Enemy at the Gates
If you've followed the local news in Cork recently, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Vikings have picked up their old hobby of pillaging and plundering again, and that a fleet of them is currently sailing up the Lee to ransack the city, or more specifically the cafes and restaurants. The "independent" hospitality community is in an uproar, and it is more than vocal about this. The reason? Two large chains are planning to open branches in the city centre, Starbucks, and JD Wetherspoons. They are threatening the very identity of Cork, as well as the livelihood of all pubs and cafes in the city!!!!!
Give. Me. A. Freaking. Break!
Okay, let's take a deep breath and take this from the top again. Apart from a few Costa Coffee outlets, the city has mostly flown under the radar of the big players in the coffee business for most of the 2000s. Seattle based Starbucks Coffee Company had tried their luck with a coffee shop outside the arrivals area at Cork Airport, but ended that venture in 2011, following mounting losses in Ireland due to the economic crisis. In their absence, local chains like Insomnia or Gloria Jeans have carved up the market amongst themselves, and even smaller outfits like Cork Coffee Roasters or the Idaho Cafe. All these stores undoubtedly have character, and serve great food and coffee. However, they also have their downsides, but I'll get to those later.
Anyway, back in 2013, Starbucks reestablished a foothold in the People's Republic of Cork by opening a rather large operation on the ground floor of an office Building in City Gate Park, Mahon, a business and retail park on the South Ring Road, way outside the city center. More recently, they've added a slightly smaller coffee shop in Mahon Point Shopping Centre, right across the road from City Gate Park.
Rumours that Starbucks was planning to open in Cork city centre had been going around for quite some time. It had previously been thought that they would become one of the ground-floor tenants of One Albert Quay, a new office building currently being constructed next to city hall and the Elysian. So it came as a bit of a surprise when the company applied to open a coffee shop in Princes Street, near the English Market. Since then, it has transpired that Starbucks is also planning to open second store in a listed building on Emmet Place, across from the Crawford Art gallery.
Parallel to that, a British chain called JD Wetherspoons, which operates several hundred pubs in the UK, applied for planning permission to open a pub on the site of the former Newport Bar on Paul Street. This project has actually been in the making since 2013, but still hasn't progressed beyond planning, and some preliminary site work. The premises remain boarded up.
Still, the reaction was predictable, and loud. Leading it all was Richard Jacob, owner of the Idaho Cafe. His line of reasoning is pretty much as follows:
Give. Me. A. Freaking. Break!
Okay, let's take a deep breath and take this from the top again. Apart from a few Costa Coffee outlets, the city has mostly flown under the radar of the big players in the coffee business for most of the 2000s. Seattle based Starbucks Coffee Company had tried their luck with a coffee shop outside the arrivals area at Cork Airport, but ended that venture in 2011, following mounting losses in Ireland due to the economic crisis. In their absence, local chains like Insomnia or Gloria Jeans have carved up the market amongst themselves, and even smaller outfits like Cork Coffee Roasters or the Idaho Cafe. All these stores undoubtedly have character, and serve great food and coffee. However, they also have their downsides, but I'll get to those later.
Anyway, back in 2013, Starbucks reestablished a foothold in the People's Republic of Cork by opening a rather large operation on the ground floor of an office Building in City Gate Park, Mahon, a business and retail park on the South Ring Road, way outside the city center. More recently, they've added a slightly smaller coffee shop in Mahon Point Shopping Centre, right across the road from City Gate Park.
Rumours that Starbucks was planning to open in Cork city centre had been going around for quite some time. It had previously been thought that they would become one of the ground-floor tenants of One Albert Quay, a new office building currently being constructed next to city hall and the Elysian. So it came as a bit of a surprise when the company applied to open a coffee shop in Princes Street, near the English Market. Since then, it has transpired that Starbucks is also planning to open second store in a listed building on Emmet Place, across from the Crawford Art gallery.
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| The brick building on the left will is the premises on Emmet Place that Starbucks have targeted for their second city centre store. |
Still, the reaction was predictable, and loud. Leading it all was Richard Jacob, owner of the Idaho Cafe. His line of reasoning is pretty much as follows:
“If we allow small shops to be replaced by ubiquitous chains selling a product available internationally we sell our very soul. This is our only chance to say ‘No, we are different, our city is different and we want it kept different.”
And he has a point, well, errr, to a point, that is. But we'll discuss that later. Other business owners were not quite as diplomatic, with one quote being "Cork people look after Cork people." To be frank, that last statement actually freaked me out quite a bit, as this type of nationalism and elitism can escalate rather quickly.
As for me, all I can say is that I really look forward to Starbucks coming to Cork. The Idaho Cafe's Richard Jacob certainly has a point, when he states that "...independents provide that uniqueness, that unique selling point, that Cork as a city needs." The independent pub and food scene in Cork is vibrant and amazing, my own favourite pub, the Franciscan Well, is one of these amazing independent pubs, and for good reason. Once you've tasted their beer, and the amazing pizza they produce, you'll understand why.
However, that is not all there is to it. There is a growing resentment against the "traditional" pubs in the city, a feeling that they're forming a cartel, with elevated prices, and sub-par offerings. While it is in my eye perfectly understandable to pay 5€ for a craft beer like Rebel Red, being forced to buy a Pint of Heineken in a soul-less establishment at the same price will undoubtedly feel like a rip-off. And that is exactly the type of pub that JD Wetherspoons will threaten, if they ever manage to get their Paul Street operation going, that is. Judging from their website, they will be offering an interesting selection of beers, including craft beers, at very reasonable prices. Pubs that already have a unique selling point, like the Franciscan Well, like Sober Lane, will still fare quite well, I'm sure. If the arrival of Wetherspoons is a threat to anyone, it will be to bland overpriced soulless businesses like the Flying Enterprise, that already are more of a liability to Cork than an asset.
As for the Coffee side of things, it's a bit more clear cut there. I will not for one moment doubt the quality of food and coffee served at these independent coffee shops. They are great, no doubt. However, they also have some serious flaws. One of them is quite simply space.
I am half Austrian, and have spent several years living there, as well as visiting countless times. The "Kaffeehaus" culture in Austria is without a doubt one of a kind, and quite easily the thing I miss most about that country. What makes these Cafes special is the fact that you can quite easily spend several hours there, enjoying coffee, chatting with friends, ore reading papers. With most of these independent coffee shops here in Cork, that is quite frankly not possible, as there is barely enough room to breathe in there.
In addition, all these cafes together still can't satisfy the demand during peak times, and even off-peak sometimes, as I have found out myself several times. Even large operations like the two Costa Coffee outlets in the city centre are often packed to the rafters, forget about getting a seat, you'll be lucky to escape alive even when just getting a coffee to go. There quite clearly still seems to be quite a large untapped market in Cork.
Then there's the matter of opening hours. There is virtually no non-pub place open in the city after 7 PM most days, nor have I found any cafe that opens before 9 AM yet, although that may well be my fault as well, it is after all well known, that even with gratuitous coffee consumption, I don't start functioning properly until around 11 AM. Still, the point stands. While these independent cafes provide great service during standard opening hours, they don't serve the fringe hours. Starbucks has no qualms about that, as I was able to find out on a recent trip to Dublin. Most of their shops were open until 9 or 10 PM, with their St. Stephens Green store in the former Anglo Irish Bank HQ open 24 hours. Good to see someone earning an honest wage in that building for a change.
But back to the topic at hand. Apart from the issues mentioned above, having a Starbucks at hand will without a doubt give them a place to feel at home. While I'm used to moving to other countries by now, many people, especially students or tourists, may feel a bit lost when being abroad. And while it may sound trite, Starbucks will be able to offer them a "taste of home", something they're used to. From my perspective, that cannot be a bad thing.
So, as far as I'm concerned, let Starbucks and JD Wetherspoons in, they certainly won't be able to wreck the city any further than years of economic crisis and incompetent city management, as well as decades of abysmal urban planning have. Cork will not lose its uniqueness just because of two Starbucks and a Wetherspoons. Cork will loose its uniqueness only when it stops adapting, and growing, and turns into a city sized open air museum just to preserve its character.
As for me, all I can say is that I really look forward to Starbucks coming to Cork. The Idaho Cafe's Richard Jacob certainly has a point, when he states that "...independents provide that uniqueness, that unique selling point, that Cork as a city needs." The independent pub and food scene in Cork is vibrant and amazing, my own favourite pub, the Franciscan Well, is one of these amazing independent pubs, and for good reason. Once you've tasted their beer, and the amazing pizza they produce, you'll understand why.
However, that is not all there is to it. There is a growing resentment against the "traditional" pubs in the city, a feeling that they're forming a cartel, with elevated prices, and sub-par offerings. While it is in my eye perfectly understandable to pay 5€ for a craft beer like Rebel Red, being forced to buy a Pint of Heineken in a soul-less establishment at the same price will undoubtedly feel like a rip-off. And that is exactly the type of pub that JD Wetherspoons will threaten, if they ever manage to get their Paul Street operation going, that is. Judging from their website, they will be offering an interesting selection of beers, including craft beers, at very reasonable prices. Pubs that already have a unique selling point, like the Franciscan Well, like Sober Lane, will still fare quite well, I'm sure. If the arrival of Wetherspoons is a threat to anyone, it will be to bland overpriced soulless businesses like the Flying Enterprise, that already are more of a liability to Cork than an asset.
As for the Coffee side of things, it's a bit more clear cut there. I will not for one moment doubt the quality of food and coffee served at these independent coffee shops. They are great, no doubt. However, they also have some serious flaws. One of them is quite simply space.
I am half Austrian, and have spent several years living there, as well as visiting countless times. The "Kaffeehaus" culture in Austria is without a doubt one of a kind, and quite easily the thing I miss most about that country. What makes these Cafes special is the fact that you can quite easily spend several hours there, enjoying coffee, chatting with friends, ore reading papers. With most of these independent coffee shops here in Cork, that is quite frankly not possible, as there is barely enough room to breathe in there.
In addition, all these cafes together still can't satisfy the demand during peak times, and even off-peak sometimes, as I have found out myself several times. Even large operations like the two Costa Coffee outlets in the city centre are often packed to the rafters, forget about getting a seat, you'll be lucky to escape alive even when just getting a coffee to go. There quite clearly still seems to be quite a large untapped market in Cork.
Then there's the matter of opening hours. There is virtually no non-pub place open in the city after 7 PM most days, nor have I found any cafe that opens before 9 AM yet, although that may well be my fault as well, it is after all well known, that even with gratuitous coffee consumption, I don't start functioning properly until around 11 AM. Still, the point stands. While these independent cafes provide great service during standard opening hours, they don't serve the fringe hours. Starbucks has no qualms about that, as I was able to find out on a recent trip to Dublin. Most of their shops were open until 9 or 10 PM, with their St. Stephens Green store in the former Anglo Irish Bank HQ open 24 hours. Good to see someone earning an honest wage in that building for a change.
But back to the topic at hand. Apart from the issues mentioned above, having a Starbucks at hand will without a doubt give them a place to feel at home. While I'm used to moving to other countries by now, many people, especially students or tourists, may feel a bit lost when being abroad. And while it may sound trite, Starbucks will be able to offer them a "taste of home", something they're used to. From my perspective, that cannot be a bad thing.
So, as far as I'm concerned, let Starbucks and JD Wetherspoons in, they certainly won't be able to wreck the city any further than years of economic crisis and incompetent city management, as well as decades of abysmal urban planning have. Cork will not lose its uniqueness just because of two Starbucks and a Wetherspoons. Cork will loose its uniqueness only when it stops adapting, and growing, and turns into a city sized open air museum just to preserve its character.
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