Have all the Dunnes gone the same way?

Was in the Dunnes in Cornlscourt and it now got a Shiridens cheeses room and a fancy butchers and deli, Kinda food porn. Are all the branches going like that, have they decided to ditch the value end because of Aldi and Lidil and reinvent themselves Waitrose or Harrods.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Who cares. Dunnes treat their staff like they're pieces of dirt, I wouldn't set foot in one again.

whiskeyman

mariaalice wrote: »

have they decided to ditch the value end

When they started selling a plank of wood for €60, surely that the end!

jimgoose

Well, they're definitely not the pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap operation of old. Between "Carolyn Donnelly Eclectic", Paul Costello and, most recently, Francis Brennan they seem to be trying to compete with Debenham's or some crowd like that.

whiskeyman

whiskeyman wrote: »

When they started selling a plank of wood for €60, surely that the end!

Or the Francis Brennan collection.

meeeeh

Our local Dunnes still has employees wearing 20 years old uniforms, broken trolleys and the most high end cheese is extra mature Dubliner. They competing hard with Tesco for the most grubby shop in town. Tesco lost some bonus points after they figured out it's better to provide some bins than collect rubbish from the trolleys.

Going to refurbished Lidl feels like luxury in comparison.

corner of hells

meeeeh wrote: »

Our local Dunnes still has employees wearing 20 years old uniforms, broken trolleys and the most high end cheese is extra mature Dubliner. They competing hard with Tesco for the most grubby shop in town. Tesco lost some bonus points after they figured out it's better to provide some bins than collect rubbish from the trolleys.

Going to refurbished Lidl in feels like luxury in comparison.

Downtown Mosul or Aleppo ?

meeeeh

corner of hells wrote: »

Downtown Mosul or Aleppo ?

Midlands.

Winterlong

mariaalice wrote: »

Or the Francis Brennan collection.

Francis Brennan has a collection? You are fcking trolling now.

WhoWhatWhere

Dunnes Stores isn't like it used to be. It's not trying to be the "always better value" shop it was at one time. Problem is people who want the likes of debanhams go to debanhams and when they want reasonbly priced groceries they pop to Aldi or Lidl. Dunnes in Enniscorthy seems to be trying to take over the town, denying Penny's and TK Maxx from opening up in the old Dunne stores retail unit on Main Street. I've noticed people responding in the only useful way; with their wallets and purses respectively.

tigger123

mariaalice wrote: »

Was in the Dunnes in Cornlscourt and it now got a Shiridens cheeses room and a fancy butchers and deli, Kinda food porn. Are all the branches going like that, have they decided to ditch the value end because of Aldi and Lidil and reinvent themselves Waitrose or Harrods.

I think it's Sheridans (?)

But spelling it Shiridens make it sound suuuuper posh!

Kaizersoze81

Winterlong wrote: »

Francis Brennan has a collection? You are fcking trolling now.

http://m.dunnesstores.com/view-all/francis-brennan-the-collection/fcp-category/list

super_furry

http://rsvpmagazine.ie/dunnes-are-selling-a-plank-of-wood-for-e60/

Don't forget their €60 plank of wood.

Winterlong

Kaizersoze81 wrote: »

http://m.dunnesstores.com/view-all/francis-brennan-the-collection/fcp-category/list

I have seen it all now. What dope would want to buy anything associated with the most annoying man in ireland?

Anyway, that's it. Wont darken Dunnes's doorway again.

eeguy

corner of hells wrote: »

Downtown Mosul or Aleppo ?

meeeeh wrote: »

Midlands.

Worse...

maximum12

I've noticed in more than one branch that the staff are very unprofessional. They constantly seem to be messing or else engaged in conversation or bitching about something. They're not in any rush to stop the conversation when a customer is standing there waiting. Eventually staff will do whatever they get away with so there seems to be very weak store management.

BOHtox

Worked in Dunnes for 3 years. Left a year and a half ago and haven't stepped foot back in it since. Horrible, horrible place to work.

Malari

Winterlong wrote: »

Francis Brennan has a collection? You are fcking trolling now.

It's only a collection. Edits are the new thing :cool:

http://www.dunnesstores.com/carolyn-donnelly-the-edit/women/fcp-category/home

valoren

I believe that the Dunnes on the North Main Street in Cork City also serves as a gateway to Hell.

Charles Babbage

valoren wrote: »

I believe that the Dunnes on the North Main Street in Cork City also serves as a gateway to Hell.

That should be convenient for the many locals for whom Hell is their destination.

super_furry

BOHtox wrote: »

Worked in Dunnes for 3 years. Left a year and a half ago and haven't stepped foot back in it since. Horrible, horrible place to work.

Think they've always had a history of treating their staff like garbage. I worked there part-time way back when in my college days and there was just a culture of everyone higher up absolutely sh1tting on the people below - across the board. I was a shelf stacker and my boss was crap to me, his boss talked to him like a dog and so on.

Left there after about a year and was kind of amazed that when I started my next job, that it wasn't a perpetual warzone.

It's a long time since I've been in a Dunnes, but the clothing areas are now laid out almost exactly the same way as M&S so I'm not surprised they're trying to upgrade their food 'experience' as well. It's a shop that doesn't know who it's customer base is anymore.

Colser

valoren wrote:

I believe that the Dunnes on the North Main Street in Cork City also serves as a gateway to Hell.

That's closed.

super_furry

Colser wrote: »

That's closed.

That's what they want you to think.

TheDriver

Not as bad as ballyvolane one

RayM

meeeeh wrote: »

Our local Dunnes still has employees wearing 20 years old uniforms, broken trolleys and the most high end cheese is extra mature Dubliner. They competing hard with Tesco for the most grubby shop in town.

It can't be worse than the old Dunnes Stores (if it's even still open) in Portlaoise...

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.039562,-7.3075619,3a,75y,57.86h,85.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slyxe7kMWJ-8RzufeHek2lg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Colser

super_furry wrote:

That's what they want you to think.

Thanks for the heads up ðŸ˜

meeeeh

Candie wrote: »

It's a long time since I've been in a Dunnes, but the clothing areas are now laid out almost exactly the same way as M&S so I'm not surprised they're trying to upgrade their food 'experience' as well. It's a shop that doesn't know who it's customer base is anymore.

I'm not sure copying M&S clothing strategy makes sense considering they are tanking for a while. But then maybe they decided M&S ate there for the taking. I prefer their strategy to go a bit more upmarket than race to the bottom with Penny's.

razorblunt

TheDriver wrote: »

Not as bad as ballyvolane one

Shudder.
I have memories of doing the Thursday night shop with the parents up there as a child. I then went out with a girl who lived in Ballyvolane over 20 years later and popped in there the odd time.
It was like walking back in time, it was the exact same.

sligojoek

Have all the Dunnes gone the same way?

No. Ben split from them after the cocaine incident. He runs gyms now.

Elliott S

Candie wrote: »

It's a long time since I've been in a Dunnes, but the clothing areas are now laid out almost exactly the same way as M&S so I'm not surprised they're trying to upgrade their food 'experience' as well. It's a shop that doesn't know who it's customer base is anymore.

I quite like Dunnes clothes and always have done. Lots of good basics and always decent quality, I find. I've had lots of clothes items down the years that people have complimented and then been surprised to hear where I got them.

meeeeh

meeeeh wrote: »

I'm not sure copying M&S clothing strategy makes sense considering they are tanking for a while. But then maybe they decided M&S ate there for the taking. I prefer their strategy to go a bit more upmarket than race to the bottom with Penny's.

I hate Primark stores with a passion for a lot of reasons.

I assume prices in Dunnes are also rising to reflect the more salubrious surroundings, yet the whole brand is still associated with chain-store-cheap in my mind (and I assume most peoples). I have a feeling they're going to tank more if it's already going that way, this is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Elliott S

Elliott S wrote: »

I quite like Dunnes clothes and always have done. Lots of good basics and always decent quality, I find. I've had lots of clothes items down the years that people have complimented and then been surprised to hear where I got them.

I get at least two sweaters a year sent to me by my Granny from Dunnes. They do a lot of fairly ordinary but reasonable quality stuff.

Grannies always worry that you're not warm, it's like a granny commandment. She used to send me socks :P

mariaalice

mariaalice wrote: »

Was in the Dunnes in Cornlscourt and it now got a Shiridens cheeses room and a fancy butchers and deli, Kinda food porn. Are all the branches going like that, have they decided to ditch the value end because of Aldi and Lidil and reinvent themselves Waitrose or Harrods.

I avoid Dunnes nowadays because they have ditched their attempts at being cheap while not being as good as somewhere like M&S.

Corruptedmorals

The Dunnes I worked in years back has been done up to the nines, looks much fancier and more high end than M&S, Debenhams and the rest. Once they got rid of the awful uniform it was a sign of real change...they even seem to have swung away from chronic understaffing to having enough to stand around like saps in the posh concession brands. But they'll never stop treating their staff like absolute dirt.

MilesMorales1

Now I think about it, I haven't shopped in dunnes in about a year, how odd. If I want some 'high end' food I'll go to Marks & Spencers, if I want cheap I'll go the pound shops or Tesco, if I'm in a hurry Supervalu is much closer. They're pretty rubbish, I mean what do they have that tesco or whatever doesn't. Least Tesco is cheap is real grubby.

Annasopra

Winterlong wrote: »

Francis Brennan has a collection? You are fcking trolling now.

Bedsheets

Annasopra

Candie wrote: »

It's a long time since I've been in a Dunnes, but the clothing areas are now laid out almost exactly the same way as M&S so I'm not surprised they're trying to upgrade their food 'experience' as well. It's a shop that doesn't know who it's customer base is anymore.

Yep. The small dunnes are like they were 20 years ago. The bigger ones or the south dublin ones are like some sort of M and S/Harrods/Avoca/Brown Thomas experience.

The thing I laughed at most was an Irish Times pr puff piece that said

“Margaret [Heffernan] is democratising good food,”

Elliott S

Candie wrote: »

I get at least two sweaters a year sent to me by my Granny from Dunnes. They do a lot of fairly ordinary but reasonable quality stuff.

Grannies always worry that you're not warm, it's like a granny commandment. She used to send me socks :P

I love going barefoot as much as possible. I just like my feet to be wild and free!

When I'd been strolling around our house in winter, crossing cold tile with my toes a blueish hue, my granny would go daft if she caught me! "You'll catch your death!!!" Grannies are obsessed with the warding off the cold. When we'd visit her in winter, as soon as we entered the house, she'd order us to take off our coats, hats and scarves because she reckoned if we kept them on, they'd be less effective when we stepped out into the cold again later on!

meeeeh

Candie wrote: »

I hate Primark stores with a passion for a lot of reasons.

I assume prices in Dunnes are also rising to reflect the more salubrious surroundings, yet the whole brand is still associated with chain-store-cheap in my mind (and I assume most peoples). I have a feeling they're going to tank more if it's already going that way, this is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

M&S are tanking, I don't know about Dunnes clothing but I think their market share is going up in comparison to Tesco's. So I think what they are doing might actually work for them.

Snake Plisken

mariaalice wrote: »

Was in the Dunnes in Cornlscourt and it now got a Shiridens cheeses room and a fancy butchers and deli, Kinda food porn. Are all the branches going like that, have they decided to ditch the value end because of Aldi and Lidil and reinvent themselves Waitrose or Harrods.

Ah Dunnes Cornelscourt is Margaret Heffernan's local so everything is really top notch in there to keep her and other directors who live in the locality happy!

When Francis Brennan says "Shhhh" on the radio advertisement before he speaks, that's the last nail in the coffin for Dunnes, in my mind.

The way they treat their workers is the biggest factor for me, though. I'm not sure Tesco or Lidl are a whole lot better, especially with Tesco trying to unilaterally change their employees' contracts. Lidl seems like a satisfactory enough place to work, in the sense that the assistants look reasonably happy, and I haven't heard any horror stories.

That's where I shop, the food is cheap and the quality is pretty good, especially fresh fruit & vegetables. Some of the wines are particularly decent in the tenner price-range.

Tesco are decent to work for, and no I don't work for them.

davycc

Hugh Mungus wrote: »

Who cares. Dunnes treat their staff like they're pieces of dirt, I wouldn't set foot in one again.

+1 I and my extended family are still boycotting their stores even before the strike and I had the misfortune of working in one of these dumps for a few years under some gimp managers who treated the staff as expendable assets

newacc2015

Hugh Mungus wrote: »

Who cares. Dunnes treat their staff like they're pieces of dirt, I wouldn't set foot in one again.

At least they are fair with their suppliers. They arent like our favourite British Supermarket who haul their suppliers in once a year to put their under extreme pressure to cut prices. I don't think Dunnes used to make suppliers pay for a space on their shelves like the British Supermarket used to do ( until it was outlawed).

Aldi and Lidl are grand here. But they arent the stellar employees in Germany, as they are here.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

They're selling a collar for 200 euro. Gituptafug, I would.

Elliott S

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

That's where I shop, the food is cheap and the quality is pretty good, especially fresh fruit & vegetables.

Everyone always mentions the fruit and veg in Aldi and Lidl as a plus, but I often find the produce to be of poor quality compared to greengrocers and other supermarkets.

Holograph

The one on North Earl Street off O'Connell Street was like an 80s time warp last time I went in there. I don't know if it's always the case that the fancy ones are only in affluent areas though (the one in Henry Street is a newish, fancy one) but I'd say it is often the case. There are however old Dunnes in all kinds of areas, with low footfall, that are not changed much, as there is no point in such an investment. Dunnes just want to hold onto the retail space rather than pack up and vacate the place for a competitor to nab.

WhoWhatWhere

Elliott S wrote: »

Everyone always mentions the fruit and veg in Aldi and Lidl as a plus, but I often find the produce to be of poor quality compared to greengrocers and other supermarkets.

If you're in early you get the good stuff, anything after midday is generally rubbish. Supervalu in my opinion has the best selection of fruit and vegetables in any supermarket, in wexford anyway.

HeidiHeidi

The one(s) in Crumlin shopping centre have to be the absolute worst. If they're not all closed at this stage - I know the Tesco there closed a while back.

They just had random departments in random small shops around the centre - in order to do a full shop you had to walk the length of the centre and queue up in about five different sub-shops.

Haven't been there in years, though, so maybe they finally gave up and just closed everything? I don't think there was more than about two or three other non-Dunnes shops left in the centre when I was last there.

Zooouma

Drapery prices gone up & customers gone down a lot over rent years