Most depressing Dunnes in Ireland?

dgt

Jaypers this is another epic road trip in the making for me....

Navan was terrible untill they did all 3 of them up

Ennis sticks out in my mind, awful misery engendered into the place

Joe Doe

So what that other poster armelodie suggests is just to sit back on their hands, do what they're currently doing (not brilliantly), and just like... keep the aul head up like and hope for the best, ...ok \O/.

coolemon

jill_valentine wrote: »

There are two competing theories in the thread -

a) Dunnes owns the centre and is waiting for Tesco to finish their lease and leave, with the intention of redeveloping everything, hence the time capsule effect.

b) Tesco owns the centre and Dunnes is staying on as long as possible as a boxblocking manouvre, to prevent Tesco having a monopoly.

Dunnes own the Crumlin site. I am 100% sure. Whether they are waiting for Tesco's lease to run out I don't know. Massive site though. The car park must be three times the size of the centre itself.

jill_valentine

coolemon wrote: »

Dunnes own the Crumlin site. I am 100% sure. Whether they are waiting for Tesco's lease to run out I don't know. Massive site though. The car park must be three times the size of the centre itself.

Why take on Tesco in the first place then I wonder? Did they only buy the whole centre out late in the day?

evolving_doors

Joe Doe wrote: »

So what that other poster armelodie suggests is just to sit back on their hands, do what they're currently doing (not brilliantly), and just like... keep the aul head up like and hope for the best, ...ok \O/.

So you suggest they spend a shedload of money and risk jeopardising their position in the middle of the market for what???? Cos I doubt they'll make any more money messin about with rebranding and appealing to new customers. most of the cliental I see are doing the weekly shop.. no more ,no less.. It's not like the Granny puttering about looking for the Superquinn sausages or whatever. Or the adventurous middle islers in Aldi/Lidl.

So a major big investment to revam the dives that they have ... they spend billlions (cos billions is neded to renovate some of those gaffes) they create a better ambience and feel good factor with happy clappy staff so people will shop their more? Naa sorry, personally I ain;t buying into the whole Janet Street Porter/Gok Wan/Secret Boss thing trying to be something which they're not. I go in, buy what I want, and get the hell out. Ya sure there's a bit of room for targeting nik nacks at the consumer here and there, but at then end of the day I don;t think they'd up their profit margin substantially by doing a big overhaul in management/staff and spending a fortune.

evolving_doors

coolemon wrote: »

Dunnes own the Crumlin site. I am 100% sure. Whether they are waiting for Tesco's lease to run out I don't know. Massive site though. The car park must be three times the size of the centre itself.

Ya it's interesting alright , they could change the whole landscape and shopping habits of a significant portion of the south city if they did a revamp. It's a real dive though at the moment whoever the hell own it.

Anyway of finding out who does own the land??

Joe Doe

There's an old saying if your not climbing {innovating, growing, leading} then your're sliding. This can be applied to pretty much everything.

- A new kick-ass CEO, maybe 250k?
- Staff shares with standard 2yr exit clauses, linked to performance related bonuses? Pays for itself. (Sure most folks at John Lewis we're doing early moring star-jumps this year after hearing their bonus numerals).
- 70's Helvetica Logo re-jig and replacing 30yr old sigange and a bit of a wash and freshen up inside, no harm. $billions? Sure, that sounds about right.
- No upmarket/down-market needed, just multi-lateral development.

Have seen Mc'D (abroad) that put in a mini crèche and double footfall.
Tesco/MS/Eason's roll-out in-store cafes 'for the community angle' (85% mark-up in a cup of brew maybe?).
that's just 2 fast ideas from hundreds, and I don't even do retail.

ABajaninCork

Back on topic - the branch at Ballyvolane is depressing. The staff look very unhappy, and nobody smiles in there. The management strut around doing not very much from the looks of things...

WoollyRedHat

Nicknamed the crumlin shopping centre "The 90s", I think it should be earmarked as a cultural icon to tourists.

Muahahaha

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Nicknamed the crumlin shopping centre "The 90s", I think it should be earmarked as a cultural icon to tourists.

That would make the shopping centre in Ballymun worth nicknaming The 80's as it was just as bad if not worse than Crumlin is now. Same deal with tons of closed shops, only Tesco were operating in it till they closed down recently.

SpaceTime

Their stores vary a lot.
Some are quite snazzy looking, some look unchanged since 1985.

The range also seems quite tailored to different demographics in different stores.

They're difficult to generalise about really.

coolemon

jill_valentine wrote: »

Why take on Tesco in the first place then I wonder? Did they only buy the whole centre out late in the day?

A shop called Crazy Prices was there before Tesco. Tesco bought them I believe. So presumably Crazy Prices had a long lease and Tesco still maintain that contract.

I am not sure whether Dunnes owned the shopping centre initially, but I am certain they own it now, and have done for quite a while.

DLMA23

Nenagh

Galwayguy35

When it comes time to pay for the shopping the staff look like they have been told they are about to be shot dead, maybe the working conditions aren't great but they always look a very unhappy lot.

OldNotWIse

North Great Earl Street. The freezer section is hidden away down the back like it should be ashamed of itself. You'd think they were selling hard core porn instead of fish fingers. It's full of militant OAP's that'll take the heels of ya with their trollies as quick as they'd look at you. And let's not forget there is usually a bible bashing freak standing outside shouting the odds about burning in hell. Plus, they have noooooooo alcohol there. That's right. Up the street boys and girls for your dipso needs. The OAP's are alright here with the almond fingers and rum essence. Fúcking lunatic shop it is.

FloatingVoter

Back on Crumlin - whoever owns it, Dunnes is doing nobody any favours as it stands (and crumbles now). Tesco's is a perfectly presentable modern supermarket that's known only to locals. Any passing trade will walk in the front entrance, see the tumbleweed and turn tail.
It wouldn't be beyond the pale if the two retail giants co-operated in a refurb of the entire centre allowing smaller non-competing businesses to open up again. Failing that they should both quit messing about and sell up to Aldi or Lidl who actually do live in the 21st century.
Nobody shops guaranteed Irish anymore, anybody doing a heavy shop will go into both Dunnes and Tescos (using their loyalty cards in both).

Asdfghjkl987

The old Dunnes in Ilac has to be the worst. No idea what the need is for 2 dunnes in the same place when the newer one is huge

KungPao

Why must they insist on very often having the supermarkets in what feels like a recently uncovered WWII era bomb shelter?

Feels so grim down there.

syklops

14 years ago I worked in Dunnes Terryland in Galway in the deli. In a poll for hygiene we came last in all of Ireland. Not sure what its like nowadays as I have not been in there in about 13.5 years. I always thought it was pretty grim looking, and that was before I worked there.

Stroke Politics

syklops wrote: »

14 years ago I worked in Dunnes Terryland in Galway in the deli. In a poll for hygiene we came last in all of Ireland. Not sure what its like nowadays as I have not been in there in about 13.5 years. I always thought it was pretty grim looking, and that was before I worked there.

I worked there 24 years ago, and I remember the deli and the practices that went on then. Put me off buying loose mince from a Supermarket for about 20 years. That, the stinking stream on the roundabout side of the store and the food compactor at the back. Horrific....

Ihatecuddles

I really like the one in Nutgrove, maybe because it was my local one growing up.

The one on Bray main street is just horrific. I walked into it once and walked straight back out. It's an odd feeling, like being a guest in someone's house as you walk around, and then just rooting through their clothes!!

syklops

Stroke Politics wrote: »

I worked there 24 years ago, and I remember the deli and the practices that went on then. Put me off buying loose mince from a Supermarket for about 20 years. That, the stinking stream on the roundabout side of the store and the food compactor at the back. Horrific....

I still remember the stink of the mop and bucket. I'd say it was the same mop that was in use as when you worked there.

And the Moo-zac. About 20 years before I worked there, someone had made a cassette tape with some pop music on it for the customers to listen to, and they had started to record in that weeks specials. Over time more and more parts of the songs were recorded over and come the year 2000 there was only about 20 seconds of some of the songs left and the entire tape finished its loop in 6 minutes. What does that mean? I hear you ask. It means in a 10 hour shift I had heard the screechy part of "Do you want to hurt me" by culture club about 100 times. I'm certain that actually counts as torture.

Stroke Politics

syklops wrote: »

I still remember the stink of the mop and bucket. I'd say it was the same mop that was in use as when you worked there.

And the Moo-zac. About 20 years before I worked there, someone had made a cassette tape with some pop music on it for the customers to listen to, and they had started to record in that weeks specials. Over time more and more parts of the songs were recorded over and come the year 2000 there was only about 20 seconds of some of the songs left and the entire tape finished its loop in 6 minutes. What does that mean? I hear you ask. It means in a 10 hour shift I had heard the screechy part of "Do you want to hurt me" by culture club about 100 times. I'm certain that actually counts as torture.

You were lucky you had muzak that had a decipherable beat and harmony. In 1990, the muzak sounded like someone got one of their 4 year olds to play a Stylophone. I can still recall today the crime against music that was the noise that was played in the background. And there were some customers who used to SMOKE as they did their shopping each week....

burnsey1987

Dunnes in Crumlin SC was pretty grim back in the early 1990's, Kilnamanagh was even worse. Not sure what they are like now, haven't been anywhere near either one in the best part of twenty years.

Dunnes next to Sarsfield Bridge in Limerick (closed about 5/6 years ago now) was pretty grim alright, their cafe downstairs was particularly disgusting, complete with ultra-naff 80's decor and floor which probably had never been swept since the 80's.

The old Dunnes Jetland on the Ennis Road (knocked down 10 years ago to make way for the new one) was falling apart, but a good few friends of mine worked there when we were about 16/17 and I remember the fun we had racing forklifts out the back...

Mars Bar

burnsey1987 wrote: »

Dunnes in Crumlin SC was pretty grim back in the early 1990's, Kilnamanagh was even worse. Not sure what they are like now, haven't been anywhere near either one in the best part of twenty years.

Dunnes next to Sarsfield Bridge in Limerick (closed about 5/6 years ago now) was pretty grim alright, their cafe downstairs was particularly disgusting, complete with ultra-naff 80's decor and floor which probably had never been swept since the 80's.

The old Dunnes Jetland on the Ennis Road (knocked down 10 years ago to make way for the new one) was falling apart, but a good few friends of mine worked there when we were about 16/17 and I remember the fun we had racing forklifts out the back...

The staff in the new Jetland are so depressing. Not a smile between the lot of them. The staff in Henry street aren't much better either. Must be a Limerick thing.

burnsey1987

Mars Bar wrote: »

The staff in the new Jetland are so depressing. Not a smile between the lot of them. The staff in Henry street aren't much better either. Must be a Limerick thing.

The girl who serves at the customer service desk is mint though...

burnsey1987

Dangerous Man wrote: »

I remember one of those scares in Crumlin too; people were running out of Dunnes without paying for their shopping.

Anyway, the Dunnes in Crumlin is just the pits. Seperate offie, seperate frozen section and seperate dry goods. Grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, unprecedented.

What happened there???

c_man

Lighter wrote: »

Has to be westside in galway

Ah, the intimidation of the two or three barking dogs chained up outside the only entrance. Cerberus guarding the gates of hell.
Ah it's not too bad. Though I do feel sorry for the staff whenever they ask what the weather is like outside.

donutheadhomer

the basement in North Earl Street is such a ****hole

c_man

I bloody love this thread. Some gems of Dunnes around. Class.