Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

maximoose

the explorer wrote: »

Was the service reasonably quick for food? I might pop in for lunch if I could be in and out in 30-40 mins.

Yep, I was served in about 10 minutes

Had the buttermilk chicken burger - standard spoons fare tbh, you know it'll never be amazing but a solid 6/10 :pac:

the explorer

Popped in at 1pm, said they were only serving food to people with invitations but gave me a free pint. They might give out food at quieter times. Quite a large establishment when you see both floors.

Dellboy54

theteal wrote: »

Just out of interest, does the phone app work in Ireland?

It's proved very convenient on the three occasions I've been in a JDW in the last 12 months - especially in the airport when on my own!

Defo.....Really handy.

Geuze

Geuze wrote: »

Yes, I know what you mean, but I'm only in Dublin maybe once a year, so I will be there on Sat if it's open.

If it's not open on Sat evening / night, due to the Fire Cert issue, then I must make a list of pubs nearby as an alternative.

I like pubs like the following:

(1) Glimmerman, Stoneybatter
(2) Kavanagh's, Aughrim street
(3) The Lark Inn, Meath street

I welcome any suggestions.

What is the Confession Box like?

Briody's, Marlborough street?

The Windjammer?

I recall Cleary's on Amiens street being good.

BeerNut

The Flowing Tide would be worth a look, so. Also Brannigan's on Cathedral Street.

L1011

Geuze wrote: »

If it's not open on Sat evening / night, due to the Fire Cert issue, then I must make a list of pubs nearby as an alternative.

I like pubs like the following:

(1) Glimmerman, Stoneybatter
(2) Kavanagh's, Aughrim street
(3) The Lark Inn, Meath street

I welcome any suggestions.

What is the Confession Box like?

Briody's, Marlborough street?

The Windjammer?

I recall Cleary's on Amiens street being good.

Would pick Briody's from that list. Confession Box is tiny and increasingly tacky - huge display of merchandise behind the bar. Windjammer is a bit far away.

Also +1 to both BeerNut's suggestions

Muahahaha

Jaysis €3.75 for a gin and tonic in Dublin city centre, those prices havent been since since around the early 2000's. The women are going to go mad

Geuze

Muahahaha wrote: »

Jaysis €3.75 for a gin and tonic in Dublin city centre, those prices havent been since since around the early 2000's. The women are going to go mad

And just 2.00 more to make any spirit a double!!

theteal

Geuze wrote: »

And just 2.00 more to make any spirit a double!!

It's normally just a £1 over here to double but I've always kinda written that off as they're only 25ml shots (coz the English can't be trusted!).

€2 to double an Irish size shot is really good. Hopefully the place isn't overrun by scrotes. . .

Blut2

If its anything like the other branches I'd wager it'll have an extremely heavy security presence. I've never seen so many bouncers in pubs before - its more like a nightclub level. Probably for the best given the cheap prices mind you.

Delighted to see their first central city location open with still such low prices though. Hopefully work is progressing nicely on the Camden Street site too.

Dellboy54

How can they charge those prices when your local is almost twice the that? Not complaining mind.....;)

theteal

Dellboy54 wrote: »

How can they charge those prices when your local is almost twice the that? Not complaining mind.....;)

They purchase in massive bulk, I suppose. They've a shed load of pubs.

Geuze

Dellboy54 wrote: »

How can they charge those prices when your local is almost twice the that? Not complaining mind.....;)

A combination of getting discounts on bulk purchases, plus accepting a lower gross margin.


Some chains of pubs in Ireland earn an 80% gross margin on beer.

At least with Spoons they pass the bulk purchase discount onto the customer.

The Irish chains don't.

mfceiling

Dellboy54 wrote: »

How can they charge those prices when your local is almost twice the that? Not complaining mind.....;)

Are they part of the vintners?

Do you have to be a member to trade as a pub?

Geuze

Is it actually officially fully open today??

Geuze

mfceiling wrote: »

Are they part of the vintners?

Do you have to be a member to trade as a pub?

I'd say no is the answer to Q1!!

No is the answer to Q2.

odyssey06

theteal wrote: »

They purchase in massive bulk, I suppose. They've a shed load of pubs.

That, and the business model is about bringing in paying customers all through the day.
Not just booze. Breakfasts, lunches, coffee and something sweet.

Their prices are competitive with off licences, so they are not targeting pub customers but with people who might otherwise drink at home, or eat a home.

They seem to actually want customers, rather than treat them as an annoyance and hindrance.

Dellboy54

theteal wrote: »

They purchase in massive bulk, I suppose. They've a shed load of pubs.

So are they importing part of that bulk to Ireland? Is there not taxes on that the same way for Irish pubs?

Dellboy54

odyssey06 wrote: »

That, and the business model is about bringing in paying customers all through the day.
Not just booze. Breakfasts, lunches, coffee and something sweet.

Their prices are competitive with off licences, so they are not targeting pub customers but with people who might otherwise drink at home, or eat a home.

They seem to actually want customers, rather than treat them as an annoyance and hindrance.

Why cant Irish pubs adopt this method?

Geuze

Dellboy54 wrote: »

So are they importing part of that bulk to Ireland? Is there not taxes on that the same way for Irish pubs?

Excise is the same.

It's the wholesale price that JDW pay less for.

Some brewers won't offer the discounts, e.g. Diageo in Ireland.

That's whay they don't sell Guinness here, yet they do in GB.

As GB is a more competitive marketplace, Diageo UK are forced to offer the discounts in the UK.

Geuze

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Why cant Irish pubs adopt this method?

Greed?

Cartel??

Irish pubs want to earn high margins AND high volume.

JDW want high volumes, and are willing to take a lower margin.

One Irish chain does negotiate and get large discounts from the breweries, but does not cut prices.

Why would they?

There is no price competition.

Geuze

Dellboy54 wrote: »

So are they importing part of that bulk to Ireland? Is there not taxes on that the same way for Irish pubs?

Example.

JDW do a deal with a UK brewer for 900+ pubs, and get big discounts.

JDW then export some of those kegs, free of UK duty, into Ireland, pay Irl duty, and sell here at a lower price.

Dellboy54

Geuze wrote: »

Excise is the same.

It's the wholesale price that JDW pay less for.

Some brewers won't offer the discounts, e.g. Diageo in Ireland.

That's whay they don't sell Guinness here, yet they do in GB.

As GB is a more competitive marketplace, Diageo UK are forced to offer the discounts in the UK.

So JDW and other Irish pubs pay the same excise but its the wholesalers/brewerys thats the difference? If so, is the option to import as JDW does not available to pubs in Ireland?

odyssey06

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Why cant Irish pubs adopt this method?

Difficult for a single pub to get the supply chain economies of scale.
The business model needs a certain size premises to be able to cater for food.
For some owners, too much hard work, in the sense of management of the premises all day & getting staff to cover same.
So as a model it's not suitable for all premises especially smaller pubs with single owner.

The larger existing premises in prime locations seem to be doing well enough without that method.

Also, I can't rule out a certain mental block on the part of some pub owners to do something different.

So as a model it favours a large chain that wants to compete. And it would not have evolved domestically. It needed to evolve in the more competitive UK market and then arrive here fully formed.

BeerNut

Geuze wrote: »

Is it actually officially fully open today??

It is not.

odyssey06 wrote: »

So as a model it favours a large chain that wants to compete. And it would not have evolved domestically. It needed to evolve in the more competitive UK market and then arrive here fully formed.

With regard to how it operates, I always think it makes sense to think of Wetherspoon as more like a supermarket than a pub. It has more in common with your local Tesco than your local local.

odyssey06

BeerNut wrote: »

With regard to how it operates, I always think it makes sense to think of Wetherspoon as more like a supermarket than a pub. It has more in common with your local Tesco than your local local.

Well yes good point. Although I would take it a level further and say that they are operating not just with Tesco in mind, but also with O'Briens offies, Costa Coffee, Burger King, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays etc

Dellboy54

odyssey06 wrote: »

Difficult for a single pub to get the supply chain economies of scale.
The business model needs a certain size premises to be able to cater for food.
For some owners, too much hard work, in the sense of management of the premises all day & getting staff to cover same.
So as a model it's not suitable for all premises especially smaller pubs with single owner.

The larger existing premises in prime locations seem to be doing well enough without that method.

Also, I can't rule out a certain mental block on the part of some pub owners to do something different.

So as a model it favours a large chain that wants to compete. And it would not have evolved domestically. It needed to evolve in the more competitive UK market and then arrive here fully formed.

Perhaps that mental block should be unblocked. Pub owners near abbey street will see there customer numbers drop. As have other areas with Wetherspoons....Dun Laoghaire, Swords, Cork......etc. Who would blame customers going for a €2/€3 pint rather than a €5/€6 pint.

theteal

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Perhaps that mental block should be unblocked. Pub owners near abbey street will see there customer numbers drop. As have other areas with Wetherspoons....Dun Laoghaire, Swords, Cork......etc. Who would blame customers going for a €2/€3 pint rather than a €5/€6 pint.

It won't be just pubs. Food outlets nearby will need to be on their game. I know the grub isn't fantastic (heck, good is probably a stretch!) but it's cheap and fills a hole.

BeerNut

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Pub owners near abbey street will see there customer numbers drop. As have other areas with Wetherspoons....Dun Laoghaire, Swords, Cork......etc.

Have you a link for this? I'd be surprised about Cork in particular.

Geuze

Dellboy54 wrote: »

So JDW and other Irish pubs pay the same excise but its the wholesalers/brewerys thats the difference? If so, is the option to import as JDW does not available to pubs in Ireland?

All beer sold in Ireland faces the same excise rates.

It doesn't matter where, how, or by whom it's sold.


Pubs are entirely free to import from anywhere in the EU, thanks to the Single Market.

However, one single pub doesn't have the admin team like JDW have to deal with customs/excise, etc.

odyssey06

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Perhaps that mental block should be unblocked. Pub owners near abbey street will see there customer numbers drop. As have other areas with Wetherspoons....Dun Laoghaire, Swords, Cork......etc. Who would blame customers going for a €2/€3 pint rather than a €5/€6 pint.

We can but hope! There are a lot of pubs that need to raise their game, lower their prices, stop taking their punters for granted or see customer numbers drop.

And it won't be just pubs. Coffee shops, pizza-burger joints, bistros, sandwich shops.
I don't think Mulligans or Le Bon Crubeen have anything to worry about.
But average pubs and average food places do.

Dellboy54

BeerNut wrote: »

Have you a link for this? I'd be surprised about Cork in particular.

Ok, Cork may have been a bit of a stretch but definitely for Dun Laoghaire and Blackrock.

Geuze

JDW operating margin is 7.8%.

That is after all costs, except finance costs.

After finance costs, their pre-tax profit margin is 6.33%.

I have read about large pubs in Dublin expecting 30% net profit margins.

BeerNut

Dellboy54 wrote: »

definitely for Dun Laoghaire and Blackrock.

Definitely? Where have you seen this?

Dellboy54

BeerNut wrote: »

Definitely? Where have you seen this?

Taking a walk around either on Saturday evening you'll see both Wetherspoons busy while other pubs in the vicinity very quiet. For example Galway Bay Brewery had bars in both and both are closed.

BeerNut

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Taking a walk around either on Saturday evening you'll see both Wetherspoons busy while other pubs in the vicinity very quiet.

It's a leap to say this is because of Wetherspoon, and it's a bigger leap to use the observation to say numbers will drop for pubs around Abbey Street. There's no actual evidence to suggest this will happen.

Galway Bay has closed plenty of its outlets that weren't working out for them.

Dellboy54

BeerNut wrote: »

It's a leap to say this is because of Wetherspoon, and it's a bigger leap to use the observation to say numbers will drop for pubs around Abbey Street. There's no actual evidence to suggest this will happen.

Galway Bay has closed plenty of its outlets that weren't working out for them.

Fair enough, more of an observation then. Time will tell ;)Where else has GBB had outlets that have closed as a matter of interest?

Subcomandante Marcos

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Fair enough, more of an observation then. Time will tell ;)Where else has GBB had outlets that have closed as a matter of interest?

The cottage in Salthill and the cottage in Moycullen, and their restaurant in Galway city center, and their pub beside NUIG to name but 4 outlets.

Subcomandante Marcos

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Any of those near a wetherspoons?

Nope. Not a single weatherpoons within 200km of Galway.

And the bar in BlackRock always struggled. They even, from the start, tried serving macro beers as well as their own beers in an effort to keep the meager customer base it had when they took it on. It opened well before spoons and was barely making profit for years.

Dellboy54

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Nope. Not a single weatherpoons within 200km of Galway.

Was there an attempt to in Salthill a good few years back?

Subcomandante Marcos

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Was there an attempt to in Salthill a good few years back?

Nope.

Dellboy54

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Nope.

Not a wetherspoons fan?

Subcomandante Marcos

Dellboy54 wrote: »

Not a wetherspoons fan?

I enjoy a well conditioned cask ale at a good price as much as anyone.

L1011

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

tried serving macro beers as well as their own beers in an effort to keep the meager customer base it had when they took it on

Don't all their Dublin bars beyond the canals sell Guinness and a macro lager at least? Blackrock had effectively two entire banks of taps; macro + Full Sail on one side and the full own range on the other though.

Dellboy54

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Nope. Not a single weatherpoons within 200km of Galway.

And the bar in BlackRock always struggled. They even, from the start, tried serving macro beers as well as their own beers in an effort to keep the meager customer base it had when they took it on. It opened well before spoons and was barely making profit for years.

Didn't help though,
https://www-thejournal-ie.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.thejournal.ie/galway-bay-brewery-2312053-Sep2015/?amp=1&amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQDoAEB#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s

L1011

Article claims the venue had recovered it's old trading levels (it's from 2015, the article date was displaying for me as 2019 but the pub closure gives it away), so if that's true it closed for other reasons

Brew Dock is full to capacity most of the time, it can likely shed some trade around the corner

Geuze

Did it open last night?

Is it open now?

I'm in Dublin now.

Plan C is to visit pubs along tram to Broombridge.

Muahahaha

Not sure Gueze but if going plan C of pubs near the Luas line then I'd suggest the Hacienda at the Smithfield fruit market and the Back Page in Phibsboro. Mohans 'The Hut' in Phibs a good spot too.

L1011

Tram to Broombridge - surprisingly poor level of pubs outside the city centre section; T O Brennans would be my standout favourite but Cumiskeys is more like some of the others you've listed.

hynesie08

The King's Inn is a belting boozer, between the Dominic St and Broadstone luas stops.