Cafe owners in Letterkenny living in la-la land

motherfunker

The swing room have actually increased some of their prices in the last few weeks, €1 on a toastie, soup us aswell, cant remember how much. They obviously havent heard about the recession. If you have that little business sense then you shouldent be in business!

O.J.

ok, well I may go on a bit of a rant here, but some of the comments posted here,especially by 'Pique' have really irritated me. I'm aware that everyone is entitled to there opinion-but come on.
the original arguement made here referring to the prices of Cafe Blend and other cafes/restaurants is simply ludacris and in my view,quite simply ignorant.
First of all only two prices off the whole menu are mentioned, which is a very narrow view.
Then the cafes like cafe blend and the swing room , are being compared to macs, subway, queit moment, etc....
this doesnt make any sense its like comparing chalk and cheese!!!
for instance,cafe blend is a high quality, moderne, contempory establishment, focusing on coffees, cakes, soups, sandwiches, lunches and light snacks. then your comparing it with the greasy spoon cafe:Quiet Moment, an american fast food chain:Subway , and a convinience shop with an added kitchen and sandwich counter:Mac's Mace, and a greasy,fast food, fish and chips take-away:Mr.Chippy.
While all these places are good in there on ways depending on your mood and
taste and wat you want to eat at the time.it is simply bizarre comparing these with new,atmospheric,high quality and original,coffee shops.
there are different markets in the food industry aimed at different people
-you obviously dont have a clue how business and money works...

if people want high quality they should be willing to pay a higher price,for top range coffee,sandwiches,soups,and meals.
for example,How come expensive,high quality shops such as tommy hilfiger, hugo boss, etc manage to survive???
everyone doesnt just run to dunnes stores or pennys for all there clothes because its cheaper. people want sumthing different, they want sum quality.

lowering prices does not create profits!!! its recession time for everyone you know, if every business kept lowering their prices nothing wud survive and the economy wud colapse...
thats my rant over for now,just had to get it off my chest


if anyone agrees or disagrees,i would appreciate your replies.....

a bientot

motherfunker

You have a valid point about people wanting different things but that dosent mean that these places are not ridiculously overpriced. I used to enjoy cafe blend but I got fed up leaving hungrier than when I went in there, minus €20+.
Dont be fooled by a bit of contemporary decor, they buy their ingredients from the same companies as the greasy spoon, it dosent take a genius to put a bit of goats cheese in a puff pastry case and put a handful of leuttice beside it, it does take an idiot to pay through the nose for it. Soup is veg and water no matter what fancy name you give it, a sandwich, made with bread from the same bread man as the greasy spoon, is just bread and some cheap filling, dont let the fact that there is some art work on the wall make you think the food is actually better than it is. These places belong in the times of the celtic tiger when money was plentyful, things have changed now and these contemporary, modern eateries are going to have to do the same. The dole ques have almost as many professional people in them now as unqualified people, the money isint there anymore. It dosent really matter to me what happens to these places but I'm sure it matters to the owners, why not take some of these comments on board instead of dismissing them as crap.

GoldenGreen

i do find this thread strange, as there is such a simple solution to the moaning, simply don't go to these places as we all know what you are getting.

I agree with O.J. though, its like comparing chalk and cheese. Its like when you go on you holiday and you are looking at for a hotel they are rated from 1 star to 5 starts. You know what you are getting with a 1 star cheap and no mod-cons, 5 star expensive but with the extras.

You are also paying for the atmosphere, don't try to compare for example cafe blend with Mr. Chippy. Lets say you were meting a friend you had not seen in a while, or had a business meeting where out of the two places would you rather meet ?

also in the defence of the Cafe Blend and the Swing Room when it comes to coffee, you can not comapre the coffee in places like that to aul filltered coffee thats been sitting on a hot plate for an hour. I would be surprised if the filtered coffee had not got more of a mark up that the coffee in places like the swing room and cafe blend, freshly ground and made with a proper espresso machine (which are not cheap to start with)

Also in some posts people were nearly taking joy out of the thought these places would go out of business, that really nice, end of the day they are providing employment directly to their staff and indirectly to their suppliers, the last thing we need is more people on the dole queue.

Pique

O.J. wrote: »

ok, well I may go on a bit of a rant here, but some of the comments posted here,especially by 'Pique' have really irritated me. I'm aware that everyone is entitled to there opinion-but come on.
the original arguement made here referring to the prices of Cafe Blend and other cafes/restaurants is simply ludacris and in my view,quite simply ignorant.....etc.etc.etc.

Well, O.J. as this is your first post (like blck'n'blu) and you also make a stern defence of a cafe I mentioned in my O.P. (like blck'n'blu), I will ask you the same question? Do you have any connection with Cafe Blend ?


Now to respond to your post:

I never compared Cafe Blend or The Swing Room to Macs or anywhere else. I simply said that they will probably fold if they continue their exorbitant pricing.

Your apparent advert for CB as

.. a high quality, moderne, contempory establishment, focusing on coffees, cakes, soups, sandwiches, lunches and light snacks

is laughable IMO. It's a cafe. no more or no less. The sandwiches are overpriced, the coffee ain't worth the price and 2.20 for a bottle of Coke (take-away) is ridiculous.

Calling it

moderne & contempory

which both mean the same thing, btw., is irrelevant. It's not that inviting a place to spend lunch IMO. In it's defence, The Swing Room is a much more inviting and relaxing place with tasteful decor and a nice 'mood' to the place.

Your statement/advert that CB is

new,atmospheric,high quality and original

gets one thing right, it's new...ish.

I totally agree with this statement though

if people want high quality they should be willing to pay a higher price,for top range coffee,sandwiches,soups,and meals.

However, in the examples of the places I gave, the products do not justify the prices.

I would happily pay for quality, hence my reasons for visiting these places in the first instance...however, I have not been met with anything except ideas above their station.

By the way, I know how business and money (especially mine) works.
10 items at €5 = €50, Costs(40%) = €20 profit €30
12 items at €4.50 = €54, Costs(40%) = €21.60 profit €32.40.
See what I did there ? Lower price, more sold, more profit. And all you have to do is stick a '10% off' sign in the window for your trouble.
Law of diminishing returns in reverse.
Simple Junior Cert Economics.

Of course, if margins are so tight that a 10% reduction on some items is impossible, then maybe you're the one who knows nothing about business or money.

Ah well.

O.J.

Thanks for the replies, I've taken on board what you've said and I respect your opinions....
But again I have to reply directly to Pique,because I don't understand your way of thinking.

Firstly,I do not have any connections with Cafe Blend,Swing Room or any other cafes or restaurants. I live in Donegal Town,and enjoy eating in cafe aroma and the blueberry,so when i am in LK ,cafe blend wud be one of the places i wud choose to eat in. I was specifically defending them just as you were specifically critisising them... and it seemed to me,'GoldenGreen',and others i'm sure,that you were comparing such cafes to those other businesses-Macs, Quiet Moment etc..
-Refering to cafe blend you say: "It's not that inviting a place to spend lunch"
so do you think that Macs,Quiet Moment and Subway,is more inviting???

- you go on to say:
"However, in the examples of the places I gave, the products do not justify the prices.
I would happily pay for quality, hence my reasons for visiting these places in the first instance...however, I have not been met with anything except ideas above their station."
- if you are happy to pay for quality and all that...then why did you go into cafeblend and purchase a few slices of toast and a bottle of coke????
thats hardly searching for quality is it??

then you throw a load of random figures in stating that low prices automatically mean more profits!
I think your forgetting the extremely high prices business's have to pay to rent their buildings!
why dont you just carry out your theory,set up your own business with its low-low prices,and see how many days you last...

In general I think your whole idea is completely contradictory... your giving out about high prices,being ripped off, recession ireland - wen you seem to be the one sitting at your computer at 3 oclock in the day,in the upstairs office, surfing the web,voicing your opinions atwhile your being paid to work, while thousands in this country are struggling to find a job.People like you bring down this economy,while the very entrepreneurs you give out about,are the ones gatting off their backsides and working hard to provide services to our community..
- maybe you should stretch your legs and take a little stroll down to the nearest corner shop, buy yourself a loaf of bread and a 2 litre bottle of coke(take-away) and stop moaning ...

btw,although highly irrelevant like you said yourself:
-Modern means something thats physically new or thats in fashion.
-Contemporary describes a place or thing that has a new/up-to date design or style to it.
...maybe you should just stick to your basic junior cert economics


holla back,
all replies/comments appreciated

muffler

Just keep this debate civil please.

Pique

O.J. wrote: »

-Refering to cafe blend you say: "It's not that inviting a place to spend lunch"
so do you think that Macs,Quiet Moment and Subway,is more inviting???

Absolutely no less, to be honest. they're busier, granted(no surprise) and you get what you pay for. No pretence about them. 'It does what it say on the tin', as they say.

O.J. wrote: »

- you go on to say:
"However, in the examples of the places I gave, the products do not justify the prices.
I would happily pay for quality, hence my reasons for visiting these places in the first instance...however, I have not been met with anything except ideas above their station."
- if you are happy to pay for quality and all that...then why did you go into cafeblend and purchase a few slices of toast and a bottle of coke????
thats hardly searching for quality is it??

I was there previously for a lunch for my wife and was charged exorbitant prices for what was a very plain meal, however I let that one occasion go as a once-off. The instances in the original post were more recent and I thought deserved a mention/comment.

O.J. wrote: »

then you throw a load of random figures in stating that low prices automatically mean more profits!
I think your forgetting the extremely high prices business's have to pay to rent their buildings!
why dont you just carry out your theory,set up your own business with its low-low prices,and see how many days you last...

Speaking as a consumer, if the only way for a business to survive is to charge over the odds for a basic service, then that business is doomed to failure, thankfully!

O.J. wrote: »

In general I think your whole idea is completely contradictory... your giving out about high prices,being ripped off, recession ireland - wen you seem to be the one sitting at your computer at 3 oclock in the day,in the upstairs office, surfing the web,voicing your opinions atwhile your being paid to work, while thousands in this country are struggling to find a job.People like you bring down this economy,while the very entrepreneurs you give out about,are the ones gatting off their backsides and working hard to provide services to our community..

'People like me' are working our asses off to pay for a mortgage, car payments etc, and so if we post an occasional comment during a lax moment we're denying others a job ? Get real !

O.J. wrote: »

- maybe you should stretch your legs and take a little stroll down to the nearest corner shop, buy yourself a loaf of bread and a 2 litre bottle of coke(take-away) and stop moaning ...

Now that's not a very nutritous lunch, is it

O.J. wrote: »

btw,although highly irrelevant like you said yourself:
-Modern means something thats physically new or thats in fashion.
-Contemporary describes a place or thing that has a new/up-to date design or style to it.
...maybe you should just stick to your basic junior cert economics

So a new place in a new building is modern, but a new place in an old building is contemporary ?

although. " in fashion." and "up-to date design or style to it." are one and the same thing, really

Economics has nothing to do with it;)

motherfunker

I was in the car with my 8 year old son today and he asked why do we always buy our petrol in the same garage. I said it was because it was the cheapest place to buy petrol in town, then my son said "I know why it is the cheapest place" and I said why. He said "it's because they sell it cheap, then more people buy their petrol there so they sell more and because they sell more they make more money". That is a true story, it happened about 7 hours ago with no prompting or encouragement from me.
If my 8 year old son can see that, why is it so hard for some adults to see it.
Contemporary, modern, good food, good coffey, I like all of these things but they can all be achieved at a reasonible price. What I dont like is being blatently ripped off for products that I know are not worth what they are being sold for. Somebody mentioned designer clothes earlier, I wouldent buy a tommy hilfiger shirt for half the price they are sold at, I could afford to but I'm not going to spend an excessive amount of money on clothes of a similar standard as stuff bought for a quarter the price.
I will say Cafe Blend is a nice place and I did enjoy the food but I just wont pay that amount of money anymore for a light snack, look at the continent, you can eat and drink all night long for the price of a main course on its own in Ireland.
Can I ask this one question to blcknblue and O.J., would you not like to eat in these places, enjoy their athmosphere, sample their fine coffee's, but pay less money?

motherfunker

O.J. wrote: »

T

In general I think your whole idea is completely contradictory... your giving out about high prices,being ripped off, recession ireland - wen you seem to be the one sitting at your computer at 3 oclock in the day,in the upstairs office, surfing the web,voicing your opinions atwhile your being paid to work, while thousands in this country are struggling to find a job.People like you bring down this economy,while the very entrepreneurs you give out about,are the ones gatting off their backsides and working hard to provide services to our community..

Very childish comment by the way!

Wishbone Ash

googlehead wrote: »

i like these threads, i would like to see more threads like this exposing people who rip others off,

I don't understand that mentality! Surely they are charging what the market tolerates? If people were unwilling to pay it, they would vote with their feet. I could understand it if the restaurant had a monopoly but Letterkenny must have the highest proportion of restaurants/cafes in the country.


As my mother would say, when she hears about the high prices in some places - "It's not half dear enough".

muffler

motherfunker wrote: »

Very childish comment by the way!

And a very infractible one.

bmtannam

q

bmtannam

God I'm glad I live near Dublin

motherfunker

bmtannam wrote: »

God I'm glad I live near Dublin

Why?

manta356

I see in the Donegal News that cafe blend is for sale,has the penny finally dropped ?

Fighting Irish

Pique wrote: »

I just have to mention the issue of prices charged in 2 LK cafes.
Now I don't want to go on and on about ripoff Ireland but over the past 4 days, I've been shocked at the prices that these places think they can get away with.

Cafe Blend -
€2.20 for a 500ml Coke (take-away) :eek::eek:
€1.50 for 2 slices of toast.

The Swing Room
Carrot Cake portion (about half the size of a Cadburys Dairy Milk bar) 60c (take-away) or €2.20 (sit-in) :eek::eek:

What recession

The sooner these places lose their custom and cop-on that lower prices will mean BIGGER profits, the better.

I can see the likes of the above named, Bagel Bar, StrEat, et al, folding by the end of the year but Macs, Subway & The Quiet Moment staying alive.
Now I'm not saying that this is a good thing as I think LK needs a bit of variety but the prices charged for a basic coffee (and they ARE basic filter coffees, and if not, then simply taste like it) and a piece of cake/sweet/whatever are up at the €7 mark, and this is simply taking the P...

Anyone agree ?

If people are paying that much why would the business decrease prices?


Would you go into work and tell your boss you want a pay decrease?

O.J.

I feel that my discussion with Pique has lost a lot of logic, as we both are going off the point somewhat....
I'm not going to answer to everything you've said this time because its a waste of time, and would go on forever since both of us are obviously too stubborn to accept any of each others opinions.

I understand that high prices are a real nuisance,but the manner in which you criticize those businesses irritates me, and some of your points,I feel,are ridiculous. In general, i'm just sick of everyone moaning about the recession, instead of getting on with it and trying to get back to the way things were.

..anyway,
I'l leave this, with my final,overall opinion of the matter..
The proof is in the pudding, cafe blend is the most successful cafe in letterkenny,has been open for roughly 5 years i think, and has already proven itself.

gud luck

O.J.

'I see in the Donegal News that cafe blend is for sale,has the penny finally dropped ?'
manta356 I saw this in the paper too...
They're not closing down though, they're selling the entire brand that they've created and established,to sumone else to run it! its wat business people do..
by the way they don't sell pudding, so save your puns
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and to mutherfunker , yeah of course i'd like all that, but unfortunately you cant have everything, i'd prefer to pay higher for quality...

also your story about you and son doesnt prove anything.

manta356

A dear pudding,no doubt

motherfunker

O.J. wrote: »

and to mutherfunker , yeah of course i'd like all that, but unfortunately you cant have everything, i'd prefer to pay higher for quality...

also your story about you and son doesnt prove anything.

I dont know if you have worked in the catering industry, but i have for several years and I can tell you for certain that cost does not equal quality. People pay for what they think they are getting, what they actually recieve can sometimes be very different.

Mr. Presentable

Out of curiosity, what does the OP think is a fair price for two slices of toast?

Pique

50c ideally..€1 max (with butter & jam incl.).

I still have my suspicions that O.J. isn't being entirely forthcoming about their connection to Cafe Blend, or else he/she is a complete fanboy.
Considering their previous advert-type statements and then most recently followed up by

cafe blend is the most successful cafe in letterkenny

If by 'successful' then you mean as a result of fleecing customers to the Nth degree and not providing anything except a 'concept' of high quality food/service in a contempory (sic) setting, then yes, you are correct.
If you mean providing high-quality, innovative, exciting, tasty and unique foods at a premium price (which IMO is exactly what LK needs in a Cafe atm) then you are entirely wrong !

Fur Coat & No Knickers sums it up I think. CB is not on it's own here, before anyone thinks this is a personal or directed attack at places mentioned. I just happen to think that you should get what you pay for.

I don't want to pay what the owner (in whatever world they live in) thinks it's worth. I want to pay roughly what I think it's worth. When the 2 match, then I'm happy...as I have been in many diverse eateries.

muffler

Id prefer if people would debate the wider issue of "overcharging" rather then 2 of you slogging it out over one particular establishment.

I have let both of you have your say on that point so move on a bit please.

O.J.

i've already tried to move on from this,now pointless discussion, but it seems that Pique can't....

its also obvious that you are directly attacking the particular business ,and therefore i could easlily suggest that you are connected with a rival business in letterkenny...

I just think its sad that you would take pleasure if the business was to close down, since you dont know anything about the people running the company,nor do i, but i'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

so yeah i think we should move on now,you agree?

digital pimp

ive avoided eating in letterkenny for years before this recession, due to the ludircus prices
i can feed myself for a week on what places charge for a sandwich and bottle of coke

Pique

O.J. wrote: »

i've already tried to move on from this,now pointless discussion, but it seems that Pique can't....

Oh the irony...

O.J. wrote: »

its also obvious that you are directly attacking the particular business ,and therefore i could easlily suggest that you are connected with a rival business in letterkenny...

It's obvious I stated TWO examples, not one, attacked neither but highlighted what I see as unreal pricing and 'living in la-la land', and commented on others that i see as better/better value. I can categorically state that I have no connection with a rival business in Letterkenny.

O.J. wrote: »

I just think its sad that you would take pleasure if the business was to close down, since you dont know anything about the people running the company,nor do i, but i'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

I take pleasure in seeing places that ripped people off in the good times, and got away with it, now being forced to adapt or die, basically.

O.J. wrote: »

so yeah i think we should move on now,you agree?

Yes please

muffler

I asked but both O.J. and Pique decided to ignore my request to desist from this tit for tat point scoring and continued on with the unnecessary comments.

Thread locked and you can both have a couple of days off to reflect.