Compete with the Stores

abouttobebanned

Firs off...I like Michael Tierney and his premises...The yard, the riverbank etc..

But...it seems to me that he's there to be shot at when it comes to the stores. €12 on a sat night and they all queue up like sheep! And it's not really much of a club tbh.

Can he be competed with? Who or where could do it?

Chloroplast

i hear you fully, and the answer is no, no one will ever take his customers nor will anyone be able to hold another venue and do better because he has it all wrapped up!

all the venues play the same music in wexford, fact, its all commercial disco pop ****e. so no matter where you go,you will get the same music, so after that it all boils down to where the women go. and where all the women go,the men will follow, thus leading to a full house, which makes more hype and gives that notion to everyone that if you go anywhere else there wont be much as a crowd or women there.

aswell, another reason why its always packed goes back a good few years, where there was the "mooneys first, then on the stores" routine, and that end of the town was always more busy than the opposite end anyway.

stores is also a bit more upclass than the other venues, which keeps most of the bad crowd out, and creates a better sense of security for some too,
all this adds to it too.

anyone in wexford a wet day knows well that the weekend scene as regards a choice of music is about as exciting as watching paint dry..

abouttobebanned

Great reply, thanks.

What youthink of metro 17?

Chloroplast

I havent been in it since it opened ,but from the looks of the pictures on their website it looks like a decent enough place, if thats any help.

now what i would love is that car park beside it, pitch a tent in that and hold some all day thing. would be class. but it would never be allowed.

there is a gig im going to ,and am actually looking forward to it. its in the car park beside the chaz bar, the backdoor outdoors festival, 3pm outside in the car-park till 8pm then into the Chaz Bar. sumit different..

are you into promoting perhaps ?

foolelle

Chloroplast wrote: »

stores is also a bit more upclass than the other venues, which keeps most of the bad crowd out, and creates a better sense of security for some too,
all this adds to it too.

in total disagreement. The stores used to be more upclass than anywhere else, when it was the back room, it was great. since the extension it has attracted nothing but scum from wexford not only on a saturday night but most nights.

Each floor has it own crowd in the stores, bottom floors, total scum, simply because it plays the dance music on a saturday night. Dont get me wrong, im not saying that anyone who listens to dance/chart ****e is a scum bag, but it does attract many more scum bags than it does nice people, the first floor, 60/70 music, always jammed with the older crowd, still many scum bags, but older ones, and the second floor top floor with the smoking area seems to be a little more classier than the two below.

I remember a time in the stores when there was no way you were entering the place with runners on, i was in there a few weeks back to see track suites, and not just one or two. I think the place has gone down with regard to being good or not, its still obviously making money and a hell of alot too, so mick tierney dont give a hoot about the respectable people who he has lost as customers.

thats just my 2cents dont wanna offend anyone, alot of very nice people go there too, but it just seems that the **** bags in wexford totally out number the nicer people, i think that says more about wexford than it does the stores.

Chloroplast, i do agree with your point about the women and the fact than mick has it all tied up nicely i think hes a genius when it comes to business, its the hands on approach i think. i also think it would be nearly impossible to take that crowd away from the stores, i dont know what it is though, because most people i talk to all think its rubbish really, which just brings us back to the women thing. the stores is the end of the night job, everywhere else in town is fairly busy up to 11/11.30-ish then it all aboard the stores train. I dont get it

abouttobebanned

Not promoting as such. But looking into something. And would like to get as much opinion as possible before I do it.

RadioRetro

Not thinking about taking on the Lava Lounge are you?

Don't do it.

abouttobebanned

no way.

fifth

Plus - the stores often give free admission to women (more so than men) so the fella's will follow them in - of course there goning to go to wherever the women are.

It seem's there's almost a bit of snobbery in town, if you mention the stores in a negative light , there's always someone to jump right in there and defend it to the last.

I really used to enjoy the music factory second floor, when Cullie (ex- anu bar and lava lounge) used to do sets of a fri or sat night playing indie/alternative music.

But then the wrong crowd moved in there and everyone was back to the stores.. Don't see it changing but if anyone would like my opinion or some tips on how to change it, I'd be more than happy to offer it.

abouttobebanned

You see...it's a tough one to give opinions about what will work in a night club.

When you talk to people (gilrs even) individually...they all say things like id like alternative music and a mix of oldies etc. When they become one mass audience though all they want is lady gaga.

Drummerboy08

I've often spoken about doing something like this to the missus.

When The Colony (Then Music Factory, then Exile) opened, it was the best nightclub in town. It was around the same time as the Stores reopened, yet the Stores was quiet on a saturday night, and the queue to get into the Colony could be down to the bullright on some occasions.

I think everyone agrees its a much nicer, better laid out club inside than the Stores too.

If I was given the opportunity in the morning to take it over I would -

- Hire door local door staff. These guys know who the trouble makers are. Getting Palace Security in will only make matters worse.

- Bring in a dress code - Jeans and shoes or something. No runners, hats or trackie bottoms allowed in. At all. The Stores used to be like this once.

- Have a minimal or no cover charge. I'd maybe review this a few months down the line, depending on how things went. People will not leave going to the Stores for the sake of 2 or 3 euro.

- Make sure your bar staff are up to scratch. There's nothing worse than a barman who cant even make a Baby Guiness properly. I've worked in the Stores and still do occasionally as a barman, and some of them in there can barely pull pints.

- Shut down any sign of trouble quickly. Once word gets round that the place breaks out in fights, the crowd go back to the stores.

- Do drinks offers. Offers on Vodka and Red Bull, or pints or bottles or whatever.

- Try to show people that the venue is a viable, better alternative to the Stores.

- Bring in a few decent bands for the first few months. Big bands draw big crowds - whereever the venue. Bluemoose, J90, Big Generator etc.

The one problem with all the above is this. Who has the money and backing behind them to follow through with any, if not all of this? I know the guys in Metro are making a decent shot of it, but they are not directly in competition with the Stores.

abouttobebanned

Don't do the stores already have the bands like j90 and big generator?

The problem is, if the stores want something, nowhere else in Wexford is allowed to have it.

jpb1974

Bring back the Pink Elephant...

Chloroplast

foolelle wrote: »

in total disagreement. The stores used to be more upclass than anywhere else, when it was the back room, it was great. since the extension it has attracted nothing but scum from wexford not only on a saturday night but most nights.

Each floor has it own crowd in the stores, bottom floors, total scum, simply because it plays the dance music on a saturday night. Dont get me wrong, im not saying that anyone who listens to dance/chart ****e is a scum bag, but it does attract many more scum bags than it does nice people, the first floor, 60/70 music, always jammed with the older crowd, still many scum bags, but older ones, and the second floor top floor with the smoking area seems to be a little more classier than the two below.

I remember a time in the stores when there was no way you were entering the place with runners on, i was in there a few weeks back to see track suites, and not just one or two. I think the place has gone down with regard to being good or not, its still obviously making money and a hell of alot too, so mick tierney dont give a hoot about the respectable people who he has lost as customers.

thats just my 2cents dont wanna offend anyone, alot of very nice people go there too, but it just seems that the **** bags in wexford totally out number the nicer people, i think that says more about wexford than it does the stores.

Chloroplast, i do agree with your point about the women and the fact than mick has it all tied up nicely i think hes a genius when it comes to business, its the hands on approach i think. i also think it would be nearly impossible to take that crowd away from the stores, i dont know what it is though, because most people i talk to all think its rubbish really, which just brings us back to the women thing. the stores is the end of the night job, everywhere else in town is fairly busy up to 11/11.30-ish then it all aboard the stores train. I dont get it

the crowd in the stores that you may see as scum, to me i see em as average working class people, who like to have a good time,work, and socialise on weekends. sure you might see some of em going around chewing the faces off them selves on e`s, but they are certainly doing no harm to anyone.no abuse ,dirty looks ,fighting. and if i pay 10 euro to get into a venue, who has the right to dictate to me about what i have to wear?. i dont wear tracksuits in clubs, in all fairness ive never seen anyone in the stores with a tracksuit on. i mean in reality have you ever went in to a pub with a tracksuit on? i know i haven't, and if i held a venue and someone did show up with a tracksuit on i would laugh my head off at him and tell him to go home.

the bottom floor of the stores is generally for the younger crowd.the middle floor isnt open any more,the top floor is where you go when you cant breathe on the bottom floor. its not technically divided my age group, you will see people of all ages on both floors.

at the end of the day, you cannot stop people from entering venues when they are dressed decently and haven't done anything wrong.whatever venue your in ,if you dont like the look of a person you see, or get a bad vibe from him, the first thing that comes to mind is "this place is crawling with scum" then you go tell all your friends that when they asked you where you were last night etc. then wexford being so small word travels fast.next thing you know its "oh dont go there, its full of scum, go to the stores instead.

so its not that wexfords majority are "scum" its just that wexford is full of sad small minded little people, who have frail little sad lives that look down on anyone with a pair of runners and a shirt.

Drummerboy08

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Don't do the stores already have the bands like j90 and big generator?

The problem is, if the stores want something, nowhere else in Wexford is allowed to have it.

They do alright - twice or three times during the summer and thats it.

And if your ballsy enough you can get what you want in this town.

Gaunty

Chloroplast wrote: »

scum to me ,are people who drink in places like lafins and smash pint glasses in peoples faces.

Hold on now, that is totally wrong. Let me point out here that i help manage Laffans, indeed, i am a Laffan. I have no idea where this idea that my familys pub is a hotbed of rows and stabbings came from. I have worked there 8 years now and in that time i have seen 3 serious fights. I see more than that in a single night in the nightclubs in town. Every pub has its dodgy characters however we have barred a lot of customers in our bar over the last years in an attempt to try promote our public image. However people like you coming onto websites like this and talking about the pub in person to others does us no favours. How many people are going to read that and take it as gospel that there are glassings in Laffans? There has never been in all the time i have both worked and lived there before i was old enough to work. Have you ever even drank in the pub?

We get a lot of people coming in now who heard the pub had a bad name and instead grow to love the place and wonder what the fuss was about. As long as you aren't stuck up or think your better than the average joe you will get on fine in there. It's the same with every bar, if you walk in pretending your better than everyone then you will meet an unfriendly atmosphere from both staff and customers. However if you just want a few pints, a bit of craic, a game of pool and play some music then you will be hard pushed to find a friendlier pub whos customers will talk away to you and join in the banter.

Gaunty

Chloroplast wrote: »

the crowd in the stores that you may see as scum, to me i see em as average working class people, who like to have a good time,work, and socialise on weekends. sure you might see some of em going around chewing the faces off them selves on e`s, but they are certainly doing no harm to anyone.no abuse ,dirty looks ,fighting. and if i pay 10 euro to get into a venue, who has the right to dictate to me about what i have to wear?.

at the end of the day, you cannot stop people from entering venues when they are dressed decently and haven't done anything wrong.whatever venue your in ,if you dont like the look of a person you see, or get a bad vibe from him, the first thing that comes to mind is "this place is crawling with scum" then you go tell all your friends that when they asked you where you were last night etc. then wexford being so small word travels fast.next thing you know its "oh dont go there, its full of scum, go to the stores instead.

so its not that wexfords majority are "scum" its just that wexford is full of sad small minded little people, who have frail little sad lives that look down on anyone with a pair of runners and a shirt.

And i hate to get personal, but you are a massive hypocrite with the rest of your post. You are one of those people that looks down on average working class people if you consider the people who drink in my pub scum without ever having met one or talked to one.

"the first thing that comes to mind is "this place is crawling with scum" then you go tell all your friends that when they asked you where you were last night etc. then wexford being so small word travels fast.next thing you know its "oh dont go there, its full of scum, go to the stores instead."

I absolutely love the above piece, its classic when you put in a throwaway line about my premises.

Chloroplast

right ill edit that out for you.

you can easily say the same for what's being said about the stores if that's the case.and i am certainly not one of those people who look down on average working class people, as i said in my last post ""what you may see as scum, to me i see em as average working class people"" ie; no scum, normal people.

and last bit wasn't even referring to you, i was referring to the way things flow about ANY pub in wexford.

mcgarrett

Any 40somethings remember the imperial in Selskar?

The_ONeill

God I hate the stores

jd

mcgarrett wrote: »

Any 40somethings remember the imperial in Selskar?

YIP!

Bunclody

I don't work at the stores and i don't know anyone who does but I wanted to touch on a few points because I was there on Sunday night for the first time in about 6 months .

Micheal Tierney is employing possibly a couple of hundred people in wexford .

A successful businessman who should be celebrated and admired for continuing to succeed in a difficult climate .

The Stores is one of the biggest and busiest nightclubs in Ireland in a time when nightclubs are dropping like flies .

The bar-staff are friendly ,professional and don't seem to leave you waiting too long. i was drink bottles of Heineken and I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered my order the second time i went to the bar .

The doormen are equally professional ,fair and simply do their job from what i can see .

As for the DJs and music ' I asked my sister about this who goes there every weekend with her friends and she is 23 years old . She said that most other nightclubs just play dance music and R&B where as the stores djs don't tend to take themselves too serious and don't mind mixing it up to create an overall party atmosphere .

I kept this in mind on Sunday night and noticed she in fact was right ' The DJ worked the crowd and seemed the play a wide mix of stuff . My only complaint was that one of my friends asked the DJ upstairs to play kraftwerk but he said "no chance " ....my friend asked him why not and the DJ apologised but said it "wouldn't work " . In hindsight he may have been right . To be fair he had the place hopping !!!
Why do we as people in Wexford always knock whats in our own county ?

average_runner

If you want to compete against the stores you need to go back to the Mooneys' model.

Right have good local bouncers and keep trouble out.

Have no cover charge but do the free food stuff, onions rings, cocktails sausages etc.

Keep your prices lower than stores, their pint prices are very high.

Have some drink offers.

But one thing wexford lacks is a place for the 30 plus to go to, currrently we go to the front lounge in stores after one of the pubs on monk st, as we wont pay for night club for a few drinks!