Comet sold for... £2 with £50 million sweetner paid to the new buyer to get rid of!

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

...
My best guess is that the High St is going to stratify into 'retail experiences' where you'll pay the premium for enjoying what's happening to you and then big box supermarkets.

Apple stores always seem to be busy from what I see.

They try and put a bit of 'value add' into the process, whether you buy into the Apple brand is a different matter.

Comet / PC World / ... , all come across as warehouse shops, lacking any soul or character.

I hope they make a go of Comet though, for the sake of the employees as much as anything.

Generali

kabayiri wrote: »

Apple stores always seem to be busy from what I see.

They try and put a bit of 'value add' into the process, whether you buy into the Apple brand is a different matter.

I have an Apple mobile phone. I'm not sure I buy into the brand but I certainly bought one of their products.

When I go into the Apple store near where I work to get some help I notice a couple of things:

1. The employees are helpful and efficient as much as could reasonably be expected
2. They encourage people to hang out there. You can use their computers to check your email or duck about on the interweb. The phones might have a couple of games downloaded or something. The sales are secondary because ultimately it makes little difference if you buy an Apple product from Apple or from Vodaphone. The shop is an advert as much as a store.

FTBFun

I usually find shopping in PC World a frustrating experience. Mainly because unlike a lot of their customers I know a thing or two about computers.

Rotor

Oooh I might have a go at buying this. I've got 2 quid.
Run it like the Phoenix 4 ran Rover with the legacy from BMW. Run it at a loss for a couple of years stripping out all the money I can in my salary, pension , special dividends, transfers to other companies etc; get the bigest line of credit from suppliers then go bust.

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

I have an Apple mobile phone. I'm not sure I buy into the brand but I certainly bought one of their products.

When I go into the Apple store near where I work to get some help I notice a couple of things:

1. The employees are helpful and efficient as much as could reasonably be expected
2. They encourage people to hang out there. You can use their computers to check your email or duck about on the interweb. The phones might have a couple of games downloaded or something. The sales are secondary because ultimately it makes little difference if you buy an Apple product from Apple or from Vodaphone. The shop is an advert as much as a store.

An interesting consumer experience then.

For comparison, there's a PC World near to me.

You aren't really supposed to touch the computers and laptops, but if you do it doesn't take long to get bored with the 'Windows 7 experience demo' [allow 5 minutes of your life].

To avoid boredom there are other games you can play. Avoiding the tumbleweed drifting down the aisles is one. Spot the genuine customer, or even any customer, is another [allow about 3 days for this game to score a few points].

The best game is to wear the right coloured shirt, and hang around until a distressed soul latches onto you as someone who might be a member of staff. When the unfortunate soul asks you a question like "Have you sold many of laptop XWZ beta 9? Is it popular?" you can then honestly reply "Madam, in all my time here I have not sold a single one of those, and that's the honest truth".

Come to think, sounds a lot like Apple then

michaels

Well they are doing something right then - there is much more money to be made if your customers don't know much about what they are buying than if they do.

FTBFun wrote: »

I usually find shopping in PC World a frustrating experience. Mainly because unlike a lot of their customers I know a thing or two about computers.

chewmylegoff

Generali wrote: »

Lots of good and interesting points Mallotum X but to be honest, I think all DSG (Dixons) can do is buy time. A shop can't really tell you how good or bad a fridge or a washing machine is so it's hard to see what value they add.

At least a clothes shop lets you try the clothes on and a record/games/book shop might be fun to hang out in.

My best guess is that the High St is going to stratify into 'retail experiences' where you'll pay the premium for enjoying what's happening to you and then big box supermarkets.

you can compare e.g. the quality of the TV picture to other similar TVs in the shop, which you can't do online.

also, you don't have to take a day off work to get your stuff delivered (unless it is a fridge etc, of course), which is a big plus for me personally - although companies are starting to be a bit more flexible with their delivery slots, finally having realised that people have ""jobs"" to go to between 9 and 5 on a weekday.

personally i still buy anything that i can transport in a shop, unless it the premium to pay for doing so is unacceptably large.

Pobby

Might have a wander around PC World but still pay my money to the little PC shop who most likely is more expensive. The personal touch, great advice and service. The bigger picture is about the internet regarding shops, imho. High street store no. Quite possibly third party delivery. That is when a retailer has little goods yet he collects orders, contacts the supplier who sends them out.

We also are developing a culture of recycling. Like that. I was horrified that a , then rich, relative throw out a nearly new large TV because it wasn`t HD ready. I kid you not. Freegle and Free Cycle makes a lot of sense to me. Not good for jobs sadly.

There is so much stuff in the world that is thrown but useful.

pqrdef

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Sweetner? The new owners will potentially have to to fund a £40 million pension scheme deficit.

The BBC said Kesa were keeping the pension liabilities ?

Thrugelmir

pqrdef wrote: »

The BBC said Kesa were keeping the pension liabilities ?

That wasn't said originally.