Peats closed down :(

amacachi

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

High rental rates strike again. When will landlords learn that reduced rental income is better than nothing.

Is it though? With how staunch some of the landlords are apparently being all around the country one wonders how much of it could be down to them being blinkered. Is there a financial benefit to empty premises that isn't obvious to everyone?

biko

From After Hours

mike65

fryup wrote: »

yes things are generally cheaper online but when you add on P&P the saving aren't that great really

You are kidding? P€at$ prices were crazy but not in a good way. I'm afraid they were quite out of touch with the market trend toward tech DIY, so many don't need a helping hand these days while others would be more likely to have heard of PC World (also often overpriced but probably nearer to where most people live).

Cardinal Richelieu

Sure look at Harvey Norman, haven't yet broken even in Ireland yet. I wonder how long the parent company will hold on for?

Faith+1

latenia wrote: »

I hear Switzers are in trouble too

Brown Thomas??

latenia

Jackasaurus rex wrote: »

wasnt an option. if they kept trading as one or two shops they can be sued for the the rent thats being held back from the other ones. it was considered.

I meant not to even open the small shops in the first place. What's the point of the one in Jervis for example? Did that ever make money?
What could work in Dublin is a massive modern shop with nothing but audio and home cinema stuff at all different price ranges combined with an excellent delivery service for the rest of the country. Creative Audio and others in the UK use this business model and it sems to work. People will pay a premium for b&m shopping if they feel they're getting good service and audio enthusiasts will be loyal lifelong customers.

whitesands

amacachi wrote: »

Is it though? With how staunch some of the landlords are apparently being all around the country one wonders how much of it could be down to them being blinkered. Is there a financial benefit to empty premises that isn't obvious to everyone?

The "so called" landlords who leave buildings empty are in most cases NAMA.
NAMA are the reason we have residential & commercial property being left empty for years on end.

By asking silly money, they are pushing rents in all sectors to unsustainable levels. As long as we have NAMA doing what they are doing there is no recovery :rolleyes:

dazco

Sound staff, went in to buy an adapter or something before christmas, the guy was about to sell it to me then told me I could get it for half the price in argos. Maybe it's not so surprising they're gone...

mike65

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Sure look at Harvey Norman, haven't yet broken even in Ireland yet. I wonder how long the parent company will hold on for?

Harvey Norman are lucky as they are very profitable world wide so can afford to sit out the crash. Though the boss is still grumpy - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-30/harvey-norman-profits-increase/2862280

arybvtcw0eolkf

I first started shopping in Peats when I became interested in electronics and HAM radio in the early eights and still have some of my old P.A. Penfold books on everything from electronic circuits, simple Ohms law stuff to making various long wire antenna and books on propagation.

I bought my first proper games computer in Peats too, an Amiga 500+.

Great shop, lovely and very helpful staff whenever I shopped there.. I'm sad at this news.

Scubadevils

I'm amazed Harvey Norman are still here tbh - the losses they incur are quite amazing.

Power City though are the real success story in Ireland in terms of electrical retail, despite competition from UK retail and online, they still managed to increase profits in 2011 to almost 6m!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0314/1224313272450.html

Bullseye1

Very sad news on one of Ireland's better electronic stores. I always found the staff knowledgable and helpful. Hopefully they can find employment in the not too distant future.

I know at times like this rants don't really help but what is this current government doing for the domestic economy?

1. Promise to tackle upward only rents. Lied.
2. Have failed miserably to get rates under control. Local authorities essentially putting private jobs at risk to protect their own income yet waste is shocking.
3. Government raising VAT to 23% killing what is left of the retail sector. Encouraging people to save rather than spend.

They have failed miserably and are ruining what is left of the economy.

Gae

Sad to see it go, but honestly I think the prices they were charging were absolutely ridiculous. I often felt when I had to buy something there that they were just taking advantage and ripping me off. That seems to be the way things are going anyway - companies who ripped people off in the boom are dying in the recession. People are obviously being more careful about where they spend their money.

BostonB

I had a lot of good experiences of Peats over the years so sorry to see it go.

But I couldn't understand how it survived this long. It went from having the one original shop on Parnell st to shops (and I include the Sony shops here) everywhere in a very short period of time. In Blanch center they had two shops almost opposite each other. I don't remember when I saw them busy either. Take the one on Stephens green past the Shelbourne there would often be 4 staff on the floor for 1 or 2 customers. Also consider they were expensive too. I was always put off by that.

I'm sorry for the staff, but I'm sorry for the consumer too. The alternatives like PC World or Maplins are even more expensive, and much less knowledgeable.

Seems to me they over expanded.

Bullseye1

Gae wrote: »

Sad to see it go, but honestly I think the prices they were charging were absolutely ridiculous. I often felt when I had to buy something there that they were just taking advantage and ripping me off. That seems to be the way things are going anyway - companies who ripped people off in the boom are dying in the recession. People are obviously being more careful about where they spend their money.

I really think there is more to it than that. When you factor in:

Higher wages, high rents (upward only), high energy bills (semi-state providers), high rates (from local authorities) for nothing, high water and refuge charges and high import taxes on electronics made mainly outside the EU. All of these factors including higher VAT has pushed many viable companies over the edge. The profit margins disappeared through poor governance.

shane.

latenia wrote: »

I meant not to even open the small shops in the first place. What's the point of the one in Jervis for example? Did that ever make money?
What could work in Dublin is a massive modern shop with nothing but audio and home cinema stuff at all different price ranges combined with an excellent delivery service for the rest of the country. Creative Audio and others in the UK use this business model and it sems to work. People will pay a premium for b&m shopping if they feel they're getting good service and audio enthusiasts will be loyal lifelong customers.

those small shops(ie: sony in jervis) were the ones that made money, the "massive" shops were the ones that lost money because the rents were so high

cson

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Very sad news on one of Ireland's better electronic stores. I always found the staff knowledgable and helpful. Hopefully they can find employment in the not too distant future.

I know at times like this rants don't really help but what is this current government doing for the domestic economy?

1. Promise to tackle upward only rents. Lied.
2. Have failed miserably to get rates under control. Local authorities essentially putting private jobs at risk to protect their own income yet waste is shocking.
3. Government raising VAT to 23% killing what is left of the retail sector. Encouraging people to save rather than spend.

They have failed miserably and are ruining what is left of the economy.

This.

Best economic stimulus the country could get is a cut in rates.

DublinDilbert

Very sad day in deed, for a very long held / run family business. Was first brought in there as a kid by my father who grew up on the same road in Cabra as the Peat family and knew them all by first name.

Got my first electonics kit there, used to love going to the components department, which was in the basement then moved to the 1st floor. Many a project started by cycling into Parnell street to peats to buy parts. First soldering Iron came from there. I still have and regularly use my first Multi Meter which i bought there in 1994, for £35.

Always enjoyed going in there, was the only place to go, long before I even knew Radionics existed or maplin arrived on these shores...

drunkmonkey

That and people need to make a decision do they want real shops that create jobs for people in their community or would they rather save a few euro online.

Ill always buy off-line if I can and local. Not always possible for specialist things but ill try all the local stores before I buy online.

Some businesses you can't save and I think peats got carried away with expansion. If they close properly they'll still have their suppliers, distribution channel and customers. So something smaller but profitable might re-emerge. Sound like they've done it right and not let it just implode.

Hope they come back in some form, dad got me my first coleco vision there, think it was a coleco, was a long time ago.

Amalgam

Sad to see it go. Very friendly staff. They lost the personal touch moving to the new Parnell premises. That new shop was far too sterile, in feel.

I loved climbing the stairs to ogle the new weekly PC parts arrivals.. It was a bit musty and overcrowded, with jumbles of stock, but that's how I liked it.

Bought my first CD burner there, a Sony CRX-100, late nineties.. then my first DVD Writer (Pioneer DVR-A01?), 1X burning.. both quite expensive at the time.

I have vague memories of Peats being on the Ilac side of the street in the very early 80s, 1982-1983?

I'm probably mistaken.. but I recall going down to a, 'everything must go', type of sale about that time, which suggested a move. I was a kid, so, all a bit misty..

Best of luck to the staff, for the future.

Chucky the tree

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I really think there is more to it than that. When you factor in:

Higher wages, high rents (upward only), high energy bills (semi-state providers), high rates (from local authorities) for nothing, high water and refuge charges and high import taxes on electronics made mainly outside the EU. All of these factors including higher VAT has pushed many viable companies over the edge. The profit margins disappeared through poor governance.

Powercity as pointed out have done very well despite operating the in same country. It's clear Peats business model was very poor, to many small shops in expensive and high priced rent areas have killed them. Add in higher prices because of this and people voted with their feet. Even last year when the VAT was lower 60% of their sales came from November to December, those numbers just aren't really sustainable long term.

Vicxas

Sad to see it go, but Komplett had these guys on the ropes for years.

Vahevala

They were just too expensive.

I Was in the market for a new laptop a few months ago and went to peats but all they had were expensive models so I went to Argos and got myself a bargain.

Yakuza

Sad to see it go, the passing of a Dublin institution. I used to practically live there on Saturdays in the 80s, looking at the latest games for my Atari. A mate of mine bought a *300* baud (that's 300 bits per second, about 333,333 times slower than my current connection ) modem there that we used to connect to DuBBS. Good times.

I think the last time I bought something there was the early 2000s, when they were on the opposite side of the Parnell St. to where they are now. Online shopping and the UK chains coming here was the beginning of the end for them, unfortunately.

afkg61

Good luck to the staff. They were a great help over the years.... I guess it's pc world now and put up with heavy insurance sales pitch !

recyclebin

acb wrote: »

So I wonder what happens us!
Its alot of money to lose.
Im ragging:mad:
and of course sad for those who lost their jobs...but my husband lost his job and bought this laptop in a bid to start up a business

Just sent you a PM. You should be OK if you paid by credit card or paypal.

ixoy

Only had a new TV delivered from them just over a week ago. Found the staff actually knew what they were talking about in there, something you don't get in other stores and the price itself was fairly competitive for the model.
However, when I went back to pay for the model I had ordered, I noticed that many of the TV displays were gone and the walls looked very bare. I also knew, from talking to them, that the staff had been reduced to 3-day shifts. Between the two I figured that things weren't looking good.

Like others here, went to them for years and bought various devices over the decades. Our family got our TV there and the shopping there stretched right back to my grandfather who knew the original Peat. It's a shame to see them go and all the job losses that go with that.

dazberry

Like others here I first set foot in there in the 80s, so was shocked to hear about this this morning. Shame really as I think overall it was a good shop, with great staff.

D.

Bullseye1

Powercity catered to a different clientele. There mistake was to expand within the city where rates are no doubt very high with nothing in return. Also VAT has a greater impact on more expensive electrical items.

FG/Labour in their first year in government has abandoned the domestic retail market. Upward only rents exist, rates still too high and VAT on sales.

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Powercity as pointed out have done very well despite operating the in same country. It's clear Peats business model was very poor, to many small shops in expensive and high priced rent areas have killed them. Add in higher prices because of this and people voted with their feet. Even last year when the VAT was lower 60% of their sales came from November to December, those numbers just aren't really sustainable long term.

BostonB

I remember when they used to have PC games and Aimga games down in a tiny basement with the components. Used to go in browsing for games.