Christmas ads for now-defunct Irish supermarkets

supereurope

A few months ago, I posted some old newspaper ads for Irish supermarkets that are no longer with us. Let's do it again, this time with Christmas ads.

Five Star - ads from 1969, 1975 and 1978, the chain's last Christmas before it was taken over by Quinnsworth.

Power Supermarkets - 1965 and 1970. Power was a fairly short-lived name on Irish streets. After it took over Quinnsworth in 1972, it decided to brand all stores as Quinnsworth.

3 Guys - 1979. Another short-lived name in Irish retail. By 1979, Albert Gubay was already gone, with Tesco now owning the chain. This was 3 Guys' last Christmas before all stores were rebranded to Tesco.

Tesco - 1982 and 1985, Tesco's last Christmas in Ireland before it pulled out in March 1986. It would be back...

More to follow...

supereurope

Quinnsworth - 1974, 1977 and 1980

L&N - 1980, 1988, 1991

Superquinn - it seems Feargal Quinn didn't go for Christmas ads, so here's their opening hours ad from 1993, and an ad from 2010. The chain was owned by Select Retail by that time, and it would collapse the following year.

H Williams - ads from 1975, 1978 and 1984

Princess Calla

The difference in opening times in 1993 compared to today's 2am and 24hr opening in Dunnes and Tesco.....mad how society has changed (not saying it's a bad thing....there's obviously a demand and staff would often be in nightpacking anyway, so makes sense to be open I suppose)

supereurope

It's the after Christmas opening hours that I've seen the most change in...there was a time when shops might not reopen until the 28th, or later in the event the 25th and 26th fell on a weekend. Now they're open St Stephen's Day. I think the department stores would start their sales on the 27th "back in the day", now it's St Stephen's Day. Tesco etc are now open too on the 26th, which is a shame.

I do wonder does it really spread out the crowds...I've been in supermarkets at 11pm or 6am in the run-up to Christmas and they've always been jammed...so does everyone have the same idea and go at odd hours thinking it'll be quiet?

Outside of the Christmas period, 24-hour supermarket shopping has faded away...seem to recall it was all the rage in the 2000s. I remember stopping in Cornelscourt at 3am for sweets on my way back from a night in Club 92 circa 2006 (I had a 10k later that day so was teetotal in 92 and needed the sweets for a sugar boost.)

I think what I find weirdest about those old ads is the inclusion of cigarettes.

odyssey06

Some interesting ads there.

Yes noticed the long closing period over the hols.

Although while the supermarkets again sooner now in my experience v little new stock on the shelves.

Princess Calla

With online shopping alot of sales start on Christmas Day 😂.

I worked retail in the 90's and 00's and you'd always be kept busy with the sales regardless when the shop actually opened.

There's a mixture of people, the ones that see it as a day out, browse shops have a lunch that's mostly a liquid lunch and head off home again.

The absolute bargain hunters who know exactly what they want and beeline to the product.

Then the ones that are escaping whatever is happening at home for a few hours.

Regarding supermarket shopping, it can often appear busier than it is if enough tills aren't open. The majority of shoppers will have trolleys so if one till gets held up for whatever reason it will cause a backlog fairly rapidly.

I would love to know when the "sweet spot" is for grocery shopping as it's the one chore I hate at Christmas...more the lack of parking and then trolleys.....queues don't bother me too much once they do move, even if it's a slow pace.

L1011

With a variety of jobs that have rarely had me tied 100% to an office desk since 2008 or so, my own experience is earlier in the day earlier in the week - even if that can be somewhat closer to Christmas itself, e.g. a Monday at 11am is likely to be quieter than the Friday three days before it at 11am.

Will not apply if the Monday is the 24th!

Conqueror

Five Star own brand sherry: 6/11 (35p) in 1969, 75p (15/-) in 1975! The Paxo was 2p cheaper in 3 Guys in 1979 than in Five Star the previous year, but the turkey in 3 Guys/ Tesco jumped between 1979 and 1982!

NewbridgeIR

Thanks very much OP for those adverts.

Seeing the L&N ones made me very nostalgic - I worked there as a part-timer from 1987-1989. After school and Saturdays. No trolley deposits then so they could be found all over the town. Or occasionally in the river.

geographica

Ahhh the €25 slabs, those were the days

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121569140#Comment_121569140

I often wonder where defunct Irish retailers like L&N, Roches, Quinnsworth etc. might have gone had they not been taken over. It looks like L&N in the early 90s was looking to position itself as a Superquinn-style "quality" supermarket, as well as starting to expand out of its traditional south-east heartland, opening shops in Ashbourne, Listowel and Drogheda. I think the Musgraves takeover was a surprise, there was no indication L&N was for sale or in any sort of financial difficulty.

L1011

The Ashbourne one was still called L&N Supervalu for a bit longer after the rebrand, as the now Centra in Garden City had already been a Supervalu since before the takeover. That Centra would be far too small to be a Supervalu these days.