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Evolution of Pubs

Michael Weston

Its no secret Irish pubs are a dying breed at the moment with closures everyday. My question is this, assuming price was not the issue and live music is not the answer what do you think our local bars need to do to evolve and survive??

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anniehoo

Deleted User wrote: »

When I first saw this thread, I thought that it said "Evolution of pubes" dyslexia strikes again, :rolleyes:

I actually read its as "Evolution of Dubs" ...and went FFS in my head

Sir Gallagher

There are too many pubs in Ireland, we're not a big pack of raging alcos anymore so now there are hundreds of pub all over the country with not enough drinkers to fill them.

desertcircus

To answer both previous questions: I'm not claiming every small village should have a craft beer pub. I'm saying that if Dublin can support about ten separate craft beer pubs, most decent sized towns could probably support one pub offering the umusual stuff alongside the usual.

Also: the pubs I mentioned may be a minority, but I suspect their profit margins are way beyond the industry average. And the number of them is increasing rapidly - ten years ago it was Messrs and the Porterhouse. Not to mention the number of pubs selling draft Paulaner these days - a product that wasn't even on the radar eight or nine years ago. I used to have to buy wheat beer from a particular offie; now it's on tap all over the place.

This isn't a choice between risking your shirt on the new stuff or doing well with the usual; a lot of pubs are simply going to go to the wall. Selling five pints of Bud for 25 quid to a guy who can get two dozen cans from Tesco for the same price isn't going to cut it as a business plan, so they're going to have to think of a way to attract punters. In a town with a handful of beer enthusiasts, becoming their first choice pub (and by extension the place they want to get their friends to go to) might be the difference between staying above water and going to the wall.

suicide_circus

The absolute state of the jacks in a lot of Dublin pubs has to be seen to be believed. It should be clean, have working locks on the cubicles, HAVE TOILET SEATS ON THE TOILETS, the taps should have water andthere should be soap in the dispenser, is that really such a big ask?
I guess its a sad reflection on ourselves that publicans have to pay some ethnic minority to sit in the jacks and shake down drunks for spare change

the groutch

if they want business, they need to stop alienating non-drinkers by having prices so high.
five euro (more than most pints) for a "pint" of rock shandy (two of those little bottles and a heap of ice) is pure rip-off.

Peetrik

I reckon the loud music is the single most annoying thing in a pub. There is nothing worse than sitting bored with no clue whats being said by anyone not sitting directly beside you. Its horrible.
If I get any say in the matter I vote for drinking in a house where you can have an actual conversation before going to a club just because of the loud music.
On top of that the music being blared is usually shíte so your just sitting listening to music you actively dislike, reflecting on how expensive your drink is.

[Deleted User]

A toilet on the same level as the the bar. When I'm dying for a ****e after 15 pints of Guinness I really don't need a set of stairs to negotiate.

k.p.h

Pubs need to switch to the winning formula.

Decor and furnishing... None.. A few seats you can sit on and somewhere to lay your pint. A few high ones for the bar. Heated by a turf fueled open fire. The more run down the place the better. No need for a vast expanse of a pub a small room will do the job.

Beer,dirt cheap. Only one stout,one ale,one beer on tap,no frills. Large bottles from the fridge and from the shelf. Spirits from a measure and mixers from the bottle. 7up and coke on the counter, self service. Once you get a glass hang on to it because the barman who is drinking himself sure to run out.

Live music at the weekend, but not one amplifier in sight. Free pints for the session musicians and doubles if you play the fiddle. The only songs that are sung or played were wrote in Ireland or wrote abroad about Ireland.

Jacks, the lads have a wall and the ladies will be wise to carry supplies in their bag. Closing time, when the voices are gone or the liver fails. Carry out, black bags if you feel you can go on. Taxi, Mother Teresa couldn't get reception in this place boyo, looks like you'l be walking, moons bright you'l be grand.

*Describing the local of my youth, Jesus it was a mad place, always hopping. Everyone played an instrument and knew the words to all the songs. It was such a dive aesthetically it was brilliant. There was no fashion, no pretense or one-upmanship, I don't even think the Jones ever drank there. Once you stepped inside the door you were their for one thing only.. the craic,the banter and the sing song..

fasttalkerchat

batistuta9 wrote: »

buying drink in aldi + selling it on is illegal is it not, well that's beside the point as pubs do things like this anyway

Its only illegal if you don't pay duty and tax. You might be breaking a contract with the brewery/supplier.

Every store manager in LIDL/ALDI would be delighted with the extra turnover and productivity and will/should go out of their way to accommodate you.

batistuta9

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Its only illegal if you don't pay duty and tax. You might be breaking a contract with the brewery/supplier.

Every store manager in LIDL/ALDI would be delighted with the extra turnover and productivity and will/should go out of their way to accommodate you.

so does this mean that anyone who owns a pub can go into the supermarket for a box of beer and resell them in their own pub for a profit?

that can't be legal

Potential-Monke

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Every store manager in LIDL/ALDI would be delighted with the extra turnover and productivity and will/should go out of their way to accommodate you.

If pubs started selling ice cold Reinbacher i'd be there every night!!

Zebra3

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Every store manager in LIDL/ALDI would be delighted with the extra turnover and productivity and will/should go out of their way to accommodate you.

I doubt they'd be that happy. Don't supermarkets sell beer as a loss leader? (i.e. to get customers in their shop to buy the rest of their shopping?)

mikemac1

Sometimes supermarkets put in limits like two slabs per sale.

I suppose if you keep coming in, buying and coming back they can always just refuse to serve you

[Deleted User]

Zebra3 wrote: »

I doubt they'd be that happy. Don't supermarkets sell beer as a loss leader? (i.e. to get customers in their shop to buy the rest of their shopping?)

Doubt it. Lidl have beer at 6.29 usual price, often reduced to 4 quid. Mate and I go in once a week and it's all we buy so they would've barred us by now if they were making a loss on it :pac:

desertcircus

k.p.h wrote: »

Beer,dirt cheap. Only one stout,one ale,one beer on tap,no frills...

Live music at the weekend, but not one amplifier in sight. Free pints for the session musicians and doubles if you play the fiddle. The only songs that are sung or played were wrote in Ireland or wrote abroad about Ireland...

I would quite possibly never go out drinking if all pubs were like this.

Rabidlamb

They removed conversation from pubs with Sky Sports 24/7 & loud music back in the glory days as talking people don't drink as fast.

I was out for the first time since Christmas on Saturday for the FA Cup Final.
Met a few friends I hadn't seen for ages so stayed out until closing, cost me €60 for the beer, no chips or taxi.
Next time they'll be coming round to mine where it'll costs us about €20 each.
Everyone's in the same boat nowadays, the days of dropping €100 on a night out are well gone.

Beefy78

The price of beer is expensive over here but the price of non-alcoholic drinks is an outrage. This needs to be fixed. As someone else said, non-drinkers are asked to pay pretty much the same as a drinker which alienates them and anyone who wants to drink a spirit with a mixer ends up paying a huge amount for it.

A lot of pubs in UK towns have now adopted Wetherspoons's 'double up for a £1' price policy so you can get a double spirit (50ml) and a mixer for £3.99 vs a single (35ml) and a mixer for €7.50ish in Dublin.

It's my understand that the 'sodastream'-style pumps they use in the UK and a few places over here are a huge source of income for pubs which use them because they cost next to nothing so even a low price for these represents a good mark-up. Charging 50c for a splash of coke from one of these is a great profit and lets you charge non-drinkers a fair price as opposed to selling those tiny bottles for €2.50 or, as has happened to me before, charging €3 for the flat dregs from a 2 litre bottle of coke.

paddyandy

Style has replaced Substance as in many things these days .There's no beer in bars and the Pub is gone .

Nothingbetter2d

4 things i see wrong with pubs.

1. Price of drink is far too high... particularily soft drinks

2. Music too loud... people go to pubs to socialise not get deafened by a crap DJ with too much bass pumping out the speakers (nightclubs are for loud music)

3. Filthy toilets... for god sake give them a clean several times a night.

4. Picky Bouncers... ive often seen bouncers refuse people for no good reason when the pub is empty.

fasttalkerchat

Zebra3 wrote: »

I doubt they'd be that happy. Don't supermarkets sell beer as a loss leader? (i.e. to get customers in their shop to buy the rest of their shopping?)

IMO I don't think they are selling for less than they buy it, however they may have factored out overheads.
The limit on 2 slabs per customer is to stop people complaining to joe duffy that its all a conspiracy:rolleyes:
If you pre-order what you want with the manager he can factor it into his orders.

Michael Weston

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Zebra3 wrote: »

I doubt they'd be that happy. Don't supermarkets sell beer as a loss leader? (i.e. to get customers in their shop to buy the rest of their shopping?)

IMO I don't think they are selling for less than they buy it, however they may have factored out overheads.
The limit on 2 slabs per customer is to stop people complaining to joe duffy that its all a conspiracy:rolleyes:
If you pre-order what you want with the manager he can factor it into his orders.

This was increased to four slabs per customer this time around. There didn't seem to be any shortages either. Pretty hard for a pub to compete with that.