Fahy's Off Licence Ballina

steph1

Just heard tonight that John Fahy's off licence in Ballina has closed after 15 years in business.
Feel sorry for this man and he had a great selection of wines in his shop. He probably could not compete with the likes of the big supermarkets and their special deals even though he was doing deals himself on beers as he probably had no choice. The 10pm closing time for off licences probably did not help matters either.

finisklin

It may be worthwhile merging the business closed threads for Ballina as I think this is the start of a trend.

Fahy's was a great off license with a good selection and insight into wines & ports!

captainwang

Thats shocking poor John

alex73

Where was Fahys? Trying to located it in ballina.

But I am surprised, With pubs being to expensive I would think that off licences would do a good trade.

Is it that one near the western Peoples new offices? (where there is no parking)

steph1

Fahys is on Teeling Street opposite Tasy Macs. There would be a problem parking there apart all right but at night people just pull up onto the footpath and park.
I was talking to him a few times in the last couple of months. The likes of Centra and Tesco with special deals on trays of beer were killing his trade. Also the change in hours and forcing him to close at 10pm did not help. I think that stupid rule should be reversed. It is having no effect whatsoever on binge drinking as I witnessed while working last Sunday night as those that were out on the streets were well hammered.
It also has no effect on upping trade for pubs as people stay at home drinking. I pick up people at night on Saturdays at their homes and they often dont leave to go to town until midnight or after it. And by this stage they are well merry.
I just feel for the independent retailer like John who has put an awful lot of effort into running his business but other factors have impinged on this including government rules and regulations.

Ilovelucy

finisklin wrote: »

It may be worthwhile merging the business closed threads for Ballina as I think this is the start of a trend.

Fahy's was a great off license with a good selection and insight into wines & ports!

No point those other premises will be open within two weeks.

Sorry to hear about John though.

gustavo

I live nearby and this is a terrible shame - Always thought it was one of the best off-licences around

Captain Slow IRL

That's a pity, he was a very friendly shop owner, as were the rest of his staff (daughters?)

He won awards for that place a few times, didn't he?!

alex73

It was a nice off licence.. But not really in centre of Ballina, No Parking around it really. And to be honest the prices were higher that Lidl and Tesco.

Anyway its understandable.. When money is tight you cut back on non essentials. They had a great selection of wine (at a price). Sad but that is life.

As for tesco being the reason of the closure, its not always price.. I always buy meat in Morans infront of Tesco, its more expensive, but better quality and you get the cuts you want. No matter how cheap meat is in Tesco.. its the whole pre-pack thing just does not cut it.

Cill Dara Abu

I think most people would choose cheaper prices over a nice friendly shopkeeper, thats the way things are now.

Tough sh1t really.

alex73

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

I think most people would choose cheaper prices over a nice friendly shopkeeper, thats the way things are now.

Tough sh1t really.

Its not all about price... its a factor.. The off licence was in the wrong place. Fine if your live around it. But if you don't are you going to go out of your way? There wasn't anything spectacular about it.

There were units to rent infront of tesco for years.. Thats the place he needed to setup, loads of passing track and for sure he would have had more business.

Come to think about it. Are there any other off licences in Ballina? (other than the supermarkets)

Captain Slow IRL

Not a dedicated one - maybe Carrs, back on the Crossmolina road.

Ilovelucy

Corner shop at the Bridge often has good deals.

finisklin

We're all consumers/shoppers and with the raft of taxes, charges that have hit over the past 18 months makes value for money a key part of our shopping trip. It is Xmas since I was in to John and I feel bad about that.

All the publicans now buy there cans/bottles from Tesco/Dunnes when it is on promotion. That shows you how crazy the prices are.....a deal of €24 for 24 500ml cans. In fairness that is too much beer for one person, family, etc. Usually these promotinos are timed around St patricks day, Easter, bank Holidays etc.

As a consumer I definitely have made a point to shop as local as I can having bought runners in Gerry Kenny's, go to Machale's/Dever's for fruit & veg, Morans/Quinns for meat and Clarke's for fish on occassion. On thing is for sure local retailers have upped there game over the last few months.

I went into a local electrical shop recently and was surprised at how tidy and well laid out it was. It also had clear signage offering deals etc. Another day we had breakfast in Padraics and the service was excellent - we got free refills of tea/coffee, chips with our breakfast (don't ask....hangover involved!) and the boss himself came over three times to ask were we ok.

The Loft is also doing lunches now and I had the opportunity to partake - a sandwich with crisps and side salad €3.95, chowder €4.95. Great value and nice grub.

So fellow boardsie's next time your spending your hard earned cash....have a look around and shop around outside of your normal Dunnes, Tesco you might be surprised with the VFM and service available.

Alternatively wait for Friday fiver a la Joe Duffy......;)

Ilovelucy

I agree with you there. There is a lot to be said for buying local so we don't end up with just the big players. Sure it was Tesco that orginally put Fahys supermarket out of business and then John went in to just the off license.

Shelflife

Nice to see that there are people out there who can see past the PR spin of the supermarkets, yes there is great value out there with your local retailers and if you ask they will go the extra mile for you.

you should also ponder on the thought that for every 100 jobs that these supermarkets "create" there are 150 lost in the locality as a direct result.

we end up losing speciality offlicences,florists,white goods,phone shops, book shops etc because they undercut them on the main lines and make it hard to compete. the result is that when these shops close you no longer have the range as the supermarkets wont stock the slow sellers.

basically in the long run we the consumer lose out.

im not suggesting you blindly buy locally , but give them a chance , its in our best interests in the long run.

steph1

alex73 wrote: »

Its not all about price... its a factor.. The off licence was in the wrong place. Fine if your live around it. But if you don't are you going to go out of your way? There wasn't anything spectacular about it.

There were units to rent infront of tesco for years.. Thats the place he needed to setup, loads of passing track and for sure he would have had more business.

Come to think about it. Are there any other off licences in Ballina? (other than the supermarkets)

Regarding the units in front of tesco. A few months ago a motor factors shop opened up and I just noticed that they have now closed and have moved up to a much smaller premises in Garden Street. Rents and rates on premises are obviously a big factor now for any business.