Starbucks/TGI Fridays for Bewley's Westmoreland Street

dcr22B

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0424/1224315103702.html

Is there not a Starbucks across the road in the old EBS head office and another one on College Green?

Market saturation or what?

Miguel_Sanchez

Market saturation is their business model isn't it?

athtrasna

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

Market saturation is their business model isn't it?

Absolutely! There are 4 around the Blanchardstown centre between the centre and the retail parks - and all are busy.

bureau2009

Glad to see SOMETHING occupy this building.

BUT................as someone who has very fond memories of Bewley's Westmoreland Street.............it's a huge comedown.

It's sinful that such a special coffee shop such as Bewley's in Westmoreland Street is now gone forever.

admiralofthefleet

athtrasna wrote: »

Absolutely! There are 4 around the Blanchardstown centre between the centre and the retail parks - and all are busy.

the coffee in starbucks is shite, people only go into the place because they feel they need to be seen there

carlmango11

But but but the Starbucks is literally across the road....

Poxyshamrock

And yet not even one in Limerick, Galway or Cork!

revz

chin_grin

Mr.S wrote: »

Its popular to just hate on starbucks for no reason

No....it's just valid to hate Starbucks for their franchise-saturation and sh*t coffee? But yeah the world (or Dublin) doesn't need more of these!

WindSock

When did Bewleys close from there?

Edit: nvm just read the article, 2005 it says

Cianos

Starbucks isn't a franchise. The profits will be leaving the country. It may be creating jobs, but only by taking them from locally owned businesses.

Miguel_Sanchez

Mr.S wrote: »

The quality of the coffee might not be perfect but its still good~ and re: prices compared to the rest of Dublin it isn't expensive.

How much is a coffee in Starbucks? I've been in two Starbucks in Dublin and remember thinking they were pretty pricey to be fair.

admiralofthefleet

Cianos wrote: »

Starbucks isn't a franchise. The profits will be leaving the country. It may be creating jobs, but only by taking them from locally owned businesses.

yep, the starbucks 'Irish' head office is in London

jd83

great another place to get tar like coffee and reheated food! It nice to see the building getting use but it would be nicer to see a proper coffee place opening or something a bit more appealing than the crap starbucks and tgi slop out.

sideswipe

I like starbucks coffee:o

petethebrick

sideswipe wrote: »

I like starbucks coffee:o

I don't mine it either. It's certainly better than some of the other crap out there - Insomnia tastes like dishwater to me, how is it so popular???

But regardless I hate the idea of Starbucks opening yet another branch in an historic building in the city center - it should be confined to shopping centers in the suburbs and DCC should be aiming to put a bit of class to its main streets rather than selling them off bit by bit to brash and trashy multinationals

starviewadams

Better then having it empty I suppose,plus maybe it will help attract more people to the street besides drug addicts,dealers and beggars.

TheTwiz

Mr.S wrote: »

:rolleyes:

No. They are popular because they have a decent coffee menu, and the shops are usually quite big with comfy seats and free wifi.

The quality of the coffee might not be perfect but its still good~ and re: prices compared to the rest of Dublin it isn't expensive.

Its popular to just hate on starbucks for no reason

Opening across the road is a bit silly seing as the other one is about 20 seconds walk away and college green around the corner.

Could it be that TGI fridays are going to occupy the building and just serve starbucks brewed coffee?

It's like people who hate Apple products.They hate them for no reason. Great to see more life on the street but it's a bit mad with a Starbucks literally across the road

Twee.

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

How much is a coffee in Starbucks? I've been in two Starbucks in Dublin and remember thinking they were pretty pricey to be fair.

I think it depends what you're getting! Black/Americano versus mocha frappe chocolate cream syrupy thing!


I get the bus by the Bewley's site and it's always busy, no doubt they'll both do a lot of business. Also tends to be a lot of drunks/junkies there so maybe they'll be deterred.

Jesus Wept

Pleased something is going in there, now TGI's will be a bit closer. I rarely find any reason to go to Grafton Street / beyond.

Apart from across the road... there's a starbucks just around the corner on Dame street, lol.

monument

petethebrick wrote: »

I don't mine it either. It's certainly better than some of the other crap out there - Insomnia tastes like dishwater to me, how is it so popular???

Good question.

petethebrick wrote: »

But regardless I hate the idea of Starbucks opening yet another branch in an historic building in the city center - it should be confined to shopping centers in the suburbs and DCC should be aiming to put a bit of class to its main streets rather than selling them off bit by bit to brash and trashy multinationals

I think you'll find the city council do not own the building and do not have the powers to ban one brand!

trellheim

I hope they will keep the signposting to a minimum. McDonalds in Bray shows that a chain restaurant can fit in nicely anywhere with a minimum of fuss.

Cianos

TheTwiz wrote: »

It's like people who hate Apple products.They hate them for no reason. Great to see more life on the street but it's a bit mad with a Starbucks literally across the road

I don't have any issue with the product or service of Starbucks - they obviously run a good shop.

I do have issue with the effect their business model has on a city. Given that every Starbucks in the world looks pretty much the same, they're adding nothing new to the character of the city, but rather helping to erode any unique identity that comes with small locally owned businesses offering locals and tourists their own thing.

It's not a bad thing to think that Starbucks and their like shouldn't be let bully out the competition and suck business away from locally owned independent enterprises.

Marcusm

Cianos wrote: »

I don't have any issue with the product or service of Starbucks - they obviously run a good shop.

I do have issue with the effect their business model has on a city. Given that every Starbucks in the world looks pretty much the same, they're adding nothing new to the character of the city, but rather helping to erode any unique identity that comes with small locally owned businesses offering locals and tourists their own thing.

It's not a bad thing to think that Starbucks and their like shouldn't be let bully out the competition and suck business away from locally owned independent enterprises.

You'll be happy with the planed changes so as stores no longer have to conform to a brand standard and there are a wide variety f furnishings across new stres. Very obvious in London stores; menu remains the same though.

bureau2009

Marcusm wrote: »

You'll be happy with the planed changes so as stores no longer have to conform to a brand standard and there are a wide variety f furnishings across new stres. Very obvious in London stores; menu remains the same though.

But we had a world renowned, unique and historic coffee shop with great charm, visual appeal and atmosphere when BEWLEYS was there and now that is lost forever.........

:mad:

monument

bureau2009 wrote: »

But we had a world renowned, unique and historic coffee shop with great charm, visual appeal and atmosphere when BEWLEYS was there and now that is lost forever.........

:mad:

That loss happened some time ago now -- it really is time to move on.

The Scientician

Not a huge fan of SB/TGI but having that pretty much landmark unit occupied is better than it being left empty. Crazy state of affairs on such a busy thoroughfare which for visitors is often the first part of South Central Dublin they encounter.

Brian CivilEng

Great to see something going in there, the building was empty for so long and a Starbucks is much better than nothing in my view. Bewleys was great, but it's gone a long time and there wasn't an orderly queue of replacements forming to replace them.

TheTwiz wrote: »

It's like people who hate Apple products.They hate them for no reason.

I hate Apple products because I use them

But the biggest question that people are not addressing is where will Pat Ingoldsby sell his poetry books now?

HavingCrack

TheTwiz wrote: »

It's like people who hate Apple products.They hate them for no reason.

I hate them because I have to use that ridiculous operating system in work. It's turned me off ever even considering buying a Mac. I'll be sticking with PC's thanks.

haro124

athtrasna wrote: »

Absolutely! There are 4 around the Blanchardstown centre between the centre and the retail parks - and all are busy.

Theres actually 5 in Blanchardstown - New Look, Leisureplex , The cinema, the retail park and the one in the middle of the centre !

stovelid

Kinda sad because I have such memories of the bewleys but anything is better than an empty building in such a central location.

brick tamland

Is it just me or do people over romanticise over Bewleys? My memory of it was the breakfasts were'nt great. The same kind of thing as you get in any poor to average hotel, mass produced with average produce. Food wasn’t cheap either. Same kind of thing you could get these days in a Dunnes Stores Café of the like.

stovelid

My memories don't always take the shape of in-depth consumer reviews.

yer man!

brick tamland wrote: »

Is it just me or do people over romanticise over Bewleys? My memory of it was the breakfasts were'nt great. The same kind of thing as you get in any poor to average hotel, mass produced with average produce. Food wasn’t cheap either. Same kind of thing you could get these days in a Dunnes Stores Café of the like.

You're quite right, we had one in Galway too and it was very canteeny.... pickup a tray and go to several counters and the like. Chairs were really uncomfortable and the place was echoey and thus extremely loud, Not great.

Clanket

Give me a Starbucks over an empty building anytime. And they're popular for a reason. They provide a place for people to just hang out, instead of in a pub.

If people want something different, that's adds culturally to our city, why not open a shop yourself?

markpb

Clanket wrote: »

They provide a place for people to just hang out, instead of in a pub.

They also stay open reasonably late, which makes a nice change when you just want to sit and chat with people or you're waiting for something.