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EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really ought to know with your morning coffee.
1. #SUPERQUINN: There’s some major jobs relief this morning, with the news that the Superquinn supermarket chain – which only went into receivership last night – has been bought by the Musgrave chain. The deal is subject to approval by the Competition Authority but if it’s concluded, the 2,800 jobs at Superquinn should all be secure.
2. #HACKING: It’s going to be another massive day in the News of the World affair. Rupert and James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks, Sir Paul Stephenson and John Yates will ALL face questions from parliamentary committees, the day after Sean Hoare – the NotW journalist who originally blew the whistle on the phone-hacking – was found dead in his apartment. Here’s our guide to the ongoing scandal.
3. #MICHAELA: The two main suspects in the murder of Michaela McAreavey are almost certain to face full trial, after a magistrate ruled there was enough evidence against them to proceed. The ruling is likely to have a major sway on whether the DPP orders a full trial.
4. #TRAGEDY: More details have emerged of the awful death of a 5-year-old in Co Kerry yesterday. Various tabloids today report that Tadhg Fannin, from Ballymun, was at a hotel swimming pool with his father when he slipped from a toddler poll into the deep end of a larger one. His mother was in the family bedroom with his 1-year-old brother.
5. #THIRSTY WORK: The Oireachtas has sternly denied reports suggesting that the public would have to foot the bill for TDs and Senators who haven’t paid their tabs at the Dáil bar. While members have thousands in unpaid bills, these are routinely paid off at the end of the month – and former members only have a few hundred euro worth of unpaid bar bills.
6. #ROADS: Ireland’s motorists could be facing yet more tolls on the roads, as the National Roads Authority published a report claiming it could raise an extra €62m a year if it introduced new tolling locations.
7. #LIBYA: Last Friday the United States said it would only recognise the Libyan Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya. On Saturday, it sent senior officials to the country for a meeting with… Muammar Gaddafi. Unsurprisingly, the topic up for discussion was whether Mr Gaddafi would be leaving Libya any time soon.
8. #ANGLO v QUINN: Lawyers for Anglo Irish Bank have begun a High Court action trying to stop the Quinn family from breaking up its Swedish operation – which owes it over €2bn. Anglo says that if the Quinns are permitted to break up their company – with proceedings already underway in Cyprus – it could take up to five years to get its money back.
9. #CHILD’S PLAY?: A controversial doll that mimics the effects of breastfeeding – with the not-so-cryptic name ‘Breast Milk Baby’ – is to go on sale in the United States, after its manufacturer said its Spanish sales were encouraging. The doll caused a storm when it went on sale online four months ago, so the fallout should be something to watch…
Thanks to Jenny Osborne for sending in today’s ’9 at 9′ photograph. If you have a photograph you’d like us to use in the ’9 at 9′ or the ‘Take 5′, feel free to send it in! Our email is tips@thejournal.ie.
And so the Musgrave vultures become the undisputed dominator of the Irish retail market. I particularly love the way their shops charge different prices in different shops for the same item bought and delivered at the same cost. Their objective is to subsume all independent shops, build big supermarkets and prevent real competition in towns all over the country. They claim to protect the independent town and village shop owner yet always seek to locate their Supervalues in the location that gives the biggest shop and carpark, better known as out of town. I hope the Competitions Authority sees through this strategy. Not a great day for Irish consumers.
Should be noted, simply for clarity’s sake, that the Supervalu ‘chain’ is really more of a loose franchise of individual supermarkets which set their own prices. Realistically it’s only the Centra shops that have a standardised national price.
That’s incorrect Gavin. They are both franchises and operated identically, and are actually controlled from the same building in Cork where many of the same staff work across the brands. There is no fundamental difference to the structure of the business model. A little known fact is that they allow their independent shopkeepers to trade under different price files, depending on the competition in a given area. Hence a Supervalu with Superquinn nearby will attempt to match Superquinn by trading with the low price file, but a Centra in the rural west will run on the high price file since its only competition is Mrs Murphy’s Corner Shop, has a captive audience and will charge us more. Try it: look at the price difference of a Turkish Delight in a sample of Centras and Supervalus.
@TR – The National Consumer Agency does regular surveys of the prices of Irish supermarkets, and in one issued last week it said it had to survey more than one SuperValu because each outlet sets its own prices.
Gavin,
That’s precisely the point! The operate the ultimate in price discrimination monopolistic behaviour and consumers aren’t even aware of it. Personally, I think they are fantastic from a business perspective, are a fantastic Irish commercial role model, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that they are independent corner shopkeepers concerned with keeping shops local.
There was no question in my mind but that they would purchase Superquinn. It makes complete sense to snap up 6% of a €10+bn market for probably a few hundred million. That 6% will I am sure grow to 10% without cannibalising Suoervalu sales and at the same time reduce competitionin the marketplace. Tour de force stuff!
I don’t see anything wrong with what they do, it is basically the same way McDonalds operates.
You can call them evil etc… but the shop/restaurant is not owned by McDonalds/Musgrave. They just dictate supply chain management and prices to the customers.
That they have different prices depending on how convenient their stores are would not be unexpected as they are a convenience store chain. If they undercut Mary’s corner shop they would be accused of killing local business. When they have higher prices in these areas which realistically offers Mary a chance to compete, they get told they are overcharging.
Realistically its a lose/lose scenario.
Neither Centra nor Supervalu have fixed pricing. They aren’t allowed to, as their stores are all owned independently and suppliers cannot dictate the retail selling price.
In this case Musgraves are the supplier
Barry, I’m afraid you are wrong in that regard. Musgraves have considerable influence over their retailers’ pricing. Musgraves’ rebate part of their franchise agreement is based on retail sales, which clearly has a relationship with the pricing. A team of Musgrave Sales Reps ensures that each shop is selling as much as possible for as much as customers are willing to pay. It’s fair to say that they are much more than a mere wholesaler.
I didn’t say ‘wholesaler’, I said ‘supplier’.
This is a model I know very well.
The MRPI Team will ‘advise’ re . retail margin and make suggestions on the retail selling price.
The loyalty rebate is nothing to do with pricing, but is usually factored into the retailers business plan to provide him with a target ‘blended’ margin at year end.
Musgraves will provide solid advice re. store layout, range, traffic flows, etc.
They cannot dictate or enforce retail price, it is illegal
Barry,
Musgraves of course cannot dictate prices since that would be illegal, but they offer advice to the shopkeepers as to which price category (low, medium or high, etc or a blend thereof) they should operate under in order to maximise all parties’ profits. A product which is purchased by Musgraves and delivered to shops equidistant from the warehouse will sell for dramatically different prices, depending on the competition (which today got a lot smaller) and the level of monopoly Musgraves-supplied shops have in a town (which is generally quite high in typical Irish towns). The greater a shop’s margin, the ‘happier’ Musgraves are with them. If you are familiar as you say, you will understand what I mean by this…
Also, you might explain how you see a wholesaler and a supplier as being different in this context. I respectfully don’t understand why this appears to be an issue. I would have thought they were synonymous, or that wholesaler was a better description.
Interesting debate though! :)
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