Pub Industry on the Decline - Bad news or good?

bijapos

Interesting article on P.8 of the Sunday Tribune about a couple of pubs in the Dublin area who dropped prices. Sub Lounge beside Tara St station dropped prices to €4 per pint and "business has never been better". Interesting stuff indeed. Wonder if the VFI read the Tribune?

thebman

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Why ARE drinks in pubs so much more expensive than in supermarkets, anyway?

Overheads, they'll aways be more expensive, don't have a problem with that but I do have a problem with how much more expensive.

Ask anyone would they rather go down the pub or drink at home and see what they say?

I imagine most will say they would rather drink in pub. A few things causes problems in pubs other than prices such as getting there, getting back cheaply, not allowed smoke, the weather.

Publicans biggest problem really is that they have to convince people that it is worth the extra expense. I don't really see any attempt to do anything of the sort.

Most pubs seem content to do the same thing day in and day out and put up the prices every now and again and wonder why business goes down.

How many other businesses are trying to stay exactly where they are? Its a market, adapt or go under unfortunately.

SkepticOne

leonardjos wrote: »

There is nobody stopping individual drinks producers or individual pubs from lowering prices. Of course, happy hours are not allowed. But they can simply cut the price for the full day. This is a pretty lame argument for the publicans' failure to respond to the changed economic circumstances

I agree with this. This has to be the lamest excuse from the vintners for high prices. Who is suggesting that there has to be coordinated reductions across all pubs? Each pub is responsible for their own prices. It is annoying that this suggestion should be treated seriously by the journalist. But that is the problem in this country. We pander to vested interests and industry groups instead of telling them to get their act together or suffer the consequences. Every industry seems to have some group whos job it is to pretend that their failings are the fault of society. These are then taken seriously by the same newspapers that complain about Ireland being uncompetitive.

Fulton Crown

have absolutely no sympathy for publican in general...when times were good they bled us dry and took us for every cent they could...remember the callous raising of prices on Rugby week ends ??

Few of them know their regulars or have any interest in them....in the states pubs with food have promotions - free ribs night - etc etc or have some means of enticing extra customers into their establishments.

Irish pubs in the main nah !

Just do the same thing week in week out,have surly lazy barstaff,never listen to your customers......

Sure it's a cast iron ecipe for success !!

Innit ??

ei.sdraob

The problem beside prices is terrible service

bad enough you are being ripped off price wise you have to wait to get served, can be easily solved by hiring more people

and also the weird opening hours

other day came out of cinema at midnight, decided to have a quick drink or two only to be told that the bar is closed, bleh their loss

ive no love for publicans, they can learn a bit from their European counterparts where the customer is treated quickly, cheaply and with respect


i cant believe they even have the cheek to moan about this, they dug this ****ing hole for themselves

enda1

ei.sdraob wrote: »

The problem beside prices is terrible service

bad enough you are being ripped off price wise you have to wait to get served, can be easily solved by hiring more people

and also the weird opening hours

other day came out of cinema at midnight, decided to have a quick drink or two only to be told that the bar is closed, bleh their loss

ive no love for publicans, they can learn a bit from their European counterparts where the customer is treated quickly, cheaply and with respect


i cant believe they even have the cheek to moan about this, they dug this ****ing hole for themselves

You realise Europe isn't one homogeneous place with exactly the same standards everywhere you go?

For example in France in the countryside a demi (0.25l) is about €2. Not exactly much cheaper than Ireland. In Paris you can pay 3 times this price!

Quick service!!? Is this a joke? Service in Ireland is the quickest I have ever experienced in the bar industry. Publicans here can at least take multiple orders and prepare drinks while taking more, in some other places you go it is on a one order one service basis.

The with respect one is difficult. This can vary hugely I find even in Ireland. In some pubs you will be treated with great respect and others not so. Abroad it varies similarly between countries, some treat you very well for example in Germany I've found while in others with apathy like in Hungary.

Grass is always greener on the other side etc. etc.

ei.sdraob

enda1 wrote: »

You realise Europe isn't one homogeneous place with exactly the same standards everywhere you go?

For example in France in the countryside a demi (0.25l) is about €2. Not exactly much cheaper than Ireland. In Paris you can pay 3 times this price!

Quick service!!? Is this a joke? Service in Ireland is the quickest I have ever experienced in the bar industry. Publicans here can at least take multiple orders and prepare drinks while taking more, in some other places you go it is on a one order one service basis.

The with respect one is difficult. This can vary hugely I find even in Ireland. In some pubs you will be treated with great respect and others not so. Abroad it varies similarly between countries, some treat you very well for example in Germany I've found while in others with apathy like in Hungary.

Grass is always greener on the other side etc. etc.

you should come and live in Galway so

the bars are clearly understaffed

and yes everywhere ive been on continent is either cheaper or provide a higher level of service

and the longer opening hours, in some cases 24hr means people dont just all get drunk in very short space of time and everyone is much more chilled out

i would swap the pub culture for the cafe culture any time

thebman

Find service is fine most places but there can be long queues in popular places with 3 lines of people trying to get to bar which is more bad design/layout than anything else.

enda1

ei.sdraob wrote: »

you should come and live in Galway so

the bars are clearly understaffed

and yes everywhere ive been on continent is either cheaper or provide a higher level of service

and the longer opening hours, in some cases 24hr means people dont just all get drunk in very short space of time and everyone is much more chilled out

i would swap the pub culture for the cafe culture any time

No thanks

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your point about 24hr drinking nor about the café culture, but the pub scene in Ireland is something I believe to be quite unique in Europe and something we should try to maintain as much as possible. I believe too that 24hr opening should be allowed along with café licenses - basically the total deregulation of alcohol.

But I firmly believe that prices in cities in Ireland are broadly in line with the rest of Western Europe - whereas the UK is clearly below the average price for Western Europe.

Where I believe we are being most ripped off is in the country-side where the extraordinarily lower cost associated with running the enterprise are not reflected it the costs for the customer.

thebman

yeah irregular hours can only be blamed on a bizarre policy to attempt to reduce drunken and disorderly behavior and alcoholism in the country.

No offense Mr.Politician sir, but anyone committed to getting drunk each day will manage to do it in an hour if that's all the pubs/off-licenses are open for. All it does is piss off regular hard working people who don't always have the time to get to the offie before 10 when they are working late due to the trying to keep their jobs.

enda1

thebman wrote: »

yeah irregular hours can only be blamed on a bizarre policy to attempt to reduce drunken and disorderly behavior and alcoholism in the country.

No offense Mr.Politician sir, but anyone committed to getting drunk each day will manage to do it in an hour if that's all the pubs/off-licenses are open for. All it does is piss off regular hard working people who don't always have the time to get to the offie before 10 when they are working late due to the trying to keep their jobs.

Exactly!!

Its always Joe soap who pays never the target of these tactics.

Seth Brundle

Personally, I think its terrible! If they keep closing down, soon we will have nowhere to take foreign leaders when they come here!

ei.sdraob

kbannon wrote: »

Personally, I think its terrible! If they keep closing down, soon we will have nowhere to take foreign leaders when they come here!

what about them cliffs along the west coast

bangersandmash

enda1 wrote: »

But I firmly believe that prices in cities in Ireland are broadly in line with the rest of Western Europe - whereas the UK is clearly below the average price for Western Europe.

Where I believe we are being most ripped off is in the country-side where the extraordinarily lower cost associated with running the enterprise are not reflected it the costs for the customer.

There's something in the above that you've neglected. The difference between pub prices in the centre and suburbs of Irish cities is negligible, often of the order of 5-10%. You'll frequently pay €5+ for a pint of lager in nice but average suburbs of Dublin.

Yet there is a huge difference between the central districts of cities like Paris or Berlin, and the residential suburbs primarily frequented by locals. It's understandable that tourists pay a premium in prime locations, but naturally locals pay considerably less for a drink in a residential area. So it's hard to explain why the same does not occur in Irish cities.

mistyisle

Found this today. not a bad idea i wish them all the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/DN/free/303342422016051.php

MikeC101

bangersandmash wrote: »

There's something in the above that you've neglected. The difference between pub prices in the centre and suburbs of Irish cities is negligible, often of the order of 5-10%. You'll frequently pay €5+ for a pint of lager in nice but average suburbs of Dublin.

Yet there is a huge difference between the central districts of cities like Paris or Berlin, and the residential suburbs primarily frequented by locals. It's understandable that tourists pay a premium in prime locations, but naturally locals pay considerably less for a drink in a residential area. So it's hard to explain why the same does not occur in Irish cities.

Our publicans are an enlightened bunch you see. They believe in true equality, regardless of petty inconveniences like economics or logic.

All people will be treated equally by them, everyone will be ripped off equally!

They're striking a blow for oppressed drinkers worldwide, really.

Nothing to do with increasing their profits, no sirree, not one bit!