More jobs gone as Waterstones Closes

John_Rambo

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

And it's not closed

Damn.

(glad it's still open, damn on me looking like a sap)

n900guy

RachaelVO wrote: »

It's a real shame, Waterstones to close. I always loved getting my books in there! Hopefully the receivers can find a way to save it. Another Irish institution falls!!!

http://www.rte.ie/ten/2011/0201/waterstones.html

Irish institution?

Waterstones is owned by HMV who have been indicating this is likely for > 12 months. They are closing 40 HMV stores, and 20 or so Waterstones in total.

Tim Waterstone is from Glasgow, and established the first branch in 1982 in London.

It's going to blow your mind, but Cadbury's is also not Irish, and neither is McDonalds - or just abotu anything on any "high street" in Ireland.

Coriolanus

I browse abit in them sometimes, but usually buy from an Irish store.
Shame about all the job losses though.

Barna77

Andre80Johnson wrote: »

That's sad. I've gotten books in there over the years (Jervis). Will they do a sale or will the books end up in other Waterstones.

The first thing I bought when i moved to Dublin (apart from the Luas ticket ) was a book in the Jervis store. The recept is still on it, the ink nearly completely faded....

Should get some books before they close

flazio

I wonder if they would consider rebranding H&F into Waterstones and then running the same book offers such as the 3 for 2 stickers or the student deals, may work out well for them.

Fussgangerzone

Not a bad bookshop. Sorry to see people losing jobs, too.

Chapters on Parnell St is still my favourite though. Amazing selection, second-hand section full of bargains, and it's independent.

stovelid

Prefer Hodges and Figgis for a browse but sad to see such a well known shop bite the dust. Probably see another Aldi or Spar slapped in there now.

cosmic

Such a shame Waterstones is going. I spent many happy years working there back in the day. It'll be sorely missed.

Dave_The_Sheep

Sad to hear. Anyone know if there's going to be a closing down sale?

Dyr

Fussgangerzone wrote: »

Not a bad bookshop. Sorry to see people losing jobs, too.

Chapters on Parnell St is still my favourite though. Amazing selection, second-hand section full of bargains, and it's independent.

Big fan of chapters too but I'm not near parnell street most weeks

Onion11

Am so depressed!

Kalina

That's sad news, another store gone. Hopefully Hogdes Figgis will be in a good position to survive!

pinkypinky

I'm surprised that Hodges Figgis isn't closing as well. People don't seem to realise that they and Waterstones have been owned by the same company for years now.

hatful

pinkypinky wrote: »

I'm surprised that Hodges Figgis isn't closing as well. People don't seem to realise that they and Waterstones have been owned by the same company for years now.

Well Hodges Figgis has the best academic book section in Dublin. It has a proper Irish section and a better overall selection in general than Waterstones. Alot of people assumed it was Irish owned so went there instead of the British shop across the road.

squeakyduck

Just heard today that Waterstones is closing down. Such a pity. I would be inconsolable in Chapters or bookworms kicked the bucket.

rubabbel

flazio wrote: »

I wonder if they would consider rebranding H&F into Waterstones and then running the same book offers such as the 3 for 2 stickers or the student deals, may work out well for them.

I'm not sure it'd make much sense to ape the store across the road that just closed, especially when you're making a fair bit of profit at the moment.

I would say to the person advocating Read's with their 10% off all books, compare the full price they're selling the books with the full price of books in bookshops. I know previously their exchange rate was at least 10% more than Hodges was operating on. 10% off me hole. As for the reluctant taoiseach being overpriced at €28: that's the price the publishers have set it at. They could sell it at a reduced rate, or sell it at full price and have people buy it for that (and the people buy it at that price too).

There won't be a closing down sale, as the company isn't closing down, so the books will be moved around the company as needs be. It's cheaper for the company that way.

Absolutely awful for the staff, the vast vast majority of whom are incredibly dedicated, knowledgeable and very friendly.

Irish Halo

I used to be in Waterstones on Dawson st at least once a week when I was younger, loved it, even when I am back home I would always love a browse but all I had to do was flip a book over and see how much it cost *maximum* in British Pounds in a shop here and would usually be quite shocked at the mark up.

star.chaser

Dudess wrote: »

Seems like we're entering into a Brave New World...

a world without bookshops :pac:

ixoy

Rarely bought in there - found them very expensive. Still a shame though - they were also one of the few books shops that properly seperated "Science Fiction" from "Fantasy" instead of lumping them together.

Now if 'Chapters' were to close down, I'd be gutted. I've spent more in that bookshop than all others combined and been using it, in its various locations, for twenty years.

Coriolanus

ixoy wrote: »

Rarely bought in there - found them very expensive. Still a shame though - they were also one of the few books shops that properly seperated "Science Fiction" from "Fantasy" instead of lumping them together.

Now if 'Chapters' were to close down, I'd be gutted. I've spent more in that bookshop than all others combined and been using it, in its various locations, for twenty years.

Yeah, I've spent years trying to convince Chapters to properly seperate them!

Paddy Samurai

RachaelVO wrote: »

Still a loss of jobs! A real shame! They always had great window displays when new books were out!

Yeah I agree the lost of jobs is a shame,it aways is anywhere.I went in to waterstones today,their last day.I bought a book marked down to half price for around €8.....the same price as in is online .That unfortunatly is the problem,they can't compete with the online prices.
I am always prepared to pay a little extra to protect Irish jobs ,but not double.I go into chapters and waterstones alot,if there are bargains I buy them. But usually i just end up taking pictures(mobile phone) of books that interest me,that i buy later online at half the price.:(

temply

I'm a big reader. Use book depositry & shop online now most of the time, price wise, you really can't compete. WS was very very expensive.

Paddy Samurai

pinkypinky wrote: »

I'm surprised that Hodges Figgis isn't closing as well. People don't seem to realise that they and Waterstones have been owned by the same company for years now.

Perfect examble of whats wrong,just noticed this today when browsing/shopping.

Heroes By Joe Abercrombie (large format paperback)

Waterstones €18.99 normally,sold today at half price €9.50.
Hodges figgis €15.99

Bookdepository(hardback) €8.90

Bought it in waterstones.

Lollymcd

I was in Waterstones in Jervis on Saturday to get my make my final book purchase and the guy who served me said it was the busiest day they had in months... kind of ironic!

neris

its amazing how many people get so emotional over waterstones closing and the tribune been shut down . maybe if all that emotion had been in purchases and not affection these comapnies wouldnt be in trouble. it was the same with bewleys years ago.

tommy21

I don't have a business background so this question may seem illogical to those in the know but - WHY DON'T THEY DECREASE THE PRICE OF BOOKS? Its the same with the Waterstones in Cork, and I have also been in the one that closed in Dublin recently. A minority of people will pay €12-15 (even €8 the odd time is a stretch) for a paperback, the rest desperately search through the sometimes good value "3 for 2" section. Most of their prices are a blatant rip-off and closures like this, while terribly sad and unfair for the staff, might be a wake-up call. As someone said Kindles etc. are bound to impact, particularly given the relatively new phenomenon of book piracy, just like it happened with movies and music. Equally, how is it possible to purchase the same book at a far cheaper price which is shipped from UK bases branches of companies like Book Depository, Amazon etc. You might say a bricks and mortar shop has significantly more overheads, and this might be true, but companies like Waterstones should stop being so selfish trying to make mighty profits each year - how about breaking even, and keeping your brand alive and the jobs of your employees?


If landlords/rents are the issue, then why don't a few of them band together and challenge them? Or point out that if they don't decrease rates, there won't be any paid as they'll be gone.

cosmic

neris wrote: »

its amazing how many people get so emotional over waterstones closing and the tribune been shut down . maybe if all that emotion had been in purchases and not affection these comapnies wouldnt be in trouble. it was the same with bewleys years ago.

How do you know that the emotion hadn't also been in purchases? I worked in Waterstones for years but even before those years, and after, I always shopped there. I have several hundreds of books in my home that have, pretty much (with the exception of gifts), all been bought in Waterstones. I've always bought my books there and am now at a loss to decide where to do my book shopping in future. I don't think there are many places in Dublin that can equal it in atmosphere, staff, range and value.

Earthhorse

flazio wrote: »

I wonder if they would consider rebranding H&F into Waterstones and then running the same book offers such as the 3 for 2 stickers or the student deals, may work out well for them.

Please God let this never happen. I like both but have always preferred Hodges Figgis.

neris wrote: »

its amazing how many people get so emotional over waterstones closing and the tribune been shut down . maybe if all that emotion had been in purchases and not affection these comapnies wouldnt be in trouble. it was the same with bewleys years ago.

Yeah, it's an interesting phenomenom, isn't it? Same happened with Road Records in the last few years. I think these places are perceived as being of good quality and it's one less place of that nature around but people don't have the time to actually visit these places and give them their trade.

tommy21 wrote: »

I don't have a business background so this question may seem illogical to those in the know but - WHY DON'T THEY DECREASE THE PRICE OF BOOKS? Its the same with the Waterstones in Cork, and I have also been in the one that closed in Dublin recently. A minority of people will pay €12-15 (even €8 the odd time is a stretch) for a paperback, the rest desperately search through the sometimes good value "3 for 2" section. Most of their prices are a blatant rip-off and closures like this, while terribly sad and unfair for the staff, might be a wake-up call. As someone said Kindles etc. are bound to impact, particularly given the relatively new phenomenon of book piracy, just like it happened with movies and music. Equally, how is it possible to purchase the same book at a far cheaper price which is shipped from UK bases branches of companies like Book Depository, Amazon etc. You might say a bricks and mortar shop has significantly more overheads, and this might be true, but companies like Waterstones should stop being so selfish trying to make mighty profits each year - how about breaking even, and keeping your brand alive and the jobs of your employees?

All good questions. It'll be intersting to see how this pans out in the next few years. E-books aren't much cheaper than their paperback equivalents but you're right when you say they'll have an impact particularly if people start pirating. One issue though, is that, at the moment, the range of e-books is quite small. The last figure I saw was around 300,000 titles available on Kindle and they have the largest selection. It may be a matter of time, getting publishers to sign up, but that will depend on whether they want to protect their existing lines of business.

Bricks and mortars are going to find it more difficult to survive in the coming years.

When it comes to online stores being able to ship to you at cheap prices I think people will eventually get what they pay for there.

tommy21

Earthhorse wrote: »

When it comes to online stores being able to ship to you at cheap prices I think people will eventually get what they pay for there.

I suppose I do fail to account for as what some said above the spirit and atmosphere of the shop, which is certainly worth a slight price increase, and also of course the joy of just browsing, but I've purchased this year's Christmas shopping and last year's shopping of particular books (too expensive to buy in Waterstones, got a few in Chapters thankfully) online, and they were all in perfect nick, arrived in 2-3 days. Bricks and mortar stores need to come up with a new business plan called - "Save the Business." They need to be more competitive and should be focusing all of their energies outside of the store itself on social networking - Facebook, Twitter etc., is where they can win customers back. Get coffee docks opened in every store, with very reasonably priced tea and coffee (even loss making), (did they have this in the Waterstones that closed, can't remember, I know they have it in Waterford one), and make a decision on whether people can read books off the shelf there or cannot -e.g they could overcome potential damage by either asking people to "check in" and "out" with the books to ensure they are not damaged or else provide an array of communal coffee books. I think while some would put a book back, many would become engrossed in the book and be compelled to buy it. Worth trying at least, instead of just doing the same thing everyday peddling overpriced books.

Earthhorse

Sure, the traditional business needs to do something to compete with online sales. I should expand on my point though, which wasn't necessarily that if you pay low prices you will get poor quality (though that may happen to). Low prices, in any industry, are unsustainable in the long run. As the number of available retail outlets close so too does competition. Shops like Amazon and thebookdepository, if their strategy succeeds, will eventually be able to charge what they like. Moreso than the traditional outlets because the cost of entry will be too high to encourage new competition.

I'd just be wary that people will get what they pay for; thought it may not happen this way and it's a good few years out in any event.

Waterstones did have a coffee shop in the Dawson Street branch. It's something that's never appealled to me to be honest. They also run their discount card service online so you can't really fault them for not at least trying something in the new business space. I don't know what the solution for these outlets are; I think in the case of Waterstones their parent company's fortunes played a role in their demise.