Fergal Quinn

newman10

Did anyone see Fergal Quinns Retail Therapy and have you any opinions .

IMO the idea is good but it was a bad copy of Mary Queen of Shops.

DoMyBooks

I was surprised at how long it took them to come round to his way of thinking. Particularly the woman. The shop was a disgrace.

Southsider1

Didn't see the show but always admired him until I had cause to contact him some time ago. He burst my bubble big time. Very unhelpful and just not the Mr Nice guy he portrays himself as.

James14

Saw the show. No better man than Fergal to call it as it is. He had a book out many years ago called ' Crowning the customer' . It gives you an idea of his mindset. Agreed the woman was having none of it and the shop was in bits. Look forward to next week.

i71jskz5xu42pb

Southsider1 wrote: »

Didn't see the show but always admired him until I had cause to contact him some time ago. He burst my bubble big time. Very unhelpful and just not the Mr Nice guy he portrays himself as.

A bit OT but he's not as successful as portrays himself either. Here's a guy that has had his lunch eaten by Dunnes & Tesco and the relatively recent entrants to the market of Lidl & Adli. If I were him I'd focus on running my business rather than writing books telling others how to run theirs. I'm not saying he that he had not achieved a level of success just that it's not a level that would justify the hurbis that comes with books like 'Crowning the customer'.

Sonnenblumen

Jeremias Fluffy Stinker wrote: »

A bit OT but he's not as successful as portrays himself either. Here's a guy that has had his lunch eaten by Dunnes & Tesco and the relatively recent entrants to the market of Lidl & Adli. If I were him I'd focus on running my business rather than writing books telling others how to run theirs. I'm not saying he that he had not achieved a level of success just that it's not a level that would justify the hurbis that comes with books like 'Crowning the customer'.

FQ is a hugely respected retailer throughout the world (particularly Europe) and has won several awards for his innovative and often pioneering approach to treating/winning customers. I've never met the man, but perhaps oneday I will, and each time he speaks, TV/Seanad, he is always erudite and to the point. Pity we did not have more FQ in retail Ireland, but at least he has left a huge legacy and well done FQ.

SQ continues to fly the flag, and anyone involved in retailing and fortunate to have feedback from FQ is certainly very fortunate and I hope listen to real advice from a real retailing champion.

I have only read excerpts about the show and a recent interview on PK show but hopefully I'll get to watch some later.

Kinetic^

It's on RTE player here.

Feargal Quinn sold Superquinn in 2005 and took on a non-executive role.

I did enjoy the show and was amazed the place was so run down and that they didn't see it.

newman10

I was a little dissapointed in that he did not outline to the viewers how he was going to change the shop rather than show us a shopfitter giving a quote.

The shop did look very well at the end of the show and I hope that the owners are keeping up the good work

i71jskz5xu42pb

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

FQ is a hugely respected retailer throughout the world (particularly Europe) and has won several awards for his innovative and often pioneering approach to treating/winning customers.

We differ on what the measure of a top retailer should be - awards, pats on the back, etc don't really cut it for me.

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

and each time he speaks, TV/Seanad, he is always erudite and to the point.

Yeah, his big thing is getting Ireland to move to Central European Time. It's not like the country does not have bigger problems. An advertisement for the abolition of the Seanad if ever there was one.

feargalquinn.ie wrote:

Almost every year for the 16 years I have been in the Seanad, I have made the point that we should have an extra hour of daylight in the evening.

bon ami

Jeremias Fluffy Stinker wrote: »

A bit OT but he's not as successful as portrays himself either. Here's a guy that has had his lunch eaten by Dunnes & Tesco and the relatively recent entrants to the market of Lidl & Adli. If I were him I'd focus on running my business rather than writing books telling others how to run theirs. I'm not saying he that he had not achieved a level of success just that it's not a level that would justify the hurbis that comes with books like 'Crowning the customer'.

As was rightly pointed out he sold the business in 2005 and there was a notable drop in standards when he left. While he was there he captured a good share of the market by offering a far superior service and range than Tesco and Dunnes and convinced customers to pay a little extra for good service. He introduced creches into Irish Supermarkets and a number of other highly inovative retail ideas. Have a chat with some of the old superquinn customers before you knock him.

tedshredsonfire

Fergal Quinn is a class act in business to try and follow. i have no idea what he is like person to person but try yourself setting up againest Tesco and Dunnes etc before you knock him.

i71jskz5xu42pb

bon ami wrote: »

While he was there he captured a good share of the market

A good share but a lesser share that his contemporaries who did a much better job than he did of giving people what they wanted.

bon ami wrote: »

Have a chat with some of the old superquinn customers before you knock him.

I shop there myself occasionally if I'm passing, I can't fault the experience.

tedshredsonfire wrote: »

but try yourself setting up againest Tesco and Dunnes etc before you knock him.

The thing is I don't have to have done it to have an opinion. Same way I don't need to have had a number one to have an opinion on Britney Spears.

But in any case Superquinn started in 1960. Quinnsworth was started in the 1970s. Dunnes got into Grocery in the 1960 (don't know how big they were at that point). So to portray it as some small company setting up against the big boys is rubbish. These guys where his contemporaries - they were just much more successful than Quinn. I think that's down to the fact that as a retailer, despite all the hype, he's not fit to tie Dunne's or Pratt's laces.
That does not even take Lidl/Aldi into consideration - arrived long after Superquinn and are now much much bigger.

Kinetic^

bon ami wrote: »

As was rightly pointed out he sold the business in 2005 and there was a notable drop in standards when he left. While he was there he captured a good share of the market by offering a far superior service and range than Tesco and Dunnes and convinced customers to pay a little extra for good service. He introduced creches into Irish Supermarkets and a number of other highly inovative retail ideas. Have a chat with some of the old superquinn customers before you knock him.

That's great that but it wasn't sustainable and that's why it had to be taken over.

bon ami

Kinetic^ wrote: »

That's great that but it wasn't sustainable and that's why it had to be taken over.

No it definitely wasn't sustainable , it only lasted for over 40 years, employed a lot of people and made good profit margins. I am also sure that Fergal & Family made a good return when they sold it for €450 million, which by the way was a good business decison as he probably saw what was coming doen the road i.e. Aldi/Lidl .

Absolutely right a crap businessman and certainly should not be dishing out advise to people in retail businesses for free. Wish he could be my mentor!

mickus40

That man has really bad taste in ties...!

Kinetic^

bon ami wrote: »

No it definitely wasn't sustainable , it only lasted for over 40 years, employed a lot of people and made good profit margins. I am also sure that Fergal & Family made a good return when they sold it for €450 million, which by the way was a good business decison as he probably saw what was coming doen the road i.e. Aldi/Lidl .

Absolutely right a crap businessman and certainly should not be dishing out advise to people in retail businesses for free. Wish he could be my mentor!

The company was carrying a lot of debt at the time it was taken over and that's pretty much gone since being taken over. He built a brand and fair play to him but his business model needed to be changed in order to keep going.

bon ami

Kinetic^ wrote: »

The company was carrying a lot of debt at the time it was taken over and that's pretty much gone since being taken over. He built a brand and fair play to him but his business model needed to be changed in order to keep going.

I find it hard to believe that Select Retail Holdings who saw the Superquinn property portfolio as the main attraction , has wiped out the debt, haven't seen their balance sheet but still find it hard to believe. Also I know of no business whcih survives for more than 40 years which does not have to change thier business model a couple of times , I know a number who didn't change their model and died.

Credit where credit is due , Fergal built up a business that had 21 stores employed 5000 people and whose sales per sq.foot were ranked very high in the grocery industry. He also does not appear to have got involved in some of the shenanigans that some of today's "successful" business people have been involved in.

As I said earlier would not mind having him as my mentor.

Arnold Layne

Having lived in Dublin in the mid - late 1990's, I loved shopping at Superquinn; the choice of product was great and the bakery section was excellent. It was one of the things I missed about living in Dublin when I moved to Galway where I am surrounded by Dunnes Stores.

Fergal Quinn has become one of the few cash rich millionaire's in the country since he sold SuperQuinn.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/cashrich-feargal-may-prance-in-the-aisles-again-1876731.html

He may have invested some of his fortune badly since; you cannot help but admire a man who was able to compete with the likes of Tesco & Dunnes in this country as another poster stated.

My only quibble would be that he doesn't appear to have done much as a member of An Seanad, but then again who has, apart from Shane Ross and Eugene Regan.

strandsman

Dont forget that Fergal Quinn got exposed I think in the mid nineties because he was asking for "hello" money from suppliers particularly farmers so they could supply produce to superquinn. So he isn't as squeakey clean as his shops were!. He later admitted to this practise and (i assume)stopped it.

DoMyBooks

strandsman wrote: »

Dont forget that Fergal Quinn got exposed I think in the mid nineties because he was asking for "hello" money from suppliers particularly farmers so they could supply produce to superquinn. So he isn't as squeakey clean as his shops were!. He later admitted to this practise and (i assume)stopped it.

A lot of large retail chains ask for 'Marketing Support' from suppliers still to this day.