Clery's O'Connell Street is gone

Phoenix3

Just heard from an employee That Clery,s has closed with immediate effect and has been liquidated despite earlier news of the company has been sold.

Penny Tration

Phoenix3 wrote: »

Just heard from an employee That Clery,s has closed with immediate effect and has been liquidated despite earlier news of the company has been sold.

Sh*t

Ben D Bus

http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2015/0612/707689-clerys-sale/

That's bad

kerry4sam

Hopefully it will re-open as Clerys again in the not too distant future. Such an iconic building and clock!

Thanks,
kerry4sam

Phoenix3

kerry4sam wrote: »

Hopefully it will re-open as Clerys again in the not too distant future. Such an iconic building and clock!

Thanks,
kerry4sam

From what I heard, it dosen't look likely

road_high

Rubbish news but I'm not totally surprised. I've often gone in for a wonder around the men's depts and I've never bought a thing. For me, it's just not up to date in what it offers and price wise relatively expensive. Arnotts is leagues ahead. As are the likes of Zara etc.

Wanderer78

just seen it flash up on rte news now. dreadful news. my thoughts are with the staff and their families right now

Phoenix3

road_high wrote: »

Rubbish news but I'm not totally surprised. I've often gone in for a wonder around the men's depts and I've never bought a thing. For me, it's just not up to date in what it offers and price wise relatively expensive. Arnotts is leagues ahead. As are the likes of Zara etc.

Sorry if you think it's rubbish news,maybe I shouldn't have bothered my backside starting the thread.

bpmurray

With that lovely clock, the building would make a great MacDonalds.

Wanderer78

bpmurray wrote: »

With that lovely clock, the building would make a great MacDonalds.

oh god, please, no

Yellowblackbird

It's a grand building. Maybe they could put in some amusements.
A burger and chip place upstairs. Snooker on the top floor.

Merl1n

Sad news such an iconic store

Kermit.de.frog

The country is uncompetitive and that costs jobs. No lessons have been learned from the crisis.

This is where all the pay rise lark becomes fatal for jobs. Sad to see it close but not at all surprised.

Arthur Daley

Damn. Clerys is great and I found the mens dept to be good value and a better place to shop than arnotts. Which is a bit too blingy and modern now for me.

I saw the sale story but didn't think it meant a liquidation. Hope it's open and back on it's feet soon. Such a part of dublin.

Doctor DooM

Heart breaking news. I worked there for years as did many family members.

It was basically like working in the biggest corner shop in the world.

Learned a lot about how to deal with people and how the world works, and even if people don't realise, Dublin is a lot poorer for not having a Clerys in it.

road_high

Phoenix3 wrote: »

Sorry if you think it's rubbish news,maybe I shouldn't have bothered my backside starting the thread.

Wtf? I meant it's rubbish news as in bad news...thanks for starting the thread, very news worthy.

sabat

They had a great chance to bring it up to speed during the recent closure but the range of goods just wasn't up to scratch and the layout felt a bit claustrophobic.

road_high

bpmurray wrote: »

With that lovely clock, the building would make a great MacDonalds.

Would the likes of John Lewis be interested?

road_high

sabat wrote: »

They had a great chance to bring it up to speed during the recent closure but the range of goods just wasn't up to scratch and the layout felt a bit claustrophobic.

I was in it about a month ago. Had a look around and thought same to myself, nothing much had changed. Can't remember when I last bought something in there. And that's the problem. It's customer base has been dying and they haven't moved on much.

L1011

road_high wrote: »

Would the likes of John Lewis be interested?

I suspect this is the likely result.

This has come as a surprise as they were operating normally as recently as yesterday - we'd deal with their marketing/advertising in work and future plans were on the table.

The staff I ever worked with there were all very good; although (and I suspect this is the crux of the issue) I can't remember ever buying anything there.

Wanderer78

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

The country is uncompetitive and that costs jobs. No lessons have been learned from the crisis.

This is where all the pay rise lark becomes fatal for jobs. Sad to see it close but not at all surprised.

im thinking the same as well. im not sure we ve learned a thing from this recession but pay cuts and increases in taxes aint working at all. globalisation is costing jobs. this race to the bottom has got to stop. its not sustainable.

Arthur Daley

It's not much good for o'connell st. heading into 2016 if clerys sits there empty for a while. This was the main dublin store on the main street of the country, so makes me wonder how strong this recovery really is.

retalivity

The home dept was grand, bought stuff in there a few weeks ago, only problem was it was hidden way up the top.

Don't think I bought clothes in there since I was in college 10 yrs ago...

TheQuietFella

Best of luck to all concerned. I've been on the receiving end myself (no pun intended) and it hasn't
been easy so fight hard for everything you can. Small money in todays economy!

Eutow

sugarman wrote: »

Not surprised, its the location.

Theres nothing down there.

If im shopping in the city centre, the first place I will head for things is to Graton St, and then Henry st.

Would never walk down as a far as there.

The shop also seemed so dated and prices were just too expensive.

What do you mean it's the location? Walking from Grafton Street to Henry Street you are passing close to, or walking on O'Connell Street. I would hate to see you in a big city like London or New York. How would you cope with actually distance between tourist spots.

markpb

Is anyone else confused by the fact that it was sold and put into liquidation on the same day, I presume they're related somehow?

Wanderer78

Arthur Daley wrote: »

so makes me wonder how strong this recovery really is.

im not convinced by this 'recovery' at all. im fearing the worst has yet to come with thousands of families facing home repossessions etc.

Wanderer78

now that was hard to watch on rte nine news

Eutow

sugarman wrote: »

...iv lived in London and SF.

There's not only one way to Henry st.

Quickest and handiest way would be to walk down through temple bar, over the millennium or happeny bridge and up through Liffey st to where Jervis / Arnotts is.. That's where id do my shopping. Not going beyond where debenhams/old roches stores is as there's feck all there.

Still only a five minute detour from that route though. It's basically sitting on the corner of one of the busiest streets/junctions in Dublin. If that isn't a prime location I don't know what is.

LadyFenghuang

road_high wrote: »

Rubbish news but I'm not totally surprised. I've often gone in for a wonder around the men's depts and I've never bought a thing. For me, it's just not up to date in what it offers and price wise relatively expensive. Arnotts is leagues ahead. As are the likes of Zara etc.

They didn't vary enough to take advantage of the type of traffic they were getting. It's very sad to hear though. For the staff obviously but also for Dublin. :-(

Miaireland

My heart goes out to the staff of Clerys.

Doctor DooM

Wanderer78 wrote: »

now that was hard to watch on rte nine news

I've known that guy since I was 16. He deserves better than this.

MouseTail

I don't think it will remain empty for long, its a prime retail spot, and an iconic location. I remember the same angst when Switzers closed.
Clerys simply didn't keep relevant to a changing consumer base, compared to Arnotts for example.

Wanderer78

Doctor DooM wrote: »

I've known that guy since I was 16. He deserves better than this.

im very saddened by this news. this will be a dreadful weekend for the staff and their families.

Kermit.de.frog

MouseTail wrote: »

I don't think it will remain empty for long

Given the area it is in and the extent to which it has been run down I can see it being vacant for quite a while and probably a lower socio economic brand will take it up eventually.


There is a mix of things at fault here in my opinion:

1. bad management
2. uncompetitive trading conditions
3. Dublin City Council overseeing and allowing the deterioration of the whole O'Connell Street area and environs which meant fewer people would go their to shop. Yes, believe it or not, making junkieville out of the northside of our city has consequences.

It's a whole mixture of things that means the store is not viable.

Wanderer78

MouseTail wrote: »

I don't think it will remain empty for long

and this is where i have a major problem with the way this whole thing works. theres 400 people out of a job now. what will they and their families do now? even if another business sets up in the building, im pretty sure it wont do much good to the staff of clearys. this disposability of employees has got to stop. it causes major problems for a society.

Kermit.de.frog

Wanderer78 wrote: »

this disposability of employees has got to stop. .

Tell us how this might be achieved. The store is bankrupt.

Mongfinder General

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Tell us how this might be achieved. The store is bankrupt.

hand over 64 billion euro to bail them out?

EricPraline

Eutow wrote: »

Still only a five minute detour from that route though. It's basically sitting on the corner of one of the busiest streets/junctions in Dublin. If that isn't a prime location I don't know what is.

It may be at the focal point of the busiest street in Ireland, but it is not a shopping street and sadly not anywhere pedestrians want to linger. In the last two decades O'Connell Street has just become somewhere you catch a bus or pass through as quickly as possible to get to Grafton Street or Henry Street. What reason to take a detour there if you don't have to?

Realistically if O'Connell Street really was prime, it would be filled with flagship stores as per Kurfürstendamm in Berlin or the better parts of the Champs-Elysées. Instead we have Dr Quirkey's. Unfortunately can't imagine the terminal decline of O'Connell Street has helped Clerys, it seemed increasingly out of place there.

Ben D Bus

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

3. Dublin City Council overseeing and allowing the deterioration of the whole O'Connell Street area and environs which meant fewer people would go their to shop. Yes, believe it or not, making junkieville out of the northside of our city has consequences.

Sadly this may be true, even if not the main cause. If nothing else, I hope this acts as a major wakeup call to those responsible for the management of the city centre.

Wanderer78

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Tell us how this might be achieved. The store is bankrupt.

you pose a very good question, a question i dont have the answer to but im sure the accountants seen this coming months back. surely a system could be put in place whereby businesses that are showing signs of serious distress, should be made to reveal this information to those that may be able to help, all in good time of course, in order to prevent these kind of serious events from happening. maybe some other posters have some other better ideas. companies dont just close down over night, its normally a series of progressive failures.

L1011

Wanderer78 wrote: »

im not convinced by this 'recovery' at all. im fearing the worst has yet to come with thousands of families facing home repossessions etc.

The recovery is already a number of years in. Consumer confidence is up hugely, consumer spending is up, unemployment and live register figures falling and exchequer returns to match

Trying to convince yourself otherwise is counter productive.

Eutow

EricPraline wrote: »

It may be at the focal point of the busiest street in Ireland, but it is not a shopping street and sadly not anywhere pedestrians want to linger. In the last two decades O'Connell Street has just become somewhere you catch a bus or pass through as quickly as possible to get to Grafton Street or Henry Street. What reason to take a detour there if you don't have to?

Realistically if O'Connell Street really was prime, it would be filled with flagship stores as per Kurfürstendamm in Berlin or the better parts of the Champs-Elysées. Instead we have Dr Quirkey's. Unfortunately can't imagine the terminal decline of O'Connell Street has helped Clerys, it seemed increasingly out of place there.

Sadly I have to agree. Due to poor planning and high rents it has been allowed to get to this state.

Kermit.de.frog

Wanderer78 wrote: »

companies dont just close down over night, its normally a series of progressive failures.

It's a lot more delicate then that though.


One example - if a company was to say it was in trouble a year before bankruptcy what supplier would touch them? None.

That is just one problem. There are certain things that perversely have to remain quiet for practical trading reasons.

At the end of the day (and I have been saying this for years) the area has been intentionally and fecklessly run down and damn all done about it. Hence people rarely shop there now. This is just one consequence of the feckless management of the city center.

As a poster above said. Even Cleary's as it was was increasingly out of place in the area.

Wanderer78

L1011 wrote: »

The recovery is already a number of years in. Consumer confidence is up hugely, consumer spending is up, unemployment and live register figures falling and exchequer returns to match

Trying to convince yourself otherwise is counter productive.

i find this language very very odd! you remind me of how david mcwilliams felt during the banking crisis and the lead up to it. he was ridiculed for warning people about it. people told him, talking down the economy was dangerous talk! be very very very careful. im not convinced at all by this recovery. not one bit.

all im seeing is many many families struggling. not convinced at all and you wont convince me either

porsche959

So the iconic Clery's survived two world wars, the eighties recession, the 2008/2009 bust, but didn't manage to survive the Fine Gael/Liebour "recovery"!

SEPT 23 1989

this is the real economy not some shiney tax dodge

Wanderer78

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

It's a lot more delicate then that though.


One example - if a company was to say it was in trouble a year before bankruptcy what supplier would touch them? None.

That is just one problem. There are certain things that perversely have to remain quiet for practical trading reasons.

At the end of the day (and I have been saying this for years) the area has been intentionally and fecklessly run down and damn all done about it. Hence people rarely shop there now. This is just one consequence of the feckless management of the city center.

As a poster above said. Even Cleary's as it was was increasingly out of place in the area.

yea i know what your saying, its not clear cut at all but surely there must be ways of preventing these dreadful incidences.

Streetwalker

Such sad news. Loved the store and had bucket loads of character compared to the same old same on grafton street/retail outlets etc... O'Connell street is such a fantastic street packed full of everything that makes Dublin a great city. It will be missed.

ollaetta

Yellowblackbird wrote: »

It's a grand building. Maybe they could put in some amusements.
A burger and chip place upstairs. Snooker on the top floor.

Way off the mark. It will be a much needed methadone clinic.

Seriously though, that's very bad news. Sad to see it go.

Ben D Bus

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

this is the real economy not some shiney tax dodge

No, the real economy is doing very well. Retail is up over 8% in the last year and yet this still happened. This is poor management, both of the store and of the city centre.

http://www.retailireland.ie/IBEC/Press/PressPublicationsdoclib3.nsf/wvRINewsByTitle/retail-recovery-strengthens-as-sales-accelerate-in-april-28-05-2015?OpenDocument