The Pub trade is dying - Minimum price for Alcohol?

Degag

ardinn wrote: »

Their are twice as many people here trying to get pubs with no darts or pool to get them in - Which is probably a statement that their arent too many pubs, just to many middle ground pubs - set out your stall and either be a sports pub / quiet pub / disco pub.

If I were to take everyone's advice here (and im trying to, but ye cant have it all - you wont appeal to everyone and then if you try you probably wont appeal to anyone) I would need a Multi story pub covering 10 acres with at least 10 different bars and 10 genres of music at 10 different levels some with tv's some without some with pool tables some without.

Sooo. Where's the middle ground for the average Joe?

Edit - just read the "replace" post

Yes, it all boils down to this simple fact:

"No matter what you do, you can't please everyone"

Spunge

bungler wrote: »

Was out the other night and asked for a vodka and redbull the drinks were brought over a few mins later and i got the vodka with a can of Boost and they charged me €3.75 for the boost and marked on the can itself was 99c. they sell this boost in my local spar and obviously the manger/owner bought a load of it and tries to charge me nearly 4 times the price.

A mate told me that he got charged €4 for a can of blue bear with his vodke and there selling this dtuff in shops for 50c

This is why pubs are going tits up cause ill never drink there ever again

Asking for vodka+red bull, getting a blue bear and getting charged more than red bull thats lolz

Spanish Eyes

Ok, the pub trade in Ireland is in trouble. So what to do?

Well, I for one would be delirious if I could buy a Weissbeer (or some other nice beer other than the swill in ALL the taps) without the barman looking at me as if I was a moron. That's just me, and I know the pub trade cannot cater for everyone.

I would keel over if a few packets of crisps and/or nuts were supplied with the second round of drinks. Jeez, all they give you is dirty looks, and a slapped down pint of swill. 20 euro thanks.

A little recognition of the customer would not go astray. So give me a cardiac arrest and get a beer other than hino, hoors life, buddie spare a dime, bullie me, and guinness etc. That's the repertoire. Sown up or what with the suppliers?

NO Telly. No Telly, No telly. or else keep it in a little room for those who go out on their own to watch a match, fair enough, but I don't go to the pub to see the telly. Sorry.

Music, nice if it is not at a pitch that requires ear testing on Monday morning.

Toilets that are clean. Bog roll always, and no slippy floor.

When I read back my post, I know why it's nicer at home.

ScumLord

ardinn wrote: »

People drink twice as much playing these games. I promote them - heavily.

They should do, most darts players I know always go on about the balance of pints it takes to play properly. 2 - 5 pints is the sweat spot apparently then it all goes down hill. You don't see dart boards in fancy city pubs though.

the_syco

ardinn wrote: »

I was onto coke about those - it costs more than the bottles - jut so everyone knows, coz you seem to - how much are they?

I'm thinking they only work out cheap if you use large quantities of it, such as in a cinema, where it also works out easier to sell.

Degag wrote: »

I agree totally. Sky need to be told to politely go fúck themselves. My boss reckons that not enought publicans would stop paying their sub to make any kind of strike worthwhile though. I have no idea why they won't try though.

If any pub is on a short-term business plan due to financial constraints, they won't be into the long-term plan of going against Sky. Also, if a big pub in a village "says no to Sky", but a little pub keeps Sky, the little pub will get the business, and the big pub may bite the dust. It's a case of profit over principals, and principals doesn't pay the mortgage.

senordingdong wrote: »

Now they've seen countless renovations and a second premises, and have gained enough customers to create busy weekends too.

It can be hit and miss. Some gig nights can be dead. It'll look full, but it'll be the bands, and that's all. Other nights, it can cram well. I think the smell happened after they bordered up some wall, and all the rats in it died, and stunk the place out. Seems they've finally gotten rid of the smell with the latest renovation

Also, Fibbers prices go up a bit after 11. The laughable thing is that their prices after 11 are usually better than the prices of other places before 11.

Fibbers has two pool tables. There could be some nutter screaming his lungs out, people moshing in front of the stage, and there'd be people playing pool, with others queuing up for a game.

Haven't been in it since the latest renovation, but before then, it may have been a hole, but it was still better than a few other places.

ScumLord wrote: »

They should do, most darts players I know always go on about the balance of pints it takes to play properly. 2 - 5 pints is the sweat spot apparently then it all goes down hill. You don't see dart boards in fancy city pubs though.

A pub which used to exist nearby me (Hitchin Post, in Leixlip) had a dart board in it. It was "covered" at about 8 or 9, or 12, depending how busy it got. It would have tournaments sometimes, and other times it would have 15 people playing against each other, some who'd meet for that game of darts, and end up drinking until closing.

Spanish Eyes

Forget about the lovely foreign beers.

Most young wans have the naggin in the handbag and order a coke to top it up. How does the publican stop that?

Don't know what the lads do... buy a backpack?

Capt'n Midnight

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Forget about the lovely foreign beers.

Most young wans have the naggin in the handbag and order a coke to top it up. How does the publican stop that?

Don't know what the lads do... buy a backpack?

There is a bigger mark up on coke than on many alcoholic drinks.

If you ask for a pint of soft drinks the trick was to give you two bottles, still wasn't enough so they threw in a tonne of ice and the end result cost more than a pint and way more if you took into account the ice.

There is no excise duty on soft drinks, and they were always way cheaper in supermarkets. Even if you take into account the overheads and I know you can't provide a roof for free I really resented that it was cheaper to take alcoholic drinks :mad::mad::mad::mad:
And every time I hear the publicans moan about the duty, I remember that they have always pocketed the duty when it came to soft drinks

ardinn

After Cancelling my sky Account I got a nice Phone call.

Seems they are feeling the pinch - without going into to much detail, They are starting to deal! Made me happy.

Dempsey

ardinn wrote: »

After Cancelling my sky Account I got a nice Phone call.

Seems they are feeling the pinch - without going into to much detail, They are starting to deal! Made me happy.

And a price reduction in the pint is surely on the way?

Surely you'll be passing your savings onto the customer or will you just enjoy the increase in profit margin?

benjamin d

ardinn wrote: »

After Cancelling my sky Account I got a nice Phone call.

Seems they are feeling the pinch - without going into to much detail, They are starting to deal! Made me happy.

The place I work got more channels (ESPN, SS2 etc.) for a fair bit cheaper when they threatened to cancel, everyone should do it!

ardinn

Dempsey wrote: »

And a price reduction in the pint is surely on the way?

Surely you'll be passing your savings onto the customer or will you just enjoy the increase in profit margin?

Works out bout 0.03c per pint - when I can cut something else to make it 0.05c I will.

ardinn

benjamin d wrote: »

The place I work got more channels (ESPN, SS2 etc.) for a fair bit cheaper when they threatened to cancel, everyone should do it!

Trust me - 6 months ago this would'nt have happened.

benjamin d

ardinn wrote: »

Trust me - 6 months ago this would'nt have happened.

Yeah I don't expect it would have! Just shows they must be hemorrhaging commercial customers at the minute!

RoundyMooney

On one note, SKY do negotiate, even for the little fella, I killed my main account cos they did a deal on extra STB's, so I put it in her indoors' name to get the new connection concession. Even though they're now getting more than ever out of me, I still get calls asking me what they can do to get me to come back.

But they have lovely scoatish accents...

Anyway, the missus was going mad last year to remortgage and buy a pub. Despite romantic notions of selling imported and various beverages, bypassing the cartel that is Irish suppliers and breweries, who think the local punter and businessman is more ripe for assraping than his UK or continental counterpart (maybe not without cause), putting candles and nibbles on tables, and showing games on freeview, while retaining the joys of the snug, I didn't give it more than a minutes thought.

Fact is:

-business costs are prohibitive unless you have an established business, trade, commercial credit rating.

-costs here are more on a par with Beverly Hills than Birmingham, think energy, rates, taxes insurance, SKY, IMRO knocking on the door-wage costs are actually not a big deal at all.

-Punters want piss (and I include myself in that-a small/medium sized pub can't have twenty taps, and folk are conservative and stick with what they know, five taps would serve 95% of the country). Bottles of good proper continental beer (no matter how cheaply sourced) would languish on the shelves, because most people don't know any better.

-If I went to the UK in the morning with a Mitsubishi Canter, and drew back a months stock on the boat to sell at under 3 quid a pint, the local denizens would cause havoc (I'm talking the publicans here).

Don't get me wrong, there are genuine guys out there, but there's a helluva lot of protectionism as well.

RoundyMooney

Fact is lads, and we can bandy about for days; a hundred quid for a night out is not on any more, simple as.

If a bloke and a girl could have their evenings entertainment all in for fifty or sixty, the pubs would be jammers.

Dempsey

ardinn wrote: »

Works out bout 0.03c per pint - when I can cut something else to make it 0.05c I will.

Werent you telling us all how much the sky package was a burden on your finances?

RoundyMooney

Dempsey wrote: »

Werent you telling us all how much the sky package was a burden on your finances?

He must sell a lot of beer!

ardinn

Yes - €600 a month is a burden - Im not at liberty or would I like to say what they offered - or what way I came up with the sum - The fact is for the people in pub / people watching sky / cost = negative!

RoundyMooney

You know your business better than we do. Despite the fact it made you happy, it can't have been much to be down to two decimal places in the cent.

You've what, three hd boxes for 8k a year?

ardinn

RoundyMooney wrote: »

You know your business better than we do. Despite the fact it made you happy, it can't have been much to be down to two decimal places in the cent.

You've what, three hd boxes for 8k a year?

When the cost per pint is broken down from its retail cost - its not a game shaper - but it a percentage - all business in these climates operate on percentages - It was not that much of a reduction either - but a willingness to deal and accept that it wasnt affordable anymore was good to see.

*puts down can - waits for worms*

Dempsey

ardinn wrote: »

Yes - €600 a month is a burden - Im not at liberty or would I like to say what they offered - or what way I came up with the sum - The fact is for the people in pub / people watching sky / cost = negative!

Bet you arent! :rolleyes:

You think that the public are idiots? Whats your pub so I can boycott it?

RoundyMooney

More like a desire to keep your business by making you a token call centre sanctioned offer.

One must be cynical about such matters.

Is it really down to that small a margin per unit?

On another note ardinn, I appreciate you engaging (trust you're off duty tonight!), but why is Murdoch's new offer such a secret?

ardinn

Dempsey wrote: »

Bet you arent! :rolleyes:

You think that the public are idiots? Whats your pub so I can boycott it?

What are you on about - as the poster above said - im engaging as best I can - do you want my accounts too?

ardinn

RoundyMooney wrote: »

More like a desire to keep your business by making you a token call centre sanctioned offer.

One must be cynical about such matters.

Is it really down to that small a margin per unit?

On another note ardinn, I appreciate you engaging (trust you're off duty tonight!), but why is Murdoch's new offer such a secret?

Not a secret - but I dont want people working out my business altogether. I think thats fair enough!

RoundyMooney

ardinn wrote: »

Not a secret - but I dont want people working out my business altogether. I think thats fair enough!

Mate, how the hell could they do that from your SKY bill?

ardinn

Suppose they couldnt but it i'll have the accountant pm you all anyway. Fair enough? The point wasnt me trying to expose sky or anything it was just to say they are dealing, which is a good thing.

It helps me - and will help my customers too.

Capt'n Midnight

Dempsey wrote: »

And a price reduction in the pint is surely on the way?

Surely you'll be passing your savings onto the customer or will you just enjoy the increase in profit margin?

considering he's charging half what some Dublin pubs are for a pint ...

pubs are always going to be more expensive than a supermarket no suprise there , it's when they say "we're not a cartel" and then you find that pubs in an area have very similar prices :mad: and you know pubs down the country are making a profit for €2 less a pint :mad::mad:

ardinn

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

considering he's charging half what some Dublin pubs are for a pint ...

pubs are always going to be more expensive than a supermarket no suprise there , it's when they say "we're not a cartel" and then you find that pubs in an area have very similar prices :mad: and you know pubs down the country are making a profit for €2 less a pint :mad::mad:

Nothing I have said in this entire thread relates to dublin pubs or anyone else's. Just mine.

Im not representing anybody or hoping to gain business from posting on here, just giving MY opinions and MY feedback.

Some of which would be anti/for VFI - Some would be publicly approved some not - Im not every pub and every pub is not me. So If you agree or disagree with whatever I have said - If I make a bad call or judgement on here then im not everyone, so it's my fault not "the pub trades", If people agree with me there will be other publicans who they wont agree with.

I think I just better be clear im not representing the VFI or anyone here.

I just want to have the debate / get feedback / have a chat.

RoundyMooney

Fair enough, you haven't given the disclaimer or the acknowledgement that you're talking with or against anyone.

And you're here engaging.

That said, lads in your position are doing the same over the mahogany three or four nights a week, just not in a permanent vein.


Too much vagueness, ardinn, I asked you a straight question as to SKYs commercial charges, where you said a generic discount amounted to something like .03 cent a pint. I'm being vague, cos I cba reading through the thread, but you were quite specific. And then you showed J Edgar Hoover behaviour when you wouldn't give a mean figure as to what they offered you.

Let's face it, it's not Ewing Oil, no one is watching your SKY bill. Why not share?

ardinn

RoundyMooney wrote: »

Fair enough, you haven't given the disclaimer or the acknowledgement that you're talking with or against anyone.

And you're here engaging.

That said, lads in your position are doing the same over the mahogany three or four nights a week, just not in a permanent vein.


Too much vagueness, ardinn, I asked you a straight question as to SKYs commercial charges, where you said a generic discount amounted to something like .03 cent a pint. I'm being vague, cos I cba reading through the thread, but you were quite specific. And then you showed J Edgar Hoover behaviour when you wouldn't give a mean figure as to what they offered you.

Let's face it, it's not Ewing Oil, no one is watching your SKY bill. Why not share?

Why is it so important? I have been very open and specific - I dont feel the need to reveal every detail about my business. Can I not just not tell you??

The more you ask the less I want to tell you to be honest.