setting up franchise

jaffa20

Hi all,

I've come here looking for advice on setting up a franchise. Something along the lines of Centra or Spar. The only problem is, i wouldn't know where to start or who to approach. Is it as complicated as setting up a private company. With regards to finances, how much would be needed on average. I realise we're in a recession but this is something i'd love to do down the line but within the next 5 years. My Dad is very supportive of me and told me that i can depend on him for financing. I'd like to go at it on my own though as i am saving and hope to be able to plan for this in the mean time. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks.

DubTony

Assuming you intend to open a Centra or Spar franchise, you'll need to talk to Musgrave (Centra) or BWG (Spar) as the franchise owners (as opposed to starting something new to sell franchises later, which would not be advised in that sector).

Have you any experience in the convenience store business? My knowledge of the business is that, unless you have a lot of experience at least at management level, the Musgrave people won't entertain you without a very, very detailed detailed business plan. (I can't comment on BWG).

You'll need to identify a suitable premises. As a franchise, suppliers are all set up so there are no worries there. The franchisor will require a bank guarantee for an amount that they will decide on and guarantees will also be needed for newspaper distributors. I'd say you're looking at bank guarantees for a minimum €50,000 or that amount lodged with them. Fitting out a Centra store can cost anything from €200,000 to half a million. I did it in 2000 when it cost €100,000 to extend and renovate an existing independent store and another €100,000 on equipment. That was without most of the fancy schmancy that goes with todays stores. The equipment can usually be leased over a period of up to 5 years at about €20 per month per €1,000 borrowed. So €100,000 of equipment will cost about €2,000 a month.

The three most important things are location, location and location. I know it's a cliche but it can't be emphasised enough. Be aware that there are convenience stores closing by the bucketload all over the country at the moment.

Let us know what your exact intentions are and if you have a location in mind. I think Hammertime, who posts here, owns a Spar store or 2. He should be able to give you some info as well.

Bandara

Hi Jaffa

Sorry if this is a bit blunt for you to hear, but don't do this.

With no experience your dead in the water, with average experience your probably still dead in the water, if your an expert retailer your chances are better but your never going to get a good site as their is a list of people way ahead of you with the BWG/Centra operations, the cstore business is pretty horrific at the minute with sites getting taken back of franchisees at the rate of several a week.

8to12 (Newhill) for example have taken back 22 Spar sites within the past 2 months and are desperately looking for people to take them. They have also taken back some of the Eurospars and again cannot get good people to take them, Eurospar in Kiltipper Tallaght for instance is doing about 85k a week, and it lost over €450k last year. You casn go in there and work your balls off and fool yourself that your going to turn it around and make a success of it but its a impossible task. The Fresh stores are soon to be made available as Eurospars but the only one worth having is in the city centre but thats been earmarked for someone already, so only the ****ty ones are there.

Aldi and Lidi are really starting to hurt these sites now. Anyone with a good site is keeping their head down and doing their thing.

If you do want to get into it then get yourself a job in a Supermarket as a trainee manager, its a fantastic grounding and a huge headstart in the business. After a year or two of that if you still are interested then get a job as a manager/assistant manager of C-Store and learn the specifics of the trade. Again do that for a year and then decide on opening your own place or taking a franchise.

Honestly your doomed to fail if you jump in without fully understanding the business, thats not a personal reflection on you it just the facts. I'm a training site for BWG and people who open new stores are often placed with me for 2 or 3 days before they open their own site. Its bloody scary when these people come in and have not got any idea whatsoever about wage budgets, dept. margins, deli wastage, newspaper returns, security procedures etc etc etc etc. I had one couple last year who refused to come in at 5am with me to do a walk through store opening as it was too early in the morning (this being a day before they were due to open their own brand new €550k fitout store for thr first time. :eek:)

sorry I'm not very positive , but unfortunately your timing is bad on this one, the days of making 150k a year in a very average site are fading fast.

jaffa20

Thank you both so much for the replies. Your advice has been disheartening but realistic and i'm grateful for that. It sounds very worrying when you hear about the store in Tallaght. I'm thinking a franchise is too large for me at the moment. I'm not the sort of person who wants to make more than 100k per year. It's really something i'd like to do as i love the idea of being my own boss and taking on the risks is part of the excitement. I guess going at it alone with a small store in a good location would suit me better at the moment and then possibly look into franchise.

I have some retail experience but nothing major like Spar or Centra. I grew up with a small family shop so know how it works and have always wanted to get into it again. I would probably go at it with my partner who has some management experience.

It's early days at the moiment though and i would need to look into getting finances and drawing up a solid business plan. In any case, thank you so much for being blunt as you have to be in the current economic climate and there is not point being too idealistc.

Great, honest advice there.

bankscrewed

Hi Hammertime, its obvious you've got a lot of experience in the retail sector, more than the 5 years I've been running my own newsagents.
Like a lot of the retailers we're suffering badly but its my landlord who's being a prick. He's wll aware how difficult trading conditions are and thinks he's great for reducing the rent 18%, despite it going up 20% in 2006 and although we have occasionaly missed a few payments everything is up to date and there is no rent outstanding at all.
At this moment I'm 2 weeks late and he is threatening to take action if its not paid by 5pm tommorrow, any thoughts ?

To be honest I feel like telling him to f**k himself and walk away but we've invested a lot of time, money hard work and seriously long hours in this business

jcd5971

hi all,

I`m interested in looking at getting involved with one of the retail franchises,
preferably a centra or spar. I know that bwg/ newhill can rent/lease stores for a % of turnover , not sure about musgraves.
I am currently working in tesco i`m a line manager there 3 years so know the basics fine (margins, rotation, waste budgets, wages, shrink, etc etc,), I also understand the costs involved such as esb, insurance and so on. I would be doing this with a partner who also works in retail, he has been a store manager in tesco , supervalue+centra,

Now where i need advice/tips is in specifics, how much would you need to have to approach them, would you need a site , i would like to know as much as i can before approaching anybody, if any one on here has done this any tips would be appreciated.

( P.S. I know there is a high failure rate in this but with our experience and work ethic i think we can make a good go of it, i routinely put in 60+ hours a week, most of it for free i what to put that kind of time and effort into my own buisness)

DubTony

jcd5971 wrote: »

Now where i need advice/tips is in specifics, how much would you need to have to approach them, would you need a site , i would like to know as much as i can before approaching anybody, if any one on here has done this any tips would be appreciated.

( P.S. I know there is a high failure rate in this but with our experience and work ethic i think we can make a good go of it, i routinely put in 60+ hours a week, most of it for free i what to put that kind of time and effort into my own buisness)

This still applies.

Hammertime wrote:

but unfortunately your timing is bad on this one, the days of making 150k a year in a very average site are fading fast.

My brother emailed me the other day with this photo.



Obviously this store was a Centra until quite recently. There are literally dozens of stores that have closed in the last 6 months alone. Some of the owners are users of this site.

I got out of the business in April last year for several reasons. The main one being I was losing money. The dynamics of my location changed so it wasn't feasible any more. FYI, I've over 25 years experience in the c-store business, so I don't think lack of retailing knowledge was a factor.

Location is the most important thing. That never changes. Most convenience stores aren't what I call Destination Locations. People will travel to a Tesco, SuperQuinn, Aldi etc., but it's rare to pick up business from outside an area as a c-store. If you're on a main thoroughfare you'll obviously get some passing trade. But even that's not great any more.

Im his email my bro explained that he'd seen serious drops in standards in the business over the last 12 months. He aske me why.

Now, while everything I say doesn't hold true for every site, and it is an opinion, I'd say that it's something that anyone looking at the business should consider.

Here's my reply to him. I've blanked some details to protect the "innocent".

I think there's nothing driving the business these days. It used to be convenience. People who didn't want to stop at a supermarket on the way home didn't care what price they paid for their grocery items. We had this "Cash Rich - Time Poor" phrase bandied about for a while, but whether or not it applied then, it certainly doesn't now. As soon as the cheap milk gets as much space as Avonmore and Premier, the shift is obvious. Price is where it's at. And I don't believe the symbol stores / groups are reacting positively.

The problem is that for many of the newer stores, this is a failure of the overall business plan. Fancy stores filled to the gills with premium priced goods and top of the range equipment look great, but stock costs and all that equipment has to be paid for. Too many stores have been over-invested in. And as they cut costs to keep their profits up to pay for all the "stuff", something had to give. Standards and service.

They are generally seen as expensive (not unfairly in most cases), and people have simply decided to buy cheaper. When you consider that Superquinn and Tesco both have self scanning and Dunnes has a bunch of Express tills in most stores, time isn't so much of a factor. People have realised that they can get through their local supermarket in almost as quick a time as they got through their local Spar, but they don't have to pay over the odds. And getting 20% cheaper stuff with the Spar brand on it is still more expensive than shopping in Aldi.

With the likes of ******* (20 or so Londis stores) and ****** (a dozen or so Centra stores) just breaking even (or worse) and banking on rebates to get their profits (or worse), the shops aren't being stocked well, cleaning takes people and time, so that's not too important after all. And training of staff is becoming a luxury most of the absent owners don't give a damn about.

Expect more and more of them to close. The average manager these days is on 25 - 28K a year, and he's simply a roster maker with responsibility for placing orders. It looks like he has to do a few shifts on the counter as well. The bottom line is so tight these days that nothing else matters.

So we've got low paid staff working in a deteriorating environment, with extra pressure from an over-worked, over hassled, underpaid and inexperienced manager. Not good.

Thats' my feeling on how things are in that particular area of the business.

If it's something you feel you must go ahead with, and at the moment I advise you not to, you'll need a site. The symbol groups don't have the sweet deals they had with developers a few years ago, and where a store closes and re-opens, there's usually a different franchise name over the door. If it was a worthwhile site, the original symbol group wouldn't let it go.

Here's the ideal location.

On a main road surrounded by houses and complimenting businesses. A church, a pub, a bookies, a chipper, a good butcher and / or fruit and veg store will all help to pull people to the location. Schools are vital, and more than one if possible. Ample parking outside the shop, and good passing trade. II'd say that if you can find one, it won't be for sale, unless you're prepared to pay over the odds.

The symbol groups love supermarket manager types. I think the reason is that your average supermarket manager is good at ensuring standards are high, and follows the rules. He's used to ordering from the same place all the time and never has any reason to look outside that. Guess what? Anyone can deliver high standards but towing the franchise line usually costs, and isn't really beneficial to a store owners bank balance. Most of the best run stores have an owner who puts in the hours (btw 60 a week is nothing - get used to 80) know their customers personally and provide those customers with what they want.

The c-store dynamic is different to that of a supermarket. A Tesco department manager is probably responsible for a section that turns over as much as a decent c-store, but without all the hassles. If I was running the F&V section in my local Superquinn at the moment, I wouldn't be looking at getting my own place. Not at the moment anyway. Will it get better? I have a feeling that we've seen the last of the massive investments in c-stores and a definite reduction in the turnover of the symbol groups. But that conversation is for another day.

jcd5971

Hey dub tony quite a detailed response, it`s clear alright that day`s of big money absent owners and managers making a profit are over, however not to sound naive( which i am not...:D), But we both would be running it as partners, very much present and very hands on, and tbh are looking at this as more than a licence to print money,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammertime
but unfortunately your timing is bad on this one, the days of making 150k a year in a very average site are fading fast.


the days of making 150k are gone, well all i would want is to make a good wage , the rest would be ploughed back into the buisness, honestly i would expect to take very little out of a shop in salary in the first year or two, just enough to get by.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DubTony


The symbol groups love supermarket manager types. I think the reason is that your average supermarket manager is good at ensuring standards are high, and follows the rules. He's used to ordering from the same place all the time and never has any reason to look outside that. Guess what? Anyone can deliver high standards but towing the franchise line usually costs, and isn't really beneficial to a store owners bank balance. Most of the best run stores have an owner who puts in the hours (btw 60 a week is nothing - get used to 80) know their customers personally and provide those customers with what they want.

I agree with you in part, you say anyone can deliver high standards, i`ve seen some c-stores that looked terrible some fantastic, it makes a massive difference, as for sourcing stock, it`s the same as a supermarket you order the correct levels of stock from your symbol group be that spar, centra any of them,
Tesco is no different you order your own stock,( you must stick closely to plans but not exclusivly, there is scope for initiative) while you need to order ( i think, one of the things i`d like to find out) 95ish% of stock from bwg/musgraves to get a rebate, that leaves 5% and thats where you can clean up its all about smart buying, i know of plenty of suppliers especially in the area of hardlines who will stock you with sale or return, virtually no risk, and they will deal cause the likes of tesco can`t step outside the company.

In terms of reading your letter that stock levels and cleaning+hygiene levels drop dramatically in some stores, then there`s a big reason the went bust, nobody( owner, manager, shelf packer, checkout operator,) is above sweeping floors and washing shelves.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DubTony


A Tesco department manager is probably responsible for a section that turns over as much as a decent c-store, but without all the hassles.

That`s an extremely simplistic( and frankly bollox) statement, taking out the admited costs of esb, insurance. you are responsible for every facet of each department, if you are not making it profitable your a goner, and your not given long to do it. of course you can loose money but you can make it too.

I personally don`t think c-stores are dying off, just the badly run ones.
(And thats no dig at you DubTony you said you got out coz of losing money bad location etc, and thats true in many instances, but tbh not in the majority)

Now i know the buisness working in it since i was 15 for many companies,and i`m confident i can make a good go of it in the least.

What i need are ball park figures, i could ring bwg newhill, about taking over a store, but they say how much you got in the bank:

Maybe you need 100,000 euro. I dont have anything like that

Maybe they want 20,000 euro. I can do that

Maybe they just want a good reference and a bank bond ( but if i offer my 20000 euro their hardly going to say no)

like i said my inital Q was about info like that i want them to see me as serious but not spend a cent more than needs be , as we all know cash flow can kill any company.

Thanks Dub Tony for the reply it was very interested reading and confirmed a lot of my own suspicions, sorry if i came across as a bit frustrated in that response, but everytime i get feedback its the same story, i just need rough figures at this time either i`m wasting my time( i.e they need a store, or you need a lot of capital) or the can work with you( between 5 and 30,000 of my money which is the top limit which i dont even want to go to.

I have a good job in tesco and have moved quite high, and i know for a fact i`m in the running to manage one of the express stores in the next 6 months, the thing is i dont want to, i want to run my own shop, and im prepared to work alot more hours and to loose out on my take home pay to do it, not everyone wants to be rich( once again not naive not a bleeding heart liberal, i`ve fired more than a few ppl to prove it:D)

DubTony

jcd5971 wrote: »

however not to sound naive( which i am not...:D), But we both would be running it as partners, very much present and very hands on, and tbh are looking at this as more than a licence to print money

oooh God!!!! I didn't think I was going to get into it, and it's not for me to tell anyone what business he should go into - or not, so I won't. But I simply wouldn't be doing you or anyone else reading this thread, any favours by not replying, so I will. Oh and if you didn't want the "advice" I offered, it's a better idea not to be taunted by the stuff you don't want to hear and simply reiterate what it is you're after. But as you did reply, I'll get on it right away.

lets start with this.

jcd wrote:

the days of making 150k are gone, well all i would want is to make a good wage , the rest would be ploughed back into the buisness, honestly i would expect to take very little out of a shop in salary in the first year or two, just enough to get by.

Rule number 1 when running your own business. PAY YOURSELF FIRST. My own personal second rule is this PAY YOURSELF WELL. If you're simply going to "take enough to get by on", you'll be earning less than minimum wage when you take into account the hours you work. Keep it in mind.

jcd wrote:

I agree with you in part, you say anyone can deliver high standards, i`ve seen some c-stores that looked terrible some fantastic, it makes a massive difference, as for sourcing stock, it`s the same as a supermarket you order the correct levels of stock from your symbol group be that spar, centra any of them,
Tesco is no different you order your own stock,( you must stick closely to plans but not exclusivly, there is scope for initiative) while you need to order ( i think, one of the things i`d like to find out) 95ish% of stock from bwg/musgraves to get a rebate, that leaves 5% and thats where you can clean up its all about smart buying, i know of plenty of suppliers especially in the area of hardlines who will stock you with sale or return, virtually no risk, and they will deal cause the likes of tesco can`t step outside the company.

Obviously I assumed you understood how to order and how much. The point I was making was regarding sourcing and outside suppliers. Many supermarket managers and dept. managers never even consider outside supplier when they open their own store, preferring to stick to the system they know. While this is fine, they're leaving a lot of money with their symbol group, when it could be in their pockets. You seem to be clear on this so, good for you.

jcd wrote:

In terms of reading your letter that stock levels and cleaning+hygiene levels drop dramatically in some stores, then there`s a big reason the went bust, nobody( owner, manager, shelf packer, checkout operator,) is above sweeping floors and washing shelves.

Yeah, this is a real chicken and egg scenario. Did the shop get crappy because business was bad, or did business get bad because the shop went crappy? If you look at the number of stores that opened in the 5 years to 2008, you'll see dozens of well-run, clean shops with good owners and friendly staff. But I've seen a bunch of these close in the last couple of years. Now while some of it is pure incompetence on the owner's/manager's behalf I find it very hard to believe that a good store in a decent location could thrive for 3 years and then suddenly allow standards to fall for absolutely no reason. Some really good operators are running some of their stores at a loss simply because they can't move them on or get out of a lease. So those stores are being supported by others within the same company. So if standards aren't the reason they're failing or have failed, there must be another. It's a treacherous time in the business.


Re departments managers running sections that turn over as much as an average c-store but without the hassle

jcd wrote:

That`s an extremely simplistic( and frankly bollox) statement, eh... eh ... ahemm !!!! taking out the admited costs of esb, insurance. you are responsible for every facet of each department, if you are not making it profitable your a goner, and your not given long to do it. of course you can loose money but you can make it too.

ESB (second or third highest charges in the EU), Insurance, banking, bank charges, accountant fees, legal fees, recruiting, payroll, franchise fees, waste management costs, etc. etc.

Let's be clear on this. Most good supermarket department managers will have no problem running into a c-store and making a go of it. A good supermarket general manager will also have the wherewithal and most of the knowledge required. I know loads of these fellahs who've done well, but most of them wouldn't know where to find CABBAGE on the till screen, any more than I'd know how to fix a Rolls Royce jet engine. They do however look after the guts of the business, and spend more time working ON their business as opposed to working IN their business. This means having decent managers on the floor and competent supervisors at other times. Obviously this adds to costs, but is definitely the best way to run a store as long as the store can support the expense. It allows owners to identify other opportunities instead of becoming part of the furniture. The differences between running a department and running a small store are many. So the decision is whether you're hands on and become an integral part of the business ensuring quality while mopping out the milk fridge, or are hands off and ensure that the business is well run by somebody else while you allow yourself the odd weekend and a decent 2 weeks in the sun each year.

jcd wrote:

What i need are ball park figures, i could ring bwg newhill, about taking over a store, but they say how much you got in the bank:

Maybe you need 100,000 euro. I dont have anything like that

Maybe they want 20,000 euro. I can do that

Maybe they just want a good reference and a bank bond ( but if i offer my 20000 euro their hardly going to say no)

I've no idea what Newhill wants these days. But I should imagine they've learnt lessons in the last few years. Too many of their stores had muppets running them. Hammertime alluded to that earlier in this thread. They were absent managers who thought they'd hit the big-time. I don't believe for a minute this is how you would approach the situation. And as every site is different when you're opening your own store, i.e. not Newhill or a tenancy arrangement, putting figures on this is quite difficult. However, if you're going with a symbol, they call the shots - or want to - and fit-outs etc. must be to their standards and specification, with their approved equipment suppliers. While I'm sure prices have come down, they have been held artificially high due to the kickback culture. You can buy a 12 ft. dairy wall brand new from 5k up to 20k. There's a lot of repossessed stock out there so you could find something there. But with financing not being so easy at the moment, you really need a good wedge to get started. Till systems run at around 12 to 18k for a 2 or 3 till system with full back office. Shelving prices vary from anything you like to anything they want to charge. (Sorry for the vagueness)
A decent 12 ft counter can cost 5 grand, or you can have a mate build it for a few hundred quid. So you can see how nailing down a figure is difficult.
Getting into a store could be real easy and you may even find landlords offering rent-free periods for 6 months (or more). But this has to be fitted out. You could find one that has closed down, and walk into it with an arrangement to take over the leasing on the equipment. A bank bond and a personal guarantee are mandatary. I wouldn't sign another personal guarantee to a bank or franchisor in a million years. And the banks aren't too keen on providing 50k bonds these days (which are always covered by a personal guarantee).
Re loyalty, I recently heard that Musgrave had dropped their requirement to 85%, a far cry from when I was with them.

jcd wrote:

I have a good job in tesco and have moved quite high, and i know for a fact i`m in the running to manage one of the express stores in the next 6 months, the thing is i dont want to, i want to run my own shop, and im prepared to work alot more hours and to loose out on my take home pay to do it, not everyone wants to be rich( once again not naive not a bleeding heart liberal, i`ve fired more than a few ppl to prove it:D)

OK. This is very interesting to me. In your position and at this moment in time, I'd be chomping at the bit to get into an express store. It would give you a good grounding in a lot of different areas of a c-store. Now while you won't see every pitfall (as a Tesco manager. the company offers a lot of protection that a store owner would have wet dreams about) you'll see many of them. Staffing is just one, and the dodgy dealings of the two company monopoly in the magazine sector will never really become apparent until it's your money on the line (It's not a duopoly by any stretch of the imagination). The multiples are big enough to keep them in line. Independents aren't, and your symbol groups have no power at all in dealing with them.

I'd suggest you take an express store until the market recovers somewhat, and learn the real business (or as much as one of those stores can offer) from the ground up.

I won't be any more specific, but if you want to take this to Personal Messages I'll be happy to discuss further.

Bandara

just to come back in here ....

Your big problem, which you haven't yet mentioned is not will Newhill deal with you (of course they will, they will take anyones money). The issue that you will have is how will they deal with you...... the answer is that they will give you the dog of a shop that they cannot get rid off. Your not going to be given a choice, you'll get a phonecall on a Friday telling you that your taking over such a store on monday morning, take it of leave it, you leave it and they'll just move onto the next name on the list.

And the reason your being offered the store is because its a pig of a site and the previous guy has gone bust and been thrown out because he owns Newhill 200k.

Your nobody to them, they don't care, if you do make a go off it good luck to you, if you don't they'll just dump you and get another mug in. I'm not slagging Newhill here, its a savage business right now, and they need to survive just like everyone else.

Every decent Newhill site that comes up stays within the inner circle, good retailers, in business with Newhill for years (or more commonly lads who were ROA's with BWG and then took newhill stores). Decent sites never go to newbies, never, never, never.

You need to be aware, and I am not being offensive or personal towards you here, that your background as a Tesco Dept mgr is not really going to impress them at all. There is absolutely loads of good ex-cstore managers that were let go by returning store owners when the recession hit, these guys are hardened expereinced operators and are looking for sites desperately.

As for how much you'd need, well top of the head I'd say your going to need letters of credit etc to the value of about 100k give or take 20k.

And as you have no background in cstores its quite possible the lotto won't want to take on the risk of dealing with you and will remove the machine from the store. And even if they do decide to leave the machine there they will ask you for a bond of about 20k+.

You'll run into horrific cashflow issues as well, Newhill will not give you anymore than a 13 week stocking loan I'd imagine, so towards the end of month 4 your going to hit 30k in the red, -and the bank won't be looking at giving you a overdraft of any description.

I echo what Tony said, you are imo off your rocker to walk away when your a short hop from getting a Tesco Express and a nice 70k package.

Stay and make your mistakes with someone elses money, then after a year get a c-store. Your current experience doesn't put you in a position to take an site and make it a success, I think its way to stacked against you, Newhill will give you a store, but they won't show you ANYTHING on how to run it. Thats your problem, not theirs.

A year running Tesco Express and you'll be three times the operator you are now, it'll be a great backing for you. Then you can make your move.

Best of luck

HT

Chevy RV

Hello Jaffa 20,


I would have to say that the posts on here are EXCELLENT advice for somebody like you.

I had been in the cstore business for Eight years until i sold out in 2002 ( untimely as just before the real boom in prices :mad:). The legacy from the inflated prices paid after this time is what's causing the problems today - either tenants got roped into excessive upward only rental agreements or owners just paid over the odds. Either way the Chickens are coming home to roost in the form of store closures due to excessive rents / repayments (costbase) and reduced turnover due to the economic decline.

I am based in South Tipperary and have seen probably up to 12 of these type closures in the last year or so.

By the way, i am still doing work for some of these type stores and i know for a fact that they are struggling as i am also a qualified accountant and doing their accounts.

There are also the changes mentioned above like people being cash rich and time poor before and now how it's reversed - i notice people including me with Wine ;)passing through Tesco with 2-3 items - something that people wouldn't have been bothered with before.

Also the fact that the multiples have extended trading hours and agressively push the loss leaders via advertising make it even more difficult for the symbol groups.

If i were in your shoes, i would stick with Tesco and ride out the recession on safer money with them for the next few years.

From experience, there's more to running your own store than working 80 hour weeks stackin the shelves etc.

Finally, the best advice i would give is to go and talk to a few store owners / managers and get a "feel" for their views.

Regards,


Chevy RV

gearoid 8

Hi.
Just looking for some impartial advise on buying a centra store in Dublin 1,
This property failed to sell recently,am interested but have reservations.

Any advise greatly received

gearoid 8

The Apprentice

gearoid 8 wrote: »

Hi.
Just looking for some impartial advise on buying a centra store in Dublin 1,
This property failed to sell recently,am interested but have reservations.

Any advise greatly received

gearoid 8

Your post just made me suicidal at 1.49am ffs .. did you read any of the above posts on the Centra stores ??


SIGH !!

gearoid 8

Hi,
Sorry,
Maybe I did'nt make myself that clear,I would be buying the store as a cash investment with an expected yield of over10%, on a long lease, situated in a pretty good location.

I do appreciate your sentiments as you have a lot more experience in this sector than myself. But anybody with cash is now looking to get a better return than what is being offered on deposit.

Regards

Axwell

The Apprentice wrote: »

Your post just made me suicidal at 1.49am ffs .. did you read any of the above posts on the Centra stores ??

SIGH !!

Did you? Those posts are over 2 years old..SIGH

gearoid 8 wrote: »

Hi.
Just looking for some impartial advise on buying a centra store in Dublin 1,
This property failed to sell recently,am interested but have reservations.

Any advise greatly received

gearoid 8

If you want advice dont resurrect a thread thats 2 years old, start a new one. It would help to outline your experience also.