If lots of high street shops go out of business.....

mippy

!!!!!!? wrote: »

I got some beef jerky in Tesco a while back...Also, haven't seen it since then so maybe it was a one-off.

Pretty sure Asda sell it, at least they do in West London!

purplevamp

Originally_Posted_by_!!!!!!? wrote: »

I got some beef jerky in Tesco a while back...Also, haven't seen it since then so maybe it was a one-off.

mippy wrote: »

Pretty sure Asda sell it, at least they do in West London!

Sainsburys also sell it hanging up next to the bacon.;)

Walletwatch

Here's my view on this - consumerism and choice go hand in hand. As consumerism drops and people 'batten down the hatches', it is invariably going to mean less demand for the product in question and hence, the "survival of the fittest", leading to less choice among the surviving few businesses. This would mean the folding up of businesses whose products and services no longer appeal to the customer as much as other more successful ones. Mind you, here the differentiation is going to be mainly cost-based, so expect low cost providers to survive in this market.

As an extension, I also think that the first in the firing line has been the retail industry - expect the next on the block to be the more upstream guys actually selling through these retailers. I expect them to start dropping their prices soon, especially since the phenomenon is a global one, so these firms cannot just temporarily give the short shrift to Britain and expect to make up their sales elsewhere. I for one, am actually expecting prices of nice-to-have but not essential products to drop, not because of retailer discounting, but manufacturing firms bringing down the prices - expect for instance, the Wii to go down, discounted by Nintendo themselves instead of the surviving few retailers, who will just prefer to stock other more essential commodities as against gaming consoles.

Generali

This is a very interesting take on what happens and why when big retailers go bust

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=11375787

I guess the main point he doesn't examine is what happens when a lot of mid-sized companies all go bust at once.

Pennywise

Don't forget that demand hasn't fallen by that much. We aren't seeing 10% or more falls in sales - more like 2.5%. Trouble is that many big retailers went through relatively recent "buyouts" at over-inflated bubble prices, so the owners paid over the odds, which was borrowed "funny money" and has to be paid back, with interest. Many big retailers have been financial head-cases for years, only surviving because of the artificially high demand caused by easy credit and the 2006-2008 bubble. The fittest will survive and flourish - there will be many new entrants into the market. The High Street will survive, hopefully with more interest and diversity. The internet won't masacre the High Street - it will just change the way we shop - High Street stores will adapt to embrace the internet - Tesco and Argos are already showing the future - i.e. store and internet prices the same - easy to buy online and return to a store in person - no "pretend" differences in store names or between stores and internet - their business model makes the Dixons group look quite ridiculous where they are still artificially trying to separate out the store and internet sales and even have different store names - they're competing with themselves which is a surefire way to disaster. The High Street won't go away - even internet-savvy people still like to shop and an awful lot of people don't have the internet (or won't use it) anyway - and it will take another generation or two before everyone is comfortable with internet shopping. The High Street already looks different from ten years ago - it will look different again in ten years time - its evolution - a recession speeds it up, but it would happen anyway. I don't think we'll see much change in pricing and range - what I think, and hope, is that we'll see far better customer service in shops - it's no surprise to me to see the stores where I have experienced the worst service to be the ones going under.

itsnever2lateisit?

Well I for one have changed my shopping habits, and now buy from local independants where I can. It costs me a bit more, but the profit stays local and hopefully they will spend that profit locally. Most importantly I want them to survive, because I like choice.

When I want a nutmeg, I want just that ONE nutmeg, not a jar containing 5 in Tesco, how dare they dictate how much I buy, and I certainly dont want 10 years worth. I live in the Garden of England, I am insulted by a store that sells foreign apples that have been in cold store for months when local fresh apples abound. By not buying from the local producer they suck the lifeblood out of the locality, and spend the profits elsewhere

Personally I wish Tesco would go to hell in a handcart

*Rant over*

whathavewedone

Where do you get the idea that 14k is the average national wage?

I was a 21 year old junior secretary in 1992 and earned 10k in Manchester. Moved to London and was paid 16k.

I really can't believe that 14k is the current average national wage. The current national very low wage maybe.

purplevamp

whathavewedone wrote: »

Where do you get the idea that 14k is the average national wage?

If I was working f/t I'd only get just over £15K, as it is my p/t wages are just scraping by on £7K gross.

It's possible that £14K is an average, if you take away the overly inflated wages of those people who haven't a clue about the "real world". Perhaps sb44 is including people on p/t wages.

mewbie_2

olly300 wrote: »

Not necessarily.

With certain sports shoes used for actually doing sport and shoes from 3 retailers - Next, M&S and Jones Bootmakers - I have ordered shoes without trying them on first.

The reason being is if it's a shop I've brought lots of shoes from before over the years or in the case of sports shoes the same make and model, then I know that 99% of the time the sizing will be correct. If it's not correct I will send them back.

I'm a reluctant consumer. Clothes and shoes - buy the same every time, so once sized it's only a question of where to get it from. Tried buying last pair of shoes from High Street - park, get out of car, go in shop, have you got my size, no, can you order them, spose so, when will they be ready, in a week or so, back in car, drive home, internet, five minutes, shoes received three days later.

chopoff

whathavewedone wrote: »

Where do you get the idea that 14k is the average national wage?

I was a 21 year old junior secretary in 1992 and earned 10k in Manchester. Moved to London and was paid 16k.

I really can't believe that 14k is the current average national wage. The current national very low wage maybe.

BBC News Magazine had this interesting article some time ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7581120.stm

If you took the 'most popular' bar on that graph as 'average' then yeah its about £14k.

The final bar is interesting!