Clery's O'Connell Street is gone

Chris_Bradley

Wasn't a place I'd go to, sorry for the folk who've lost their jobs though.

I went in about a month ago for the first time in years, looking specifically for men's shoes. They had about 20 pairs of almost the exact same shoe as their entire selection.

Physical retail stores that are doing things right in terms of stock, layout and marketing are struggling right now - Clerys was doing all of these wrong, so they really never stood a chance. This is purely down to management.

The state of O'Connell St just compounded those issues even further.

Amalgam

A lot of 'characters' floating about the front of the store during the daytime and evening, made crossing that stretch of path annoying as hell, particularly in winter.

As pointed out by others, DCC has a hand in the 'mood' that affects O'Connell Street at the moment. This includes vacant property plot squatters and politics surrounding future building plans ajoining onto Moore Street.

I remember a few years back, a strongly worded article featuring input by a council member where it was suggested the very gates of hell were being wrenched open by allowing Ann Summers to have signage on O'Connell Street. Ho hum..

miamee

Very sad but not unexpected that the store has now closed. Whenever I shop on the north side of the city I'd pay a visit to Clery's willing to make a purchase but it didn't happen very often. The last thing I bought there was at Christmas I think, a gift in the homewares department and a dress for myself (one I could have bought in Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and probably elsewhere). I've been in several times since - no purchase.

As others have said they didn't make the drastic changes necessary to modernise their offerings. The store was the first purpose-built department store in Dublin iirc and the little museum upstairs was interesting, photos and mementos of Clery's through the years. Perhaps it will be an ideal location for a 1916 exhibition/temporary museum for next year at least. I suspect something will be in the works for the building long before then though.

Jellybaby1

I remember when Bewley's closed down and I saw a group of tourists outside. It was one of their 'go-to' places on their list of places they were recommended to see in Dublin, and they were scratching their heads as to why it wasn't still successfully trading after all they had heard about it. I hope Clery's building will remain but become somewhere of note and not a TKMaxx or McDonald's. Its sad to see the business close down but as said before it was inevitable. The best way to look at it is that it is an OPPORTUNITY to MAKE O'CONNELL STREET BETTER. I hope DCC are taking this on board. I hope the staff manage to get jobs in this 'recovery' another poster mentioned. I myself, do not see any recovery. Three large businesses have closed down in my area in the last month. To my eyes, that's the opposite of 'recovery'.

wisejohn

when the american investors bought clerys the writing was on the wall, they had the wrong business model, and knew nothing about retail in ireland.

Duckjob

ProudDUB wrote: »

Agree 100%

I'd hate it to turn into yet another clone of yet another UK chain of department stores. Or yet another soulless shopping centre like the Jervis Centre, which is about as Irish as Picadilly Circus. It would be great if someone with a bit of vision could do the place up and provide a showcase for Irish designers & manufacturers (of everything from clothes, to leather goods, to furniture to jewelry to cheese to pottery) that could take advantage of the massive footfall on the street.

Then there are the massive numbers of tourists who would probably love to buy something quality that is uniquely Irish, instead of all that Made in Taiwan tat in Carrolls. Or have a section that is an artisan food market, like Pike Place in Seattle or the English Market in Cork. And have the "look" and feel of the place be a place that people would actually enjoy being in, like Powerscourt Town House.

I dunno, I'm just throwing mad ideas out there. It would take someone with a bit of vision and some massive balls to take such a project on and make it work. Not things that we are all that well known for, considering that we have had 100 years to get ready for the centenary of the 1916 Rising, yet the area in general still looks like it did the morning after HMS Helga sailed up the Liffey and shelled the bejayzus out of the area.

Oh well...:rolleyes:

Would *love* a place in Dublin like the English Market. Its a place I always go to when I'm in Cork. However, I would expect there would be uproar from the Moore St traders though.

jimmii

Duckjob wrote: »

Would *love* a place in Dublin like the English Market. Its a place I always go to when I'm in Cork. However, I would expect there would be uproar from the Moore St traders though.

They are planning something similar at the wholesale veg market just off Capel st and there was some interesting looking plans for the liberties as well. Would definitely be a nice addition to the city.

Warper

I liked Clerys often bought stuff in the mens dept. Was just there on Tuesday for the sale and bought some stuff. Shame

Kalman

Phoenix3 wrote: »

Just heard from an employee That Clery,s has closed with immediate effect and has been liquidated despite earlier news of the company has been sold.

What next, a €1.00 shop?

ted1

NorthStars wrote: »

That's Enda's recovery for you.

What a load of rubbish , Arnotts and Brown Thomas are thriving. It's purely bad management and marketing

Sunnyisland

When I was home last month I did buy a cap downstairs in the men's department, it was empty but the lady on the till was a delight and we had a great auld yap, sad to see it go.

Kalman

On Friday, Clerys’ US owners Gordon Brothers sold the business to a joint venture called Natrium Ltd, comprising Irish investment group D2 Private and Cheyne Capital Management. The sale price wasn’t disclosed.

Tánaiste Joan Burton has described as “absolutely despicable” the treatment of workers at Clerys department store in Dublin who lost their jobs in Friday’s shutdown.

Ms Burton said the sudden closure, giving the 460 employees as little as 30 minutes notice in some cases, was “probably one of the worst examples of capitalism at its worst.

Just proves that loyalty counts for nothing.:(

ProudDUB

Duckjob wrote: »

Would *love* a place in Dublin like the English Market. Its a place I always go to when I'm in Cork. However, I would expect there would be uproar from the Moore St traders though.

There are two Tescos, a Dunnes, a Lidl, an Aldi and a Marks & Spencers all within a two minute walk of Moore St. It's been a very long time since Moore St was the only place to go to in town to get your fresh fruit and veg, or meat and fish.

When it comes to what happens to Clearys, I doubt if the opinions of the Moore St traders would be considered, considering how many supermarkets have moved in on their traditional turf over the years, with nary a bother.

endacl

Ah well. We do still have Starbucks...

expectationlost

this notion of shock and surprise is one I can't understand, they've known for years the place was on its last legs.

Stojkovic

Im not surprised Clerys closed down.

Half the posters on here cant even spell it.

Me, havent been in Clerys since the 80s.

micosoft

Wanderer78 wrote: »

ive studied science and engineering to a fairly high level. numbers can always be manipulated, always, to give you the answer you want. ive even seen this in the work place. i ignore pretty much all numbers. i will be convinced when i see far less families struggling. i will be convinced when i see far less amounts of families facing repossessions of homes. i will be convinced when i see far more money being invested into things like affordable homes and far better public services etc. id like to know if many people reading this are truly seeing and feeling a recovery? has your life improved greatly in the last few years? are you less stressed and financially better off? im not seeing any of that right now. im not convinced. im fearing theres going to be far more job losses before we truly get going again. oh dont forget, ireland isnt just dublin. not all parts of ireland are feeling this 'recovery' yet.

oh i dont read tabloids or any other papers for that matter

Lol. You've studied science and engineering to a "fairly" high level? And yet you declare that you don't trust figures but prefer anecdote?

Well my anecdotal evidence (increased road traffic, cranes going up, massively increased footfall in shopping centres) contradicts your anecdotal evidence. It's simply not possible to have any reasonable conversation on anything if anecdote is the basis of it. Bizarre idea as well that we aren't OK unless its 2006 all over again. We aren't going back to that.

Long Gone

themandan6611 wrote: »

we will always have O'Carrolls

O'Carrolls ? - Full of rubbishy tat made in China and Taiwan. It adds insult to injury as regards what this country has now become.

micosoft

Deleted User wrote: »

I seriously do not understand this sentiment! You admit that you rarely went in but somehow it gave you comfort?!?

If people thought the shop was of any use, they would have shopped there. If they had shopped there, they wouldn't be bankrupt.

Its sad for the workers, but even if they did turn it into another generic shop, I would be happy as long as it was busy and creating revenue rather than just being some romanticised notion that people hold.

We didn't lose it, we decided we didnt want to shop there. It's not sad.

It's the same as the people in villages complaining that their post office/shops/pubs is closing but also admitting that they don't use it anymore and travel to Lidl or Aldi to buy their goods. Businesses can't run on sentiment.

InTheTrees

Kalman wrote: »

Ms Burton said the sudden closure, giving the 460 employees as little as 30 minutes notice in some cases, was “probably one of the worst examples of capitalism at its worst.

If labour laws allow employers to do that kind of thing then that kind of thing is going to happen isnt it? These people are amoral.

InTheTrees

It was a part of the city whether you used it as a shop or not so in that sense its sad.

Whats the plan with it? My guess would be to gut the building, keep the facade and make it an indoor mall.

ProudDUB

InTheTrees wrote: »

It was a part of the city whether you used it as a shop or not so in that sense its sad.

Whats the plan with it? My guess would be to gut the building, keep the facade and make it an indoor mall.

The new owners have said it is going to be a mixed use development of a shopping centre, offices and recreational facilities. They haven't gone into any precise details on what any of them will be.

InTheTrees

ProudDUB wrote: »

The new owners have said it is going to be a mixed use development of a shopping centre, offices and recreational facilities. They haven't gone into any precise details on what any of them will be.

Sounds reasonable. A benetton, a gamestop, a couple of stabucks, etc,

As long as the facade is preserved, its hard to object.

Billgirlylegs

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

The country is uncompetitive and that costs jobs. No lessons have been learned from the crisis.

This is where all the pay rise lark becomes fatal for jobs. Sad to see it close but not at all surprised.

Straight from IBEC/SFA 2007.
Sure. It is all down to the workers.

Nothing to do with Management with their 3rd level Accountancy/ Business Degrees.

RobbingBandit

Used to love going in there in the late 80s early 90s to see Santa.

Sad for the staff.

Billgirlylegs

Ben D Bus wrote: »

No, the real economy is doing very well. Retail is up over 8% in the last year and yet this still happened. This is poor management, both of the store and of the city centre.

http://www.retailireland.ie/IBEC/Press/PressPublicationsdoclib3.nsf/wvRINewsByTitle/retail-recovery-strengthens-as-sales-accelerate-in-april-28-05-2015?OpenDocument

This is an excellent point.

The brand Clery's of itself is a big draw.
The fact that it could go either with franchises or department stor gave it flexibility. If owners still were unable to make a go of it indicates either utter incompetence on their or or utter incompetence in calculation of rents /tax rates

Billgirlylegs

Amalgam wrote: »

A lot of 'characters' floating about the front of the store during the daytime and evening, made crossing that stretch of path annoying as hell, particularly in winter.

As pointed out by others, DCC has a hand in the 'mood' that affects O'Connell Street at the moment. This includes vacant property plot squatters and politics surrounding future building plans ajoining onto Moore Street.

I remember a few years back, a strongly worded article featuring input by a council member where it was suggested the very gates of hell were being wrenched open by allowing Ann Summers to have signage on O'Connell Street. Ho hum..

I strongly agree with some of yoru comments,
I put this closure down to shop management - layout, range as two examples.

I agree somewhat on The DCC stuff but I do not agree about Ann Summers. It is hardly noticed.

the_syco

micosoft wrote: »

It's the same as the people in villages complaining that their post office/shops/pubs is closing but also admitting that they don't use it anymore and travel to Lidl or Aldi to buy their goods. Businesses can't run on sentiment.

Agreed. Haven't been to Clerys in a very long time, as they either have nothing I want, or if they did, I would end up getting it elsewhere as it was too dear in Clerys.

delahuntv

InTheTrees wrote: »

If labour laws allow employers to do that kind of thing then that kind of thing is going to happen isnt it? These people are amoral.

This has nothign to do with labour laws. The store was losing €2 MILLION a year. They were unable to meet supplier payments, they were insolvent. Legally they could not trade any longer once funding was pulled - I'm just surprised the previous owners (up to Friday) funded it for so long.

Billgirlylegs wrote: »

This is an excellent point.

The brand Clery's of itself is a big draw.
The fact that it could go either with franchises or department stor gave it flexibility. If owners still were unable to make a go of it indicates either utter incompetence on their or or utter incompetence in calculation of rents /tax rates

No the brand "Clerys" was the problem. It was old, staid and uninteresting - just read the comments and you'll see most people, whilst sad, have stated they have not been there for years.

They introduced too many concessions and tried to get a younger audience into the ground florr and at the same time keep the old staid products on the first floor.

Rule number 1 - kids will NEVER shop where their mother's shop - and that applies at all age levels. Hence with Clerys 1st floor targeting a 55+ age group, the ground floor, no matter what brands they had, would not get the under 40 age group in to shop there in any significant numbers.

From what I have heard, the new plans will see the ground floor become a "shopping centre" type operation with large floor areas and some strong international names. 1st floor will be offices and a Hotle is muted for 3rd & 4th floors.

Overall, you would see well over 1000 staff working there between retail and hotel.