Pubs don't fail, the owners and management fail and when one is demolished it means that it is gone for good and the slight chance of someone with a brain in their head taking it over and turning it around is gone forever.
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Seems as good a thread as any to post this on, but Tandleman did an interesting post on pub closures today.
Yep, he seems to have summed up much better than me when I implied grotty and appaling pubs deservedly closing
I liked his coments in the last two paragraphs, especially paying top dollar for warm pint, frozen chips and no smile or greeting
I have just returned from Hungerford area, the pub we chose was the Swan Inn at Inkpen [review & pics to follow], a great place,a million miles from frozen chips and surly staff, and no doubt will continue to survive due to care & attention to customers wants. As Tandleman so eloquently puts it The pursuit of quality, service and choice has never been more important.
Having read these posts the situation is worse than i thought it would be i think its about time that supermarkets stopped closing pubs down,there is more history and memorys in a pub than you will ever have in a supermarket or any other company that wants to shut pubs down.
Although I agree with Tandleman that "... pubs need to up their quality game to have a chance of survival" I've never been entirely convinced that "many of the pubs that have gone were appalling in the extreme and at the bottom end of the market" as Tandleman and other bloggers (particularly ex Blogger Stonch) try to convince themselves. I think there's a fair amount of self deception going on here, - "it's just the bad or the badly run pubs that close". No I don't think so, many fine pubs, well run, profitable pubs have gone. Would anybody realistically say JDW offers a high standard of service? Yet they are the most sucessful pubco, opening pubs not shutting them. The harsh facts are that social changes have made us over-pubbed as a country (England), this coupled with dangerous neo-prohibitionist sucesses and legislative changes means there is more misery to come. Sadly I think we'll be down to 45,000 or even 40,000 pubs in a short time with more to follow.
I have said it before somewhere or other that big social changes caused by a great many factors are affecting pubs. The Health angle is hammered at you now from early schooldays, health agencies ,workplace rules and social norms according to who you mix with. Laws on Drink Driving are getting tougher. Pile on top the greed of pubcos and some managers , tenants and lets not forget the Govt in all its money spinning ways. We are in the middle of a long recession, dont believe the good news crap put out by our lords and masters. Snort enough white powder and anything looks good. Everyone is being squeezed financially it is only common sense people will look for a cheaper way to drink. Your pint , shot or bottle are luxury items by the price.I cannot blame people who like a drink looking elsewhere.Sad as closures are Joe Public does not owe the pub landlord, manager or Pubco Share Holders part of his /her income.
I have to admit I do wonder how much home entertainment has affected my drinking habits. When I first started drinking I was a student with a black & white tv - now I have a full sound system, dvd player, and colour viewing arrangement. So where before going down the pub was a good escape from the monotony of my room in a shared house, now a few bottles and a decent movie are all too easy and available.