Dublin: Arnotts in the rare auld times…

News that the banks are moving into control of Arnotts department store appears to be the final nail in the coffin of a company that survived as an old business model and failed in an abortive ride on the back of the Celtic Tiger… Details of its step by step slide into debt culminating in an anticipated €300m debt-for-equity swap by Anglo Irish and Ulster Bank make grim reading.

Arnotts was not merely a retail store, it was a tradition and a way of life for many Irish shoppers, like many department stores in the UK and Ireland. However, the model is no longer suited to modern retailing from the perspective of the savvy consumer.

Suppliers that are heavily dependant upon this route to consumer should perhaps factor the inevitability of decline and switch of business to mass retail into their own business models…..

If in doubt, why not try a 'what if' on the possibility of your bank manager being responsible for business strategy?