TOPIC:

"TheBeerNut":sa7d55nm wrote: there must be somewhere in the three storeys above the bar to put a sandwich-making facility and some cakes. [/quote:sa7d55nm]

The space is probably there, but in what state. No one is going to spend money on renovations at this time.
Also, new hygiene regulations mean the use of expensive chemicals, new equipment, and areas of high standards. We recently had to spend a fortune on silly things for our kitchen, because some guy in a white lab coat said so. An independant hygiene company said there was no need for any modifications, waste of money.

There are other deterring factors such as, how many sambos/cakes do you have to sell to employ the people who sell/prepare them. For most places, there is no value in selling food(other than a good lunch trade), if you wont get alcohol sales also.

IMHO only the established business' will survive the worst of whats to come.

But if Grogans can sell soup & sambos, so can plenty of other places.

[quote:54hw3dxz]Groups representing over 5,500 publicans today announced a year-long price freeze on drinks with immediate effect.[/quote:54hw3dxz]

So what they are saying is that they will not put the price up for a year.

Well give them a round of applause for grasping the basic economic fact that if people have less money in their pockets and you put the price up, you will sell less, as your customers head elsewhere.

"a_friend_in_mead":54hw3dxz wrote: Short piece but he said (roughly)
1. Below cost selling by supermarkets is bad
2. We currently have the cheapest pint price as a % of industrial income ever
3. We have to do more the customer is king.[/quote:54hw3dxz]

Number 1 is irrelevant and I don't understand why publicans get upset by it. Whether supermarkets sell below cost or not, their beer will always be a fraction of the price of a pint. Below cost supermarket lager is a threat to the off trade, but it is a different market to the on trade.

[quote:28fk5w94]Diversify and compete. Identify the niches that will bring people to drink in your pub rather than the one down the street. [/quote:28fk5w94]

[quote:28fk5w94]Below cost supermarket lager is a threat to the off trade, but it is a different market to the on trade.[/quote:28fk5w94]

You don't think there is much competition between in and off trade alcohol? I would say there is some. For example the few pints on a weeknight in the pub can easily turn into watching the champions league at home with a can. I really do think that to some extent pubs are competing with off licences, and given the fairly good selection of beer in even supermarket off licences now they are losing on selection basis (at least in general)

"a_friend_in_mead":i551oh6n wrote: I really do think that to some extent pubs are competing with off licences[/quote:i551oh6n]I agree. I think it's similar to how cinemas are competing with home entertainment: they have to offer something better than what you get in front of your own telly.

However, I don't think the extent to which pubs and offies compete includes volume alcohol per euro spent, which is where the super-cheap supermarket lager comes in.

"a_friend_in_mead":os8hsnln wrote: You don't think there is much competition between in and off trade alcohol? I would say there is some. For example the few pints on a weeknight in the pub can easily turn into watching the champions league at home with a can. I really do think that to some extent pubs are competing with off licences, and given the fairly good selection of beer in even supermarket off licences now they are losing on selection basis (at least in general)[/quote:os8hsnln]

That's not what I'm saying at all. Of course the off trade is in competition with the on trade. What I'm saying is that below cost selling is irrelevant to that, because pubs do not compete with the off trade on [b:os8hsnln]price[/b:os8hsnln].

Cans at home are far cheaper than pints in the pub whether those cans are sold below cost or not. So the off trade wins on the price regardless.

The on trade competes my offering a social setting and selling their beer at a premium.

Some people would rather have cheap beer and not avail of the social setting. They buy cans and stay at home.

Others find the higher price of beer in the pub acceptable, because of the social element.

Below cost selling by supermarkets does nothing to change this, as it only affects the cost of cans and therefore only has an impact on those who wish to save money by staying out of the pub.

Only a change in the price of a pint in the pub, or a change in the customers disposable income, will affect the price they find acceptable for a pint in a pub, as the customer is paying for beer and social setting, not just beer.

What sort of p.r nut is running that lot.
a price freeze thats <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt="" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->
nothing to talk about at all. come back to us when you figure out that decreasing the price might actually bring people back to the pubs. they should have a look at themselves....bar a few, most have left their regulars behind and tried to make the place more upmarket and trendy. chrome and shiny beer taps, leather chairs. that's not what we want. look at the pubs that have and will survive another recession . they are not the ones with the d.j playing sh1te too loud so nobody can hear themselves think. the pubs with a good relationship with their customers, who don't have exorbitant prices and look after the place, don't have loud music, don't have money grabbing tools as owners and who maybe put a few bob away during the good years in case things went pear shaped.


i also hope pubs that have terrible toilet policies might feel the pintch a bit more. <!-- s:evil: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_evil.gif" alt="" title="Evil or Very Mad" /><!-- s:evil: -->