Wittards of Chelsea Gone Bust

penguine

Whittards has been bought by private equity firm Epic. Still trading and likely to continue to do so, though they may close down some of the shops.

Reported on Radio 4 just now.

Plus retail sales down 10% from last year and discounts aren't helping businesses as they are reducing the profits they need to survive until Christmas "starts" again next October.

seeya23

penguine wrote: »

Whittards has been bought by private equity firm Epic. Still trading and likely to continue to do so, though they may close down some of the shops.

Reported on Radio 4 just now.

Plus retail sales down 10% from last year and discounts aren't helping businesses as they are reducing the profits they need to survive until Christmas "starts" again next October.

all shop are to stay open :rotfl:

zarazara

thats good news

Charis

carolt wrote: »

Any chance of us ending up with a nice old-fashioned high street with lots of little independent shops again, as you still get in other European countries?

Any thoughts?

We've got one of those. (West Mids market town) You can buy a shotgun or a diamond necklace in our town, if you have the wherewithal, but try looking for a recent DVD or a reasonably priced, good quality sweater. Not a hope. Our little deli's are nice but pricey, likewise the wholefood shop. We have lovely (expensive) butchers' shops, no fishmonger. The greengrocer has a limited choice and doesn't seem to stock squash (of the vegetable kind). Our small Tesco's is usually heaving. I shop online or go to one of the nearby cities.

The problem with smaller shops is that they nearly always have all the overheads but none of the bargaining power of the bigger groups, so the customer has to make up the difference in price.

fc123

I don't know if I am looking back through misty eyes, but I feel there was always room for all of us.

Late 80's/early 90's we sold what we liked and just hoped others liked it too. C+ A, Next plus the rest didn't affect our trade in anyway at all....there was room and affordable trading space for all of us.

I have plenty of Primark customers...every day they come in hauling gigantic bags chocca with the finest Primark products...but they shop with me too.....just not in the same volume.
I might add, I am very, very polite to all Primark custonmers...tho' I may educate the younger ones, plus, gently say that hauling a bulging Primark bag around town is akin to wearing a fur coat made from a very cute (but dead) animal....just sometimes.

There are things we can change and things we can't....I don't run my clothing business in the same way as Primark....but that's all I can do. I can't stop them running their business the way they do, I can't change the conditions in the factories they use, I can't alter anything about it...but it doesn't mean I have to be the same as them.



...and that's why I live in derelict cottage and not in 10 bed + Lake + a few acres + lots of spare cash for conspicuous consumption........and I have a few facial lines *sob*.

Plasticman

markelock wrote: »

I find their mens suits quite good. bra's less so. you can always see the wires behind my ties.

M&S will be fine. I can guarantee it*



*not a guarantee.

I like my suits from M&S. Can't comment on their bras as I don't have a need for them (although I have put a bit of weight on lately so maybe I will one day )

Peartree

There does seem to be a lot of hysteria in the media. Woolworths and MFI have been teetering on the brink for years. They didn't keep up with the times and offer what the customer wants in terms of products and customer service. The so called 'credit crunch' may have hastened their demise but they didn't cause it. I must say Whittards is a bit of a mystery to me as I never could see how they stayed in business in the first place! It seems to me that someone identified a niche market, which would probably have worked nicely for an independent retailer in the right location, and then tried to take it national, paying retail park rents, when there wasn't the mass demand.

There has been a lot of speculation on this thread as to who will go next. However, the list they gave tonight on the news I can understand. More retailers who, to be honest, hadn't really got it right. The current times might be pushing them over the edge more quickly than anticipated but, to be honest, they are retailers who never really had a long term future on the high street. Let's just hope that the empty premises, with reduced rents, will attract some interesting independent retailers back to our high streets - although we'll probably just see more pound shops for a while.

In fact, online retailing has been the saviour of many of our specialist retailers in niche markets, particularly hobby or arts and crafts type businesses. Their online business can keep their shopfront businesses going and hopefully we'll see more of that.

It goes without saying that one really feels for the staff of the retailers who are going under - but that's all.

I also think it will give some national retail chains a long overdue boot up the backside. I'm thinking particularly, for example, of some of our electrical retailers who have been offering shocking customer service, trying to rip us off with overpriced warranties, etc, etc.

It is the mid-market which will suffer - particularly where they have actually been offering pretty much the same products as the discounters (but with an extra mark up for their brand name). I also think people are moving away from the whole 'buy it cheap and chuck it out soon' mentality and will move towards investment purchases.

It will also be interesting to see what happens with Tesco and the like after Xmas. Their growth has been fuelled by their non-food business which will disappear when people have less cash in their pockets. Be interesting to see what happens when they are competing on the price and quality of their food alone.

And, fc123, we all fraternise with the Primarks of this world but we are probably much more loyal to businesses like yours. I know that I would think 'well I've saved so much on boring stuff like plain T shirts in Primark, I can go and spend more money on the nice things in fc123's shop'. Especially if the lighting in your shop is more sympathetic to those of us with 'a few facial lines' and you sell clothes that don't leave a six inch gap around the midriff!

And, while we are at it, credit crunch or no credit crunch, I know that many people are becoming increasingly uneasy about cheap clothes if it means that some poor soul in Bangladesh or wherever is working 18 hours a day and isn't even making enough to feed themselves. A friend of mine came back from doing some voluntary work overseas recently and said that, basically, we have all won the lottery just being born in this country. Maybe Xmas is a good time for us to remember that?

amcluesent

>basically, we have all won the lottery just being born in this country. Maybe Xmas is a good time for us to remember that?<

We don't want any of that disgusting positive talk on this board please!

Peartree

amcluesent wrote: »

>basically, we have all won the lottery just being born in this country. Maybe Xmas is a good time for us to remember that?<

We don't want any of that disgusting positive talk on this board please!

Sorry it's not like me, I can't think what came over me.


'TAXI.......!'

Count_Dante

It concerns me about all the retail space that opened in the boom years. I wonder what percentage of it will make a profit and what percentage will become derelict? It seems bizarre that anyone thought that importing goods from the far east could be expanded indefinitely. That only works if we can export things of a similar value to the far east over the long run.