting for 6 euro?
The odd time I'd get one it was 3.10 - a BLT on thick bread, with hot bacon.

I think with O'Brien's it very much depended on the outlet. The one at the Abbey Street LUAS was always filthy. I always found the Irish Life Mall one good, though I was rarely there at rush hours.

Run_to_da_hills

sunnyside wrote: »

Which is why I've been going to Insomnia around once a week for months now.

That "Do the math promo" is over last Monday :mad:

They still do pastries and a decent specialty coffee for €3.50.

Jay D

fúck them.

I am glad.

Ok faggóteers I know it will cause unemployment but I don't care.

Happier to see these rip off merchant bastards bite the dust...

Trotter

Savage toasted ham, tomato, cheese and onion sandwich, and 2 lovely coffees.. €6.50.

Where? Spain.

If only we had bread, ham, tomatos, cheese and onions in Ireland.....

HANG ON!!! :eek:

AndyP

Their coffee is satans urine (thats not good if anyone is wondering!)

Run_to_da_hills

Again, has anyone a good word to say about the place?

My name is URL

sunnyside wrote: »

Definitely overpriced but I don't think they serve stale bread:)

They most certainly do! I don't mean moldy bread, just stale.. ie not fresh out of its packaging. It gets hard when its left out, even for an hour.

For 6 euro it should be fresh out of the oven, let alone the bag =p

Degsy

People who would rather eat sandwiches than botherto feed themselves properly desreve to be overcharged.
Places that overcharge deserve to go down the tubes.
I hope this starts happening with the various rip-off pubs around the place although its a pity that the ordianary joe soaps have to lose thier jobs because of the greed of the owners.

Sleipnir

latenia wrote: »

The very last time I darkened their doors several years ago:


"Would you like that toasted?"

"Sure, why not?"

"€6.50 please."

"But the price says €5.50."

"It's a euro extra to have it toasted."

Me too after I was charged a euro to toast it. Couldn't believe it!

Rusty Cogs 08

Sleipnir wrote: »

Me too after I was charged a euro to toast it. Couldn't believe it!

Same for me, about 3 years ago, told the staff that the charge was ridiculous and never entered an O'Briens since.

Aidric

It's always sad to see an Irish business hit the wall but they showed absolutely no willingness to adapt their pricing model. Charging twice the price for an equivalent sandwich in a deli. Will ye fcuk off.

DubTony

It all came down to bad management at the top, and equally bad management (in many cases) in the stores.

Simple things like keeping bread and food fresh isn't rocket science. If you're getting stale bread from any sandwich bar, it's cos it's not todays.

benj

aaah my first coffee with my now wife....

LimeFruitGum

I thought they were alright for the occasional visit. I normally bring my own lunch to work but I'd sometimes go there for a change. I liked their Chicken Tikka but of course everyone offers that now.

I'd say part of the reason O'Brien's lost it was down to Brody Sweeney swanning off to try his hand at politics last year; took his eye off the ball!

WeeBushy

Looks like I'm on my own in mourning here...

Chicken and bacon triple decker, the reason I exist. Expensive, maybe, but if I eat nothing else for the rest of my life I would die a happy happy man. They're just unbelievably good.

LimeFruitGum

WeeBushy wrote: »

Looks like I'm on my own in mourning here...

Chicken and bacon triple decker, the reason I exist. Expensive, maybe, but if I eat nothing else for the rest of my life I would die a happy happy man. They're just unbelievably good.

Oh no, I'm with you on the chicken and bacon tripledecker :-)

I did a course in NUI Maynooth a few years ago... we were a part time course based in the Hume building and by the time you made it out to the campus, we would only have a few mins to get a quick bite and coffee before class. Do you think the O'Briens there would stay open til 6pm while there were loads of hungry students in the buildng? Hell no! I can certainly ouch for the mess and filth in the eating section!!

decies

WeeBushy wrote: »

Looks like I'm on my own in mourning here...

Chicken and bacon triple decker, the reason I exist. Expensive, maybe, but if I eat nothing else for the rest of my life I would die a happy happy man. They're just unbelievably good.

I did enjoy a few of them but hated only one side of each slice was toasted :mad:

mikemac

Good riddance

Overpriced and lousy service

RxQueen

they're mayo taste's like an old folks home. That is all