The death of the corner shop.

Brooker_Dave

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

The shop in question has B&Q branded merchandise, Homebase branded merchandise, Kirkland (Costco) branded merchandise etc on their shelves so it looks like they purchase some or all of their stock from wherever they wish.

Costco is a wholesaler, small shop buys from wholesaler is hardly a surprise?

Return the £5 worth of goods and explain in no uncertain terms that a small shop charging more than a massive national retailer is lunacy, and that no small shopkeeper deserves to make a living.

The cheek of them trying to make a profit!!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

The shop in question has B&Q branded merchandise, Homebase branded merchandise, Kirkland (Costco) branded merchandise etc on their shelves so it looks like they purchase some or all of their stock from wherever they wish.

Take the bulb I purchased as an example.
I paid £2.75 and in TLC the same bulb is 60p if purchased singularly and 48p if bought as multiple of 10 so I can't see that they would have paid more than 60p for something they resold for £2.75

As others have said the small stores may pay more than the large store sell for but the other point is certain items are cheap to get your through the door.

Sugar and milk is dirt cheap in the supermarket because they know most who pop in just to buy essentials will leave with a bag or two of shopping.

Sadly it's a vicious circle for some small shops, trade falls so prices go up which causes trade to fall. Unless they evolve they are likely to be closing their doors at some point.

The-Truth

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

How can I be wrong when all I have posted is an opinion and I have made no assumptions whatsoever.

Yes you have you've assumed they get it for more or less the same wholesale price.

As others have pointed out COMPLETELY wrong!

Do you really have that little idea of how business works?

takman

When it comes to car parts the place with the cheapest price seems to vary quite a lot.

When I did my brake pads Euro Car Parts was half the price for the pads than an independent retailer 100 meters away. Yet the indpenedsnt retailer was 40% cheaper for the brake pad wear sensor!.

Last weekend I needed two new exhaust rubber mounts. The independent retailer wanted a couple of quid each for them, which I thought was a good deal. Until I used a discount code for Euro Car Parts and got two for £1.48.

My local independent car shop is always more expensive on things that are quite commonly bought for cars such as bulbs, brake fluid etc. It's not a massive amount more so is fair considering the convenience. But he has a massive stock room of parts for older cars. A friend of mine was able to walk in and buy a few parts for his classic car that he was struggling to source anywhere in the country!.

So there are benefits to both kinds of stores.

FOREVER21

"The death of the corner shop" this brings back memories and raises a smile from me. The demise was first predicted in 1948 when the first supermarket was opened in the UK, and as we all know they still soldier on.

Reminds me of Mark Twains, quotation about reports of his death!

Pennywise

FOREVER21 wrote: »

The demise was first predicted in 1948 when the first supermarket was opened in the UK, and as we all know they still soldier on.

Hundreds of thousands of corner shops have closed in the last few decades. At one time, there were shops on virtually every street corner (hence the name) plus parades of shops in virtually every housing estate. I'd say the predictions were correct. There's probably less than 1% of the number of corner shops today as compared with, say, the 1960s/1970s.

shaun_from_Africa

The-Truth wrote: »

Yes you have you've assumed they get it for more or less the same wholesale price.

As others have pointed out COMPLETELY wrong!

Do you really have that little idea of how business works?

Am I assuming anything when I see a pack of B&Q wall plugs being sold in the shop in question where they are priced at £3.05 yet the same ones are available in any B&Q store for £1.54?


You can capitalise certain words as much as you like but that doesn't help get your point across. it simply makes you look like someone who can't or won't accept opinions of others.

shaun_from_Africa

takman wrote: »

My local independent car shop is always more expensive on things that are quite commonly bought for cars such as bulbs, brake fluid etc. It's not a massive amount more so is fair considering the convenience.

Like you, I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for convenience but my original point was that for me, 330% extra is just too much extra for that convenience.

The-Truth

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Am I assuming anything when I see a pack of B&Q wall plugs being sold in the shop in question where they are priced at £3.05 yet the same ones are available in any B&Q store for £1.54?

Yes you're assuming the local shop makes more profit which in actual fact will be completely wrong.

shaun_from_Africa

The-Truth wrote: »

Yes you're assuming the local shop makes more profit which in actual fact will be completely wrong.

Why are you finding it so hard to understand? I have never once stated or implied that my local shop is making more profit.

I am not assuming anything. I don't know how much profit the shop makes and I don't know how much profit B&Q or Screwfix make and to be honest, I don't care one way or the other who makes the most profit.

I have repeatedly stated that in my opinion, a price difference of well over 300% on some identical items is too much for me to pay for the convenience factor and it is simply because of these huge price differences that I think many small shops are closing.
Many customers and potential customers don't care about profit margins or they simply can't afford to pay the far higher prices.