Major Retailers Closing

LittleTinker

They do deserve all they get to be honest as I feel they have ripped off the public for long enough. Yes, someone might argue that the public have been happy to pay the prices but they havent had a choice really.

Now, with the coming of internet and ebay consumers DO have a choice and will not put up with outragous prices anymore.

lincroft1710

If Pendragon go, major employment problem here, we have 2 Evans Halshaw (one Vauxhall, one Ford/Nissan) and a Stratstone Honda.

Jo_F

It's not all outrageous prices, when pricing for a bricks and mortar store, you need to take into account staff wages, building costs (rents/rates/utilities), Insurance and such like. The cost of transporting the goods etc etc, all these numbers have to be figuered into the price, and I dare say that goods have gone up in cost when they are actually purchasing them.

Running a warehouse doing an internet based business is a lot cheaper as you have less over heads to start off with.

lincroft1710

Also have 2 Clinton Card outlets, one only a few doors from the now closed Woolworths.

Jo F - as you say rent/rates/heating/lighting/cleaning/shopfitting maintenance all add up, before you pay staff and bring goods to shop. BUT how many former high street names (Mothercare, Currys) and certain other retailers (Toys'r'us, Brantano, Matalan, Comet, PC World) on retail parks, where rent/rates lower per sq metre and free parking.

So many TV programmes have highlighted that the British public buy far more than they really need and get in to debt. With credit crunch/recession/unemployment there is less money to spend let alone waste and "value for money" is now the key phrase. There are too many retailers chasing too few customers.

Where I live, there seems an overabundance of both ladies and gents hairdressers, will they be next? Perhaps nailbars will be next.

Spendless

I went into town yesterday. Woolworths has gone, jonathon james was closed. Adams is going. A small perfume shop had closing down notice on it as well as a couple of shops that were obviously only there for festive season trading.

In the middle of the shopping centre there was a notice on a kiosk that sells national lottery tickets saying they'd learnt late on tuesday (no date) that they were unable to continue trading and the kiosk would be closing and not re-opening?? Anyone know anymore this?

opaque

AFAIK those kiosks are all individually run so they have to pay rent etc but also if there was a better place that the National Lottery approved to sell tickets in the nearby area they might withdraw the rights from someone else.
EG A machine in a WH Smiths would guarantee more sales than a kiosk would.

hethmar

Cant see BHS going, its always packed when I go there. Mind you there website is pathetic.

Clintons cards, yep can see that going and some of the photo shops - most people can print their own now.

JenC

LittleTinker wrote: »

They do deserve all they get to be honest as I feel they have ripped off the public for long enough. Yes, someone might argue that the public have been happy to pay the prices but they havent had a choice really.

Now, with the coming of internet and ebay consumers DO have a choice and will not put up with outragous prices anymore.

I really can't agree with this. I work as a Buyer and spend my days battling price increases from China. The people of the UK have had it so good for so long, and now have to pay the real price for items. With rising oil costs, the cost of transportation has soared, there is also now a minimum wage in China, and currency problems to contend with.

Ebay is obviously going to be cheaper as there is no VAT on second hand goods.

Spendless

Just asked about the lottery kiosks on another board and 700 closed Tuesday night (30th Dec).

nzmegs

it seems to me that the stores which have closed so far are ones which have seen little investment or staff training etc for some time. Woolworths and MFI being a prime example. Woolies was always old stores with poor layout and grotty restaurants. MFI had ignorant staff (for the most part) and underpeformed in customer serivice.
Others have tried to expand too quickly.
As we all have fewer pounds to spend we are going to choose shopping experiences which make us feel we get value for money. That includes great customer serivce, nice stores, nice staff who know what they are talking about and of course, good prices. If they can't offer that then they deserve to go under.
Trade Depot has recently been closing stores also - I think they are an off shoot of B&Q (another place where good staff training wouldn't go amiss!)