O'Briens Sandwich Bar in Examinership

"Then again, I also feel that some commercial rents need to fall by 50-90%."

And same for all CS & PS wages, Minister & TD Salaries, County Councillors expenses, Bin Charges, Motor Tax, NCT, Tolls, Planning Applications, City Parking, Travel Taxes, Levies, Health Insurance, Social Welfare Benefits (Those that are not being abolished), Exam Fees, ......................... & on & on ...................
 
What I hate about them is their hidden charges. Toasting a sandwich adds more than 1 euro to the price yet this is not advertised anywhere in store. They always ask "Do you want it toasted?". They never say that will cost you more.

Good riddance.
 
Kine said:
Overpriced and under-tasty. Irish, Japanese, Indian...it doesn't matter. If your business model sucks, you'll end up bust!
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The suckiest part of their business model was the fact that the company extended guarantees over the leases. That meant they could not contract operations during the recession and were left holding the can when franchise owners closed up. This in turn impacted their ability to drop prices to match competitors.

Never been a huge fan of their offering but it's clear they were doing something right since they were so popular. My sister worked in a franchise for a summer and she couldn't believe the money people were spending in the place - two sandwiches, two coffees and a bag crisps probably wouldn't leave change from €20. People would complain but kept coming back.

I imagine they will come out of receivership but it's a tough market, my local Centra sells coffee for a €1, hot chicken rolls and breakfast rolls for €2. Somedays coffee or tea is free with any purchase so you could conceivably buy your lunch for €2. There can't be much margin available to the retailer at that price - will O'Briens be able to compete?
 
Comes as no surprise that these sandwich bars are finding it tough.

I have eaten in the odd place (not O'Briens to be fair) both RoI and NI, and I think in this climate very few people are prepared to pay the guts of €6 upwards for a sandwich and cup of tea/coffee.
 
Mr Sweeney built up a fine business and I would be sorry to see any business fail. However O'Briens were ALWAYS overpriced in relation to similarly good fare from other, individual non-franchised outlets. It is just that now people see that.
 
Graham_07 said:
Mr Sweeney built up a fine business and I would be sorry to see any business fail. However O'Briens were ALWAYS overpriced in relation to similarly good fare from other, individual non-franchised outlets. It is just that now people see that.
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It was a fine business at the start but things slipped in the last 5 years or so. He also failed to keep ahead of the competition which was probably his major downfall.

Its not dissimilar to what happened at Starbucks. They lost the run of themselves and the minute a recession arrived they almost went bust.

The two obriens in my town are pretty tacky. They just feel very clinical. The decor didn't match the high prices.
 
Graham_07 said:
Mr Sweeney built up a fine business and I would be sorry to see any business fail. However O'Briens were ALWAYS overpriced in relation to similarly good fare from other, individual non-franchised outlets. It is just that now people see that.
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However, the quality used to be better for the inflated prices. the quality of the sandwiches and fillings really decreased and yet they still kept the prices high. It just didn't add up - an average/poor sandwich for a premium price.
 
My family and I rarely used O'Briens because we found that every sandwich tasted of onions, and they always used the same knife/board for cutting meat sandwiches as they did for vegetarian ones!
 
Caveat said:
Do you think so?

I've never bought anything from O'Briens/Subway etc but I would have easily expected €3.50 or thereabouts TBH.
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was in Lisbon this weekend, a coffee in any restaurant/coffee shop over there was 40-50cents
 
A bit unrelated but I have to say the quality of Insomnia's sandwiches are pretty high.
 
I always enjoyed O'Briens and felt that they tried to brand their sandwiches, which was good. The tripledecker is a great sandwich and worth paying a bit extra for. Something you wouldn't see elsewhere. They were the first places that started offering wraps (Wrappo) in a big way.

People may complain about paying €6 for a sandwich and coffee but at the same time people are paying over €3 for a coke in a pub and over €5 for a pint so when compared to those, it is not so expensive. Cappuccinos are luxury items and anyone who has bought a coffee in the Topaz at the Ballymun M50 roundabout knows that poor coffee is not necessarily cheap.

The inclusion of fresh sandwiches in every Spar and Centra must have hit them hard as they can use their floor space more efficiently whereas the sandwich and coffee was all O'Briens could offer. Also, the deli counters tend to have a fraction of the staff that O'Briens do. And if the deli counter runs out of a filling it is tough although I have never had that happen in O'Bs.
 
I was never a big fan of O'Brien's but its sad to see the demise of a really good Irish success story. To be honest though , for most people the days of casually spending €7-€8 a day on a sandwich and a coffee are gone. I know I certainly can't afford it anymore and I would imagine very few people will be able to justify it for much longer. Bringing in your own lunch is the easiest way to save €20-€25 euro a week - basically €100 a month.
 
liaconn said:
Bringing in your own lunch is the easiest way to save €20-€25 euro a week - basically €100 a month.
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Over the year that's the cost of a holiday to Thailand or somewhere similarly exotic!

I think we'll see other luxuries providers struggle. Car washes, pubs, taxis, fast food.

It is very easy to justify the high costs of all of these luxury items when compared to others but on their own they just don't stack up.
 
terrontress said:
Over the year that's the cost of a holiday to Thailand or somewhere similarly exotic!

I think we'll see other luxuries providers struggle. Car washes, pubs, taxis, fast food.

It is very easy to justify the high costs of all of these luxury items when compared to others but on their own they just don't stack up.
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Strangely it's said in a recession, sales of fast food booms because people eat in at home instead of going out to pubs/restaurants etc. I know a new chippie opened up a few hundred yards from where I live a few weeks ago and is doing a bomb
 
Mpsox said:
Strangely it's said in a recession, sales of fast food booms because people eat in at home instead of going out to pubs/restaurants etc. I know a new chippie opened up a few hundred yards from where I live a few weeks ago and is doing a bomb
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That's only with the recent splurging for sun-dried tomato at €5 a pop in mind.

Give it six months and people will question the need for spending €2.50 for a portion chips when they can get a bag of McCain Home Fries to feed the family twice for €4.00!

I suppose Ireland is renowned for its fast food takeaway anyway with the best selling Dominos in the world being in Tallaght.
 
liaconn said:
Bringing in your own lunch is the easiest way to save €20-€25 euro a week - basically €100 a month.
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I'm a carvery man meself so you could double that cost. One aspect not to overlook is the social aspect of lunch, good for the soul/mental health! to meet friends, keep up contacts etc.

Now if I was consistently eating sandwiches every day (particularly if at my desk) then defo would be making my own.

If things should become v v bad then I'll give it up but they'd want to be fair bad before I start to skimp on feeding myself.
 
Purple said:
€1200 for a holiday in Thailand... do you stow away on a cargo ship to get there?
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You'd be surprised! There are great deals on holidays this year, given that sterling drives the cost of most holidays that connect through London.
 
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