USC has gone into administration

huntersc

mewbie wrote: »

To be fair though, our entire economy seems / seemed to be built on persuading people who couldn't really afford it to mortage / credit themselves up to the hilt for luxury items. SUC just one more victim of an unexpected and sudden winding up of that game.

Don't get me wrong. I still think buy the chav / label / fashion victim theory, but without them it would seem we don't have an economy at all.

Y'see Claire6hy? yoos doing it fer de country, good on yer.

We're in agreement except I think stores and businesses such as this should take an awful lot more blame than 'they're not the only one, our entire economy is built on credit !!!!!s such as this'.

You're right about the economy and affordability etc, again we agree, but USC are a fine example of what did go wrong. Let's not excuse them

fc123

boyse7en wrote: »

Out of interest, what constitutes a 'designer' label.

I've got a Ralph Lauren jumper on (which I assume is a designer brand), ASDA jeans (which I'm pretty certain aren't designer) and a Berghaus coat (well known brand, but is it designer?), plus Timberland boots (D or non-D?)

I'm finding it very difficult working out whether I'm an aging Chav or just aging disgracefully

Branded goods and ''Designer Clothes'' are different.

Really, everything is 'designed' as such; from the pattern making, type of textile, to working out what trims to use. Much the same process whether they are £4 jeans or £150 jeans.

Branded goods have been a big money spinner for the past decade.

French Connections problems stem from the death of the FCUK campaign that enabled them to flog branded tees etc for a huge mark up. They were popular and sold by the 1000's. Once that fad passed away, they were left with trying to get the same massive margins on all the other stuff......which hasn't been so easy.

Designer clothes, as a description, could be applied to some couture gown by John Galliano I suppose.

Chanel dresses don't make Chanel masses of money, Chanel perfume and lipsticks do that for the company.

USC have problems with margin as they are restricted to mark-ups set by the brands they stock. They squeeze more margin out of their own label but, they can't pay as high rents on their stores as vertically integrated businesses who have far higher mark ups.....like Karen Millen for example.

Tom Hunter has probably re-negotiated the rents on the stores that they are keeping at a lower amount.

claire6hy

mewbie wrote: »

Y'see Claire6hy? yoos doing it fer de country, good on yer.

what??????

mewbie_2

claire6hy wrote: »

what??????

get wid it, ye ol fogy - dis em de mewbie geddin down wid de kids.

Ooops gone a bit joke West Indian there, can't do that txt spk to sv m life.

fc123

mewbie wrote: »

get wid it, ye ol fogy - dis em de mewbie geddin down wid de kids.

Ooops gone a bit joke West Indian there, can't do that txt spk to sv m life.

That was jafaican Mewbie. My son slips back into it when he goes back to SE London....and I still tell him off despite him being 21. Esp when he calls me blud. He speaks really lovely, middle England English the rest of the time too.

jayok

huntersc wrote: »

Or rather you're going into administration because demand has dropped? There's a difference

I read his post that they are going into administration because few people are buying the clothes now that we are in recession/credit crunch/!!!!ed up by the banks and generally bending over so that the government can bail out the financial system.

clobber_2

It's worth paying money for an item of clothing that will last.

I really do think my Dior dress was a ripoff though, the seams fell apart when I wore it last.

(my great-grandma bought it in the 1950s...you would think it would have lasted longer than that).

Stead_eddy

The_Aquapanther wrote: »

Right...not sure of my Geography!

The following stores are still operated by us;

BELFAST ABBEY CENTRE
ABERDEEN
BASINGSTOKE
BELFAST CASTLE LANE
GLASGOW BRAEHEAD
BRIGHTON
BRISTOL
GLASGOW BUCHANAN ST
CARDIFF
DONCASTER
DUNDEE
EAST KILBRIDE
FALKIRK
HULL
INVERNESS
EDINBURGH KINNAIRD PARK
LEEDS BRIGGATE
LEICESTER
LIVERPOOL
MEADOWHALL
METRO
MIDDLESBROUGH
NOTTINGHAM
EDINBURGH PRINCES ST
GLASGOW SAUCHIEHALL ST
STIRLING
SWANSEA
TRAFFORD
LEEDS WHITEROSE

Metro Centre in Newcastle will be OK when you move back but not sure about stores near Bluewater.
There might be more staying in the next couple of weeks but that is it just now.

I work at the Head Office...will find out next week whether I'm getting kept on or not!


Cheers.

Thanks for checking I appreciate it! If you work at head office do you know if the companies that have been kept on will be operating as usual in the near future ie offering refunds? I bit the bullet today and swapped some of the things and got the value of the rest put onto a gift card which hopefully in future would allow me to get the money back somehow.

As you work at head office hopefully they'll keep you on then as there'll still be need to run the 40 odd stores Tom Hunter bought from the administration company. Might be worth mentioning this to the people who are being so critical...when you think about this quite possibly all he's done is use this as a way of ditching his least profitable stores while keeping the rest of the stores which are making profit.

caveman38

boyse7en wrote: »

Out of interest, what constitutes a 'designer' label.

I've got a Ralph Lauren jumper on (which I assume is a designer brand), ASDA jeans (which I'm pretty certain aren't designer) and a Berghaus coat (well known brand, but is it designer?), plus Timberland boots (D or non-D?)

I'm finding it very difficult working out whether I'm an aging Chav or just aging disgracefully

As the father of two sons who've been through teenage and early twenties and been exasperated at the price of their clothes.
I would say designer labels are the ones that a cost b****y a B****y fortune and George, St. Michael etc. are JUST labels.

direwolf247

I find it funny how peole are being more cynical about USC but were were cursing everyone for saying how bad Big W was and telling them how many people are losing their job.