You don't miss your waterford...

[nefertiti]

...till your wages runs dry

Waterford Crystal tips workers into occupying to pressurize receivers Deloitte- as in We want Deloitte - to keep the factory open.

[Guest]

You don't miss your waterford...

This was touched on in the "real economy slump" thread.

O'Reilly and his brother-in-law have lost half a billion quid on Waterford Crystal, partly because they stupidly kept pouring money into the business even when it was obvious to everyone else that the thing was a dead duck.

[loose cannon]

You don't miss your waterford...

WW hung itself
It's biggest market was in the US while the cost base was mostly in Europe
At a time when the dollar was weak, production costs in Ireland were going through the roof. The top management farted about losing money, kind of bizarre that O'Reilly allowed himself to lose so much money.
It is still a great brand though.
It will be bought out by some private equity crowd who will make an absolute killing on it.

[Wyatt Earp]

You don't miss your waterford...

I think "O'Reilly and his brother-in-law" would make a really good Myles na gCopaleen-style colloquialism for "everybody".

See to it, would you, chaps?

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

You don't miss your waterford...

if only it wasn't referring to two billionaires.

[garcia]

You don't miss your waterford...

one billionaire.

[Guest]

You don't miss your waterford...

Even when O'Reilly's personal wealth was at its absolute highest back in the 1990s, his wife (i.e. Peter Goulandris's sister) was richer than he was. She was the heiress to a huge Greek shipping dynasty. Peter presumably had a similarly massive wodge of money at his disposal when his parents snuffed it.

[ursus arctos]

You don't miss your waterford...

Is Waterford (or Wedgewood for that matter) really "still a great brand"?

It seems to me that each is very much associated with women of a certain age and class (and, in the US, often ethic origin) who aren't getting any younger and aren't likely to be buying large quantities of crystal and china in the future. I'm not at all sure that their daughters share the same loyalty.

[Duncan Gardner]

You don't miss your waterford...

ursus arctos wrote:

Is Waterford (or Wedgewood for that matter) really "still a great brand"?

It seems to me that each is very much associated with women of a certain age and class (and, in the US, often ethic origin)

Surely everyone in the Land of the Free is of the highest ethical origin? Dunno what happens later in life.

[anton pulisov]

You don't miss your waterford...

I always thought of Waterford Crystal as 70s tat that nobody in their right mind would buy. My parents have some in the attic that they got for their wedding. I don't see them buying it either.

[Heliotrope]

You don't miss your waterford...

My mother has quite a bit of it, so you're correct about the "nobody in their right mind."

[WOM]

You don't miss your waterford...

I thought it was the sort of thing that one bought exclusively for others to not use. Who'd buy if for themselves to not use?