Dunnes Stores (Department Store)

~ ~ Dunnes Stores are the Irish equivalent of Marks and Spencers in the UK, and in fact were to a large extent modelled on that company.
But whereas Marks and Sparks have seen a recent downturn in their trading fortunes, Dunnes Stores have gone from strength to strength since the late Ben Dunne opened his first store in Patrick Street in Cork on March 30th, 1944.
It is a sign of the consistency of this company to always deliver what ...
...~ Throughout their 57-year history, Dunnes have always been leaders and innovators in Irish retailing.
In the 1960’s, they were the first department store to display their goods on racks, in order that the customer could more easily browse, every shop up until that time keeping goods behind the counter.
They were also the first to provide lunchtime sustenance for hungry workers. On his own lunch break, Ben Dunne noticed that many ... more

~ ~ Dunnes Stores are the Irish equivalent of Marks and Spencers in the UK, and in fact were to a large extent modelled on that company.
But whereas Marks and Sparks have seen a recent downturn in their trading fortunes, Dunnes Stores have gone from strength to strength since the late Ben Dunne opened his first store in Patrick Street in Cork on March 30th, 1944.
It is a sign of the consistency of this company to always deliver what the consumer demands that its original advertising slogan, emblazoned on the wall of its very first shop, “Better Value”, is still the mainstay of its present day advertising campaigns. It has now been expanded to “Dunnes Stores. Better Value Beats Them All”, but the basic premise of the company to always be consumer driven has remained one of its strongest attributes in an ever changing market place.

~ ~ Throughout their 57-year history, Dunnes have always been leaders and innovators in Irish retailing.
In the 1960’s, they were the first department store to display their goods on racks, in order that the customer could more easily browse, every shop up until that time keeping goods behind the counter.
They were also the first to provide lunchtime sustenance for hungry workers. On his own lunch break, Ben Dunne noticed that many office workers in particular ate a lot of fruit, and so set out to provide the freshest and cheapest fruit available in all his shops. This drew in the crowds, who then went on to make other purchases while they were buying their lunchtime fare.

~ ~ They were the first supermarket chain to build a large store in an outlying area, and not in the city centre, when they opened their Cornelscourt shopping mall in 1966. This was hailed as commercial madness by the pundits of the day, but it was in fact to provide the role model for all future developments in this area. Even to this day, Dunnes at Cornelscourt are one of the busiest supermarkets in the Dublin area, and three years ago were to lead the way once more, when they were the first to introduce all night supermarket shopping to Ireland. So busy were they in the first week of this new innovation, that police had to be called in at 4AM in the morning to direct the heavy traffic!!

~ ~ So what is it that makes Dunnes the leader in the extremely lucrative supermarket and department store market in Ireland?
It’s quite simply that they always live up to their marketing slogan, and attempt at all times to deliver “better value” than their many competitors.
Old Ben Dunne died nearly twenty years ago in 1983, but the business is still to this day a family run affair, with the various brothers and sisters ably filling their late father’s shoes.
They “copied” Marks and Sparks by introducing their own brand clothes label, but called “St. Bernard” as opposed to “St. Michael”.
This is a full and comprehensive range of all types and manner of clothing, from the latest fashions to staples like socks and underwear.
Dunnes buyers cover the globe in their search for cheap suppliers, and many of the top labels have their designs “plagiarised” by Dunnes, and produced for less than half the price in the Far East. Whether you agree with the ethics of such a policy or not, it is one that is very popular with today’s cost conscious shoppers, and which has filled the cash registers in Dunnes for many years.

~ ~ They also have their own label food products, and in most cases these are as good as, if not better, than the big name brand leaders.
The food is always fresh, and they now have their own delicatessen departments, butchers, and bakers, so that the Irish shopper can truly do their week’s shopping in the one store.
Another recent introduction has been the Dunne’s “Value Card”, where the shopper collects points every time they shop, not only in Dunnes, but in many other shops, travel agents, garages, and so on. Every six months they send out shopping vouchers to the value of any uncashed points, or alternatively, they can be used to purchase items like plane or ferry tickets, or to obtain discounts in many other Irish businesses.

~ ~ The recent huge upsurge in Ireland’s economy has seen many UK supermarkets and retailers enter the Irish market for the first time. A few years back Tesco, the UK giant, purchased an Irish chain called Quinnsworth, and came into the Irish marketplace in a huge blaze of publicity, promising the Irish shopper that they would beat Dunnes at every turn.
Not only has this not happened, but if anything Dunnes have since strengthened their hold on the Irish market, opening many new stores, and expanding for the first time into the UK, where they now have eleven stores. The most recent of these are in Leeds and Glasgow.
Currently the UK branches sell only clothing and hardware, but plans are afoot to expand into the food section shortly.
Whoever plans to topple Dunnes from their perch as the leading Irish supermarket and retail chain is going to have to work very hard indeed.
 

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