Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

But Wetherspoons et all are not a coffee house, they are Pubco's, and as we all know, the license trade in Spain is on its arse, you are not going to get the Spanish using places like this, its not their style, which is why they work so well in the UK, because Wetherspoons in particular focus on the Victorian Pub image, in fact they actually take their theme from something written about the ideal BRITISH pub, thats their style, their theme..... they are tapping into the British psyche, so why would it appeal to the Spanish?

Now if you hope that the British in Spain would be your stock and trade then think again, there are pubs and bars up and down Spain who offer two for one deals, half price happy hours, and any number of loss leader deals just to get punters through the door!

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

Are any of them Pubco's?

NO.

Open a franchise of them then.

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

Exactly the same argument could have been made for a) McDonalds b) Starbucks c) Kebab shops d) Irish pubs, prior to their opening in Spain. But hey, if it doesn't exist NOW, that's the reason it'll never exist hey?

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

Yeah, because going into coffee houses is not in the Spanish psyche no?

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

For what it's worth (probably little, as I thought Starbucks would bomb in Spain) I think Wetherspoons would find it difficult to cope with the regimented daily meal routine ie most Spanish people if eating out would go between 2.30 and 5; thus you need allocated meal spaces, and people prepared to stand at the bar at busy times. Here in the UK a lot of their meals are served up throughout the day, and so there's normally somewhere to sit in the pub (there are exceptions of course!).

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

In all honesty, is this why you think they haven't broken into the Spanish market?

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

to which you can equally easily say "yeah because going into bars is not in the Spanish psyche no?"....

We're not talking about the same thing comparing a cafe con leche in the local bar as a mid morning break, with the Starbucks experience. Funnily enough the Starbucks I saw most busy in Madrid were popular with foreign air-hostesses for some reason. As I've stated I had assumed Starbucks would bomb, but I hadn't counted on it being a new experience. People went there for the image, perceived glamour, a smoke-free environment (Starbucks were quite smart to go non-smoking I feel), wi-fi access etc . Some may even have gone there to eye up air hostesses!!! :wub:

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

In all honesty Matt, do you think Weatherspoons have decided never to expand abroad?

I suspect that up to now they've not even seriously considered expanding abroad; however as they reach saturation point in the UK I can see them attempting it (not saying which country they'll try first though). Equally they may never expand abroad. But saying (as you appear to be doing) that because they haven't done it yet, they've ruled it out for good, seems a bit OTT. Apologies if I'm misrepresenting your case.

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

Thats NOT what I said, I said that going into Pubs and the whole Pub thing is not in the Spanish psyche, Wetherspoons et all focus on a particular style, some hate it, I quite like it, but they focus on a bygone age when the pub was flat caps and whippets, spitoons and leather chairs, heavily stained glass and bench seats, thats one of the reasons Wetherspoons don't "generally" have tvs and juke boxes or even music, because they harken back to a long gone era......... Now how do you connect to a population who never had that? How do you connect to a population who just don't get it?

Thats why Wetherspoons are not in Spain, because they are clever enough to know that what they have built their business model around would not work outside of the Uk.

Irish themed bars are VERY different.

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

I had this very discussion last night in a pub here, a couple came to the pub, I kind of know them, and I know they can be a little morbid, and sure as eggs is eggs they started up about the bloody recession, and in no time they had completely depressed the hell out of the whole bar! One of the things they said was about the death of the British pub, lamenting their closures and the way communities are losing their hub. The irony was that there we were, sat, on a Thursday night, in a village pub, with no quiz night/curry night/ steak night offers, and there must have been 60 people in the pub. I tried to discuss it with them and they were adamant that places were suffering and wouldn't hear anything to the contrary....
So we asked the landlord. His reply took them a back, he replied that he had never been so busy, yeah, last winter was dire and it was one of the worse he had seen, but that was mainly due to the 6 foot snow drifts that Dartmoor had and the 2 mtrs of rain they had A MONTH since October.....

Now my long winded point is this..... you say saturated, yet JDW's own sales figures are not showing any slow down, in fact they are looking at expanding into another Pubco's failing property portfolio and there are rumours on the street that a VERY well known Pubco is about to declare itself finished, and it could bring JDW's portfolio to nearly a thousand pubs. Not bad in a "slowing market"

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

Last word on this subject. You said ".Irish themed bars are VERY different". Some are, some aren't. I know "Irish" pubs in Madrid and Valladolid that are as close to traditional English pubs as you can get. Very popular with both British ex-pats and local Spanish.

You also repeat this statement "Thats why Wetherspoons are not in Spain, because they are clever enough to know that what they have built their business model around would not work outside of the Uk" No, no, no. They are in the UK because they started in the UK. They may well decide never to expand overseas. But at one time McDonalds was unkown outside North America. If you'd had been around at the time by the same argument you could have said "Thats why McDonalds are not in Spain (or the UK or Germany), because they are clever enough to know that what they have built their business model around would not work outside of North America). " Incidentally do you know that the bar-restaurant chain Gambrinus, now popular in Spain, is foreign-owned? These things do happen (and again I'm not claiming that Wetherspoons are going to do the same). But stating over and over again " it won't happen because it's currently not happening and that shows they've ruled it out for sound reasons" is, I'm afraid to say nonsensical to my ears. Now it may be that I'm completely misrepresenting your point (if so I apologise). Last word from me today as I've got to dash - have a nice one, wherever you may be based.

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

OK Steve, you might well be right, but the way I see it is this....


They have been trading since 1979, they have a turnover of well over £1 billion, if they are not in Spain by now, there is a pretty good reason.

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

Same as Tescos etc, too much Red Tape. ;-))

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

I´m just wondering how the Hooters chain in Spain is doing, anyone can shed a light ?

Re: Would the pub chain Wetherspoons work in Spain?
 

What does this mean?


What an odd statement, and completely out of context given the subject of the thread. People never fail to amaze me on this forum you know.