Dunnes - Asda

joes girls

:eek:

rco2000 wrote: »

It's not going to happen. There is no Asda stock in any Dunnes - fact.

hey i never said there was asda stock in any store all i said was they would have to bring in stock :rolleyes: what did anyone make of what is in the indepentant 2day what will all the meetings on monday & tuesday be about

lille

Have heard its in the papers that 200 Dunnes managers have been called to meetings next week.

joes girls

ya even managers that are on hols have to go oh what will it all be about are they just going to close some stores or is it going to be something bigger

JohnC.

I wonder if they are actually going to a meeting. The media made this claim back in November and nothing happened.

joes girls

Kahless wrote: »

I wonder if they are actually going to a meeting. The media made this claim back in November and nothing happened.

:)ya but dunnes are so anti media they would be shag all you and would only come out with stuff when it would suit them any way its all going on to long now there has to be something and this is the first time our so called store managerhas said that he has to go to meeting on tuesday there is no smoke without fire:eek:

rco2000

Kahless wrote: »

I wonder if they are actually going to a meeting. The media made this claim back in November and nothing happened.

Exactly!

Aparently the meeting is to deal with an internal issue regarding the withdrawal of payment to mgrs for working Sundays.

joes girls

rco2000 wrote: »

Exactly!

Aparently the meeting is to deal with an internal issue regarding the withdrawal of payment to mgrs for working Sundays.

:mad:what they are getting paid is mad anyway and for what most of them do nothing about time they lost out a bit

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

:mad:what they are getting paid is mad anyway and for what most of them do nothing about time they lost out a bit

Regardless it still has nothing to do with silly rumours of a ASDA takeover.

By the way...
Store Mgrs in Dunnes must work 48 hours (exclusive of dinner break) I believe it is their company policy.
They must "clock in" with their finger/palm print and are disciplined if they "go under 48 hours"
Junior mgrs must work 45 hours again exc dinner break.

joes girls

rco2000 wrote: »

Regardless it still has nothing to do with silly rumours of a ASDA takeover.

By the way...
Store Mgrs in Dunnes must work 48 hours (exclusive of dinner break) I believe it is their company policy.
They must "clock in" with their finger/palm print and are disciplined if they "go under 48 hours"
Junior mgrs must work 45 hours again exc dinner break.

ya and at least they are getting good wages i have to clock in the same way and we would be disciplinedif we were to leave work early and why are you so sure that its not a takeover when no one knows whats going on

ejmaztec

Should there happen to be a take-over, I can see the logic in all of the down-sizing that appears to be going on. Were it to happen after the hypothetical take-over, Asda would get the blame for it and there would be some extremely abusive publicity doing the rounds. The way that it is happening before that possible event, only the Dunne family would get the blame, and, as they would no longer be in business, any adverse publicity wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to them.

Davy

Independent.ie - Fresh Dunnes link to Asda as managers meet

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

ya and at least they are getting good wages i have to clock in the same way and we would be disciplinedif we were to leave work early and why are you so sure that its not a takeover when no one knows whats going on

Stop frowning...are you envious/jealous of DS management? I'm sure they are not all bad? If not, why not apply for management (you will have to work 48 hours a week, net of breaks, though)?

Have strong contacts in Irish retail sector - I don't work for Dunnes!

Takeover does not make sense for oh so many reasons - too many to list -please read my earlier post. Even if (the biggest if in Irish retail history) DS were to sell, could you picture the Dunne family selling their family business at the very bottom of the market! Dunnes are already ahead of Tesco, Supervalu & Heatons in adapting to a recession - they put the breaks on a long time b4 the others. The others are prob 6-9 months behind Dunnes & are cutting back like mad, but you won't really rwad about it in the papers.
The reason DS get so much negative publicity is that they never engage with the media which p*isses the Irish media off so much that they are always only dying to put the boot in whenever they get a sniff of anything.

DS are a very successful Irish company that contributes so much to the Irish economy & we should never forget that. They have successfully exported an Irish retail package to the Scottish & Spanish markets also.

One final point is that DS were gr8 for the Irish economy during the 70's & 80's recession (and also long before this period) with low prices/better value. Most of us grew up wearing DS clothes & eating DS food. What you are now seeing is DS are moving back to a similar model (territory that they are renowned & very successful at).
I have said enough on the topic but we should all buy Irish - from Irish retaillers that don't charge rip off prices.
:cool:

Corruptedmorals

rco2000 wrote: »

It's not going to happen. There is no Asda stock in any Dunnes - fact.

Yes there IS, fact. There is in mine and several others. A week or two back there was several racks in prominent display with €5 on them- promotion deals. None of these clothes were Dunnes. There was navy and grey dresses from Next (Next was cut out)..and black skinny jeans from George at Asda. I don't think there is 'takeover intent' in that..otherwise why would there be clothes from Next..but they were definitely Asda clothes. Crappy stock other shops couldn't sell.

I wouldn't envy a Dunnes manager really. Insane amount of shifts and when a staff member gets an abusive customer..they are passed over to management. Several times an hour they have to be called to the tills to do something as stupid as void out an item a customer doesn't want...that'd be annoying. Some of them are a bit crap, generally alright in my store. Because it's so short staffed, they have to go on tills for horus anyway.

Our weekday closing time was cut back by an hour..BUT it's going up next week. Probably due to the closure of Grafton Street Dunnes (yesterday).

Ste.phen

Just noticed yesterday that the George's St Homeware shop they opened what, last year?, has closed too. It's the one beside their new shiny offices

rco2000

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Yes there IS, fact. There is in mine and several others. A week or two back there was several racks in prominent display with €5 on them- promotion deals. None of these clothes were Dunnes. There was navy and grey dresses from Next (Next was cut out)..and black skinny jeans from George at Asda. I don't think there is 'takeover intent' in that..otherwise why would there be clothes from Next..but they were definitely Asda clothes. Crappy stock other shops couldn't sell.

Dunnes, Penneys, Next, George etc all share many suppliers. Sometimes one of these chains will return this stock for any of many reasones e.g. poor quality etc. The supplier will then offer it to the other chains at a rock bottom price. Normally they would agree to remove the incorrect lables from these garments but that adds to the cost. In these hard times Dunnes are availing of these new sales opportunities & furthermore are not too concerned with demanding that the label is removed - to reduce the cost price/increase their margin.
This whole practice is quite common.
I remember back in 2003/2004 I bought around six 1/2 zip fleeces in Dunnes around 2 weeks before xmas for just e5 each. I asked a friend of mine (store manager of that store) why were they so cheap, especially a week before xmas & in the middle of the boom yeras, he explained that it was stock returned by Walmart in US to a far east supplier who then offered this stock to DS at $1 each.

violagol

Im a dunnes manager,and we were told yesterday by our store manager,that after a meeting that was held yesterday,all managers have been offered voluntary redundacy,2 weeks pay for every years service,pretty crap if you're only with them 3 years like me..what does all this mean?are they selling?cutting costs?all I can say is we'll be the last to be told,and by WE,I mean managers and staff,we're all in the one boat at this stage..although staff at least have the lifeboat of a union,managers dont even have that

rco2000

violagol wrote: »

Im a dunnes manager,and we were told yesterday by our store manager,that after a meeting that was held yesterday,all managers have been offered voluntary redundacy,2 weeks pay for every years service,pretty crap if you're only with them 3 years like me..what does all this mean?are they selling?cutting costs?all I can say is we'll be the last to be told,and by WE,I mean managers and staff,we're all in the one boat at this stage..although staff at least have the lifeboat of a union,managers dont even have that

Allegedly they are looking for circa 70 managers to take voluntary redundancy - the 2 weeks is a crap offer as it is just the statutury minimum - please note that Dunnes will then claim 60% of this amount back from the employers PRSI fund. So in effect it would cost them less than one weeks wages for every year that you have worked.
If it was me, I'd steer well clear of it.
They may be using 2 weeks as a start point for negotiation with any manager who is interested & settle for 3,4 or 5 weeks per year worked?

Oh, and they are not for selling!

joes girls

so not jealous of management, and if i was going to aplly for it it would not be with dunnes.if there is no take over going to happen why did this all start.dunnes are up to something, and we there staff will be the last to know.

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

so not jealous of management, and if i was going to aplly for it it would not be with dunnes.if there is no take over going to happen why did this all start.dunnes are up to something, and we there staff will be the last to know.

not jealous ... bitter?;)

With grammar like that I don't think you'd even get an interview:D

Dunnes are up to something, yes - they are getting even leaner during these hard times (for all retail operators) so that they can pay yours & everyone elses wages in DS.
In the fullness of time you will be saying that the Heffernan woman really knows how to run a business.
In fact herself & Michael O'Leary would be ideal at the helm of any Irish government faced with the current economic conditions.

joes girls

rco2000 wrote: »

not jealous ... bitter?;)

With grammar like that I don't think you'd even get an interview:D

Dunnes are up to something, yes - they are getting even leaner during these hard times (for all retail operators) so that they can pay yours & everyone elses wages in DS.
In the fullness of time you will be saying that the Heffernan woman really knows how to run a business.
In fact herself & Michael O'Leary would be ideal at the helm of any Irish government faced with the current economic conditions.

:pya right bitter of what.as for paying our wages not much of them to worry about,already on a 3day week and they wanted us to take another day off. if they have to cut back this much and close down some store,they cant be doing that great.oh ya dont;)at me.

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

:pya right bitter of what.as for paying our wages not much of them to worry about,already on a 3day week and they wanted us to take another day off. if they have to cut back this much and close down some store,they cant be doing that great.oh ya dont;)at me.

no one in retail is doing great at the mo - it's all a survival game for most retailers.
When you see the likes of the big guns like Tesco & Dunnes cutting back so drastically, you can take it that the outlook for the retail sector is not just bleak but worse than bleak - these guys are expecting a pro-longed downturn.

Sorry about the winking, it's just this nervous twitch that I have.:D

mikemac

rco2000 wrote: »

no one in retail is doing great at the mo - it's all a survival game for most retailers.

In November 2008, Aldi planned to open 35 new stores in Ireland. There's money to be made alright and it's not at the premium pricing that Superquinn charge!

joes girls

rco2000 wrote: »

no one in retail is doing great at the mo - it's all a survival game for most retailers.
When you see the likes of the big guns like Tesco & Dunnes cutting back so drastically, you can take it that the outlook for the retail sector is not just bleak but worse than bleak - these guys are expecting a pro-longed downturn.

Sorry about the winking, it's just this nervous twitch that I have.:D

:Poh ok thats fine but i will remember your a nervous person.

joes girls

mikemac wrote: »

In November 2008, Aldi planned to open 35 new stores in Ireland. There's money to be made alright and it's not at the premium pricing that Superquinn charge!

ya aldi have just opened another store down here and dunnes have closed one.

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

ya aldi have just opened another store down here and dunnes have closed one.

The Dunnes in Wexford Main street was crap. It was like a boutique. And you had a fantactic store in Redmond Square, only a couple of hundred metres away.
Similar situation in Enniscorthy?

joes girls

ejmaztec wrote: »

Should there happen to be a take-over, I can see the logic in all of the down-sizing that appears to be going on. Were it to happen after the hypothetical take-over, Asda would get the blame for it and there would be some extremely abusive publicity doing the rounds. The way that it is happening before that possible event, only the Dunne family would get the blame, and, as they would no longer be in business, any adverse publicity wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to them.

dunnes have to many managers. no other company would have that many so maybe dunnes have to get rid of some before a takeover.

joes girls

rco2000 wrote: »

The Dunnes in Wexford Main street was crap. It was like a boutique. And you had a fantactic store in Redmond Square, only a couple of hundred metres away.
Similar situation in Enniscorthy?

what do you mean we had a fantactic store dont you mean we have a fantactic store, do you know something i dont and oh its not that fantactic:rolleyes:

obrien_jimmy

In the Dunnes I work in the managers were also told that 2 week for every years service was on the table if they wanted it.

I've worked in Dunnes for some time and have never seen it this bad before.
I mean violagol in a previous post stated he is a manager and they only get 2 weeks for every year? Thats ridiculously bad to be blunt id expect the regular staff to get that as a start. I honestly dont know why managers dont have a union. I mean isn't it in everyones working rights if ure a big wheel manager or just a blue collar to be able to atleast defend your working rights?

As for a buy out.. jesus I dont know... noone does and thats why every topic with Dunnes is flooded with "there is a takeover and there isn't a take over"

Dunnes are a media shy family run company, im sure they look on every person with even a passing interest in how they run the buisness as a nosy next door neighbour kinda thing. I honestly dont agree with this reasoning as its making everyone worried, some of us have bills fees and mortgages to pay and during these grim times the VERY last thing 18,000 employees want to hear is " were selling up" if this happens Asda or whatever might take existing staff and employ them on a slightly lower wage or something.

Honestly I dont know were all wandering in the dark unless someone has concrete evidence that they ar not selling. All we had from head office was
"We will not comment on idle speculation" that could be taken ether way.


Id love to know what "Souces" people on the board refer to when they say there isnt a takeover.. I mean I ask this in not a deroggitive or taunting way but were all worried here (especially the people who work in Dunnes).

I have to say though I think Dunnes could handle this better, Im worrying like crazy as are other people who depend on this for a job and a weekly wage, last thing I or most likely anyone wants is to be on the dole.

one and only thing we can do is wait. the hearald news paper stated in saturdays edition that a meeting was taking place on tuesday in cork and in head office dublin. similar to the rumor before x-mas (november i think it was)
Myabe with x-mas looming they didnt want to announce it on allready over burdened familes who work in Dunnes and decided for the new year to announce it?

Anyways, Im sure we might find out soon theres a bad atmosphere going around in my shop and I cant help but take notice of it. just the way managers are acting and the expession on their faces is one that afew employees have had on their faces since novemer.... one of worry.

JohnC.

joes girls wrote: »

so not jealous of management, and if i was going to aplly for it it would not be with dunnes.if there is no take over going to happen why did this all start.dunnes are up to something, and we there staff will be the last to know.

I overhear staff in Tesco complaining among themselves about similar cuts in hours and the like. They just don't hit the headlines. Maybe Asda are taking over Tesco too. Or maybe everyone is cutting back due to the current circumstances.

Nody

obrien_jimmy wrote: »

I mean violagol in a previous post stated he is a manager and they only get 2 weeks for every year? Thats ridiculously bad to be blunt id expect the regular staff to get that as a start.

That is what is required by the law, so the company offers people to go at the same cos it would be to make them redundant.

sunnyside

obrien_jimmy wrote: »

I have to say though I think Dunnes could handle this better, Im worrying like crazy as are other people who depend on this for a job and a weekly wage, last thing I or most likely anyone wants is to be on the dole.

.

I was chatting to a girl who works in Dunnes at the weekend and her hours have been cut. She now earns approx €200 a week. Her rent is €130. She has a car which she uses to get to work and all all the other regular living expenses. This scared me because she would now be better off on the dole getting rent allowance but if she leaves the job voluntarily she won't be able to register for dole.

Wouldn't some of the staff actually be better off if they were let goI know it's a horrible thing to say but that girl I was speaking to won't be able to get by financially on the hours she has now and they could cut the hours again meaning people would still officially have a job but no money.

obrien_jimmy

Thats actually true sunnyside.
Some people are on lower or higher rates than others, that girls probably working herself to death to get the 200 euros. I know afew of us in are staying back and working whatever meger extra minutes we can to get alittle extra.

I mean on the dole I THINK it's 204 euro you get or along those lines. I mean its different looking at it as easy money but I was on the dole after being let go from a previous job and I HATED going down the dole office. It's just annoying and you feel awkward taking money that isnt money you worked for.

Im not trying to guilt anyone or anything like that and sorry for any offence people might take from the above comment its jusy MY way of thinking about it in my case. I know some people need that after being let go from a job.

Anyways,

I just got a call from work today (Dunnes) saying not to go in early as I had planned to go in alittle early today to help out and ofcourse get some extra money and all that but I was told to do my rostered hours and leave at my rostered time.

As for reducing hours, well the forst thing they do is put floor and drapery workers on a four day week, and limit them to maybe 2 sundays a month.

I suppose they are just making some cuts to keep budgets in the green and that.

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

what do you mean we had a fantactic store dont you mean we have a fantactic store, do you know something i dont and oh its not that fantactic:rolleyes:

Fantastic when compared to the crap store down main street (which they closed recently).

I must know something that you don't?


crap, I'm winking again..it just won't stop!

rco2000

Kahless wrote: »

I overhear staff in Tesco complaining among themselves about similar cuts in hours and the like. They just don't hit the headlines. Maybe Asda are taking over Tesco too. Or maybe everyone is cutting back due to the current circumstances.

Bullseye Kahless.

sunnyside

obrien_jimmy wrote: »

Thats actually true sunnyside.
Some people are on lower or higher rates than others, that girls probably working herself to death to get the 200 euros. I know afew of us in are staying back and working whatever meger extra minutes we can to get alittle extra.

I mean on the dole I THINK it's 204 euro you get or along those lines. I mean its different looking at it as easy money but I was on the dole after being let go from a previous job and I HATED going down the dole office. It's just annoying and you feel awkward taking money that isnt money you worked for.

But doesn't this leave people living in serious poverty. At least the money on the dole is guaranteed and you can have rent allowance and a medical card. What if the person's hours have been cut and they need to go to the doctor costing €50-60. If Dunnes are changing the terms of your contract by giving you less hours than you signed up for do you not have a right to decide that you cannot afford that and would be best to leave.

I'm not advocating that people choose to be lazy and go on the dole. I mean it from a practical point of view. I know I couldn't survive if I worked 10-15 hours a week for close to minimum pay. I would have to choose the dole for the €200 + rent allowance + medical card.

Davy

i believe it was confirmed today. Managers will be given an offer to leave.

ejmaztec

davton wrote: »

i believe it was confirmed today. Managers will be given an offer to leave.

What was confirmed?

joes girls

rco2000 wrote: »

Fantastic when compared to the crap store down main street (which they closed recently).

I must know something that you don't?


crap, I'm winking again..it just won't stop!

:rolleyes:you said that we HAD a store in redmond sq. with your strong contacts in retail i was waiting for you to tell me it was shutting down. and its ok you can;)all you want i dont mind nervous twitchy people we all have a cross to bear:D

joes girls

ejmaztec wrote: »

What was confirmed?

oh my god not in work today so not getting any info did hear that those meeting are all off again i wish they would just come out with what ever it is anyone not in union better get in it

joes girls

sunnyside wrote: »

But doesn't this leave people living in serious poverty. At least the money on the dole is guaranteed and you can have rent allowance and a medical card. What if the person's hours have been cut and they need to go to the doctor costing €50-60. If Dunnes are changing the terms of your contract by giving you less hours than you signed up for do you not have a right to decide that you cannot afford that and would be best to leave.

I'm not advocating that people choose to be lazy and go on the dole. I mean it from a practical point of view. I know I couldn't survive if I worked 10-15 hours a week for close to minimum pay. I would have to choose the dole for the €200 + rent allowance + medical card.

most staff are on a flexi contracts and can get anything from 15 to 39 hours p.w so they are doing nothing wrong i would hope that all dunnes staff are signing a 3 day week with the welfare.

joes girls

father_ted9t9 wrote: »

The dunnes stores in clondalkin started removing outdoor large neon signs today and they are to be replaced with asda signage

did that asda sign go up or just a new dunnes one.

ash_18x

ejmaztec wrote: »

What was confirmed?

That they are offering redundancies to managers. They are looking for around 60 of them according to the irish independent.

JohnC.

joes girls wrote: »

most staff are on a flexi contracts and can get anything from 15 to 39 hours p.w so they are doing nothing wrong i would hope that all dunnes staff are signing a 3 day week with the welfare.

Several in Waterford have gone to 3 days plus welfare. They also tried to trick full-time staff into requesting a 4 day week. The word was unofficially let out that the option was available, but the way it was done, Dunnes were not offering the 4 day week to staff. Staff would have to go to request it from them. So it would be the staff requesting a change in the contract rather than Dunnes requesting a change. More advantageous to Dunnes that way. Nobody went for that in the end.

ejmaztec

ash_18x wrote: »

That they are offering redundancies to managers. They are looking for around 60 of them according to the irish independent.

Davton had me going for a while there....:)

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

:rolleyes:you said that we HAD a store in redmond sq. with your strong contacts in retail i was waiting for you to tell me it was shutting down. and its ok you can;)all you want i dont mind nervous twitchy people we all have a cross to bear:D

my strong contacts were'nt far off the ball...

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhsnsncwcwau/

the winking has stopped ....for now...

joes girls

Kahless wrote: »

Several in Waterford have gone to 3 days plus welfare. They also tried to trick full-time staff into requesting a 4 day week. The word was unofficially let out that the option was available, but the way it was done, Dunnes were not offering the 4 day week to staff. Staff would have to go to request it from them. So it would be the staff requesting a change in the contract rather than Dunnes requesting a change. More advantageous to Dunnes that way. Nobody went for that in the end.

they all did right who would give up a days pay the fulltime staff are the lucky ones the rest of us will be spending more time at home instead of work i can see a 15 hour week on the cards

Corruptedmorals

Asda coming over in July (latest unconfirmed word on the street) and the first store to rebrand will be the Ilac ones. The grocery will move to the drapery one, and the drapery will go altogether. I can see this happening, it's hardly a profitable drapery outlet anymore, and Henry Street isn't either, it's too big, but will probably stay. Anyway, yeah, unconfirmed etc. etc.

Half of Dublin city centre management were in my store today for drapery stocktake..I thought this meeting was today?

Hours were affected for two weeks, and are now back to normal in my store. January was pitiful for sales, so that was probably it. I'm only part-time and I have 20-25 hours now and 5 day weeks (3 of those days would be 3 hour shifts..) and the flexi and full timers are getting 37-40 hour weeks. Extremely short staffed, someone has to do the hours.. We are getting Grafton Street staff though.

Evidence so far is that town/city centre Dunnes are the worst hit because they're often close together. I can't see Dunnes Liffey Valley, Blanch, Cornelscourt, Tallaght, Crumlin etc..and the country ones not in town centres closing.

rco2000

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Asda coming over in July (latest unconfirmed word on the street) and the first store to rebrand will be the Ilac ones. The grocery will move to the drapery one, and the drapery will go altogether. I can see this happening, it's hardly a profitable drapery outlet anymore, and Henry Street isn't either, it's too big, but will probably stay. Anyway, yeah, unconfirmed etc. etc.

Half of Dublin city centre management were in my store today for drapery stocktake..I thought this meeting was today?

The "reported" famous meetings that were to take place were called off by DS HQ on Sat afternoon last.

ASDA were looking for sites around Ireland circa 12 months ago, but it would have been on a solo run. However the slowdown in Irish retail sector has halted this plan & is on the back burner for now (allegedly).

I believe the ASDA guys are coming to Ireland on July 12th - probably Belfast or Drumcree for the July 12th marches, definetely not to takeover Dunnes.

joes girls

just something to think about with all these stores shutting down,if dunnes were to sell up maybe the stores that closed would not come into it and then the dunne family would still have these to do what ever they wanted.

rco2000

joes girls wrote: »

just something to think about with all these stores shutting down,if dunnes were to sell up maybe the stores that closed would not come into it and then the dunne family would still have these to do what ever they wanted.

Dunnes may choose to:
A. Hold onto these stores & ride out the storm. Look at re-opening them at some stage in the future should a future trading environment warrant it.
B. Sell these Leaseholds/Freeholds on to other retailers (like ALdi, Lidl, Tesco, Asda etc) & use the proceeds to finance current & future operations