Arcadia to close its stores in Blanchardstown in Sept

viv2

Just heard this on the news....

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0401/breaking26.html

Such a shame if they have to close.

Corruptedmorals

Wow, that sucks for all those jobs that are going, and a great loss to the centre itself. No Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy P, Burton, Wallis, Evans?? Way to decrease motivation to go to Blanch. Also, ridiculous upwards-only rents in times like this, no wonder so many shops are going. BUT I do think that Arcadia had this coming, if they lowered their prices rent might not have been such a problem.

viv2

Thats the thing though, increased rents = higher prices. The price of cotton has gone up aswell so those increases are being passed on to customers.
I feel sorry for the staff as they are always the first to suffer, im in retail myself and can see first hand that if targets arent met then hours are cut.

Its ridiculous that rents cant be lowered. Its such a great shopping centre and it would terrible if all their stores closed.

Corruptedmorals

Oh I know yeah it's a bit of a vicious circle, but Topshop in particular hasn't bothered to lower its prices at all, whereas River Island and others in the same position, have done so. The centre though has a better chance of remaining profitable IF they lower rents and if the shops then lower their prices to lure people in. The rate that's going- what shops would there be left in Blanch? If they continue like that only Penneys and Dunnes will be able to remain. Very sad for the staff alright- I worked in a flagship Dunnes and even there slashing hours was very much the thing for half the year. Nothing to actually losing the job though!

superLeetive

I agree about Arcadia lowering their prices - River Island, H&M, New Look and the like have lowered prices since the aul recession hit where as Arcadia really haven't!

I'd say that by releasing that press release that Arcadia were hoping that it would persuade Blanchardstown's operators to lower rents to avoid further bad press which could discourage other potential lessees. Could be a good move - although according to the article in the Irish Times, the operators have said that there hasn't been any correspondence/attempts at negotiation between themselves and Arcadia.

pencilsharp

Oh my God can't believe they are closing, Blanch will suck without them

phasers

I read recently that the rent for the arcadia shops in Liffey Valley is something like €1 million per year :eek:

so if my maths is right that's about 12 grand a month per shop! And those are small shops, what must the rent be like on the two huge shops Arcadia has over in the retail park in Blanch?

The landlords need to get real.

The article says that Argos is going too, that centre will be like a ghost town soon.

golden gal

I work in one of the Liffey stores and our rent is €56,000 per month. No joke. Thats what our managers said, and thats just for one store.

Hopefully this is an attempt to get Blanch to reduce its rates but who knows. I mean Blanch would have nothing without them.

phasers

golden gal wrote: »

I work in one of the Liffey stores and our rent is €56,000 per month. No joke. Thats what our managers said, and thats just for one store.

Hopefully this is an attempt to get Blanch to reduce its rates but who knows. I mean Blanch would have nothing without them.

holy crap! I'd say a shop barely makes that in sales!

Corruptedmorals

phasers wrote: »

I read recently that the rent for the arcadia shops in Liffey Valley is something like €1 million per year :eek:

so if my maths is right that's about 12 grand a month per shop! And those are small shops, what must the rent be like on the two huge shops Arcadia has over in the retail park in Blanch?

The landlords need to get real.

The article says that Argos is going too, that centre will be like a ghost town soon.

They would be lucky if it was! Mango's rent was half a million a year in 2004, it closed. Smaller than any of the Arcadia outlets there. And that was ages ago! I remember hearing what Dundrum's rents are, they're worse again than a million a year. Arcadia though is the first major hit, imagine if they were forced to pull out of all major shopping centres? I wonder how Inditek (sp) group are coping- Zara, H&M, Bershka and PullandBear.

lainey316

A follow up article says the leases are not up til Sept and Arcadia have not even approached Blanch about the rents. More sharp practice from them? Based on the massive amount they charge us on sterling exchange - a good 12+% over what a fair exchange rate it - I've no sympathy other than for the staff.

ongarboy

I know this is an old thread but thought some of you from the D15 area might be interested in hearing the following latest update. FYI - Evans in the main centre got the chop but thankfully, the rest survived.

http://www.retailexcellence.ie/index.php/news/100-jobs-saved-in-shopping-centre/

100 jobs saved in shopping centre

Fri, September 02, 2011
ALMOST 100 jobs have been saved in a shopping centre after the landlord company agreed to lower its rent.
Six out of seven clothing stores belonging to the British retail giant Arcadia Group will now continue trading following negotiations with Green Property Ltd -- the managers of the Blanchardstown Centre in west Dublin.

Tayla

lainey316 wrote: »

Based on the massive amount they charge us on sterling exchange - a good 12+% over what a fair exchange rate it - I've no sympathy other than for the staff.

In fairness though they have to pay their Irish staff a lot more than their UK staff and lots of other aspects of running a business would be more expensive here.

They also allow us to purchase from the UK site in pounds which is brilliant for online shoppers but not so good for their bricks and mortar stores which can't compete.