AnthonyRail
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Surprised Weston super mare is the only closure in the SouthWest
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Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon
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Busaholic
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The whole place, or a specific store? I went there once, so could understand it if it was the former
I was surprised to read this as last time I was in Dover I am sure there was a notice on the closed store on the corner of Pencester Road referring me to a new store. I've now found out that its only a food hall with facilities to order clothes, home wear, flowers, cakes, etc. I struggle to see how this will be a great success - they are too far behind in the game.
Sorry about the M & S in Deal - will leave a big hole. Still - one positive, Deal must be one of the few towns whose public library is open on a Sunday (for now?)
AnthonyRail
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Ha sorry I meant M+SThe whole place, or a specific store? I went there once, so could understand it if it was the former
Busaholic
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Falmouth ( a very small store) closes at the beginning of February, but its closure was announced a few months ago. I heard years back that Falmouth was kept for nostalgic reasons, being their first store in Cornwall and also because a longstanding member of the M&S board was a keen yachtsman and came down there every summer. Falmouth Bay can be seen from the back window!
xc170
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On the subject of M&S, my local M&S Food hall in Lichfield closes this Saturday which has surprised me as I've been in at all times of the day and it's always been full of customers and queues at the tills!
swt class 450
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Budgens is a strange one. I have always wondered how they have survived so long. They seem to only exist in small towns and villages. I never seem to see them in large towns or cities. I wonder how much longer they will last.
trash80
Established Member
If they have a formula that works and avoids excessive costs and debts then they'll be fine, the danger comes when some whiz kid with an MBA takes over and has the bright idea to move into those large towns and cities.
Budgens is just a name on lots of independently owned small shops, rather than a company. I don't think it's actually a franchise*, but it's a kind of halfway house to that - you get to use the name, and they have an own range brand.
*The one that used to be in Crouch End in London certainly didn't operate like one - it obviously had a variety of suppliers rather than getting everything from the franchisor.
*The one that used to be in Crouch End in London certainly didn't operate like one - it obviously had a variety of suppliers rather than getting everything from the franchisor.
I think food is an area where M&S still do well - the losses tend to come on the clothes side.
swt class 450
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I just looked online and it appears that Budgens is owned by Tesco these days. I never realised that.
trash80
Established Member
So they could be renamed Jacks one day, or will it be the other way around? 
underbank
Established Member
One stop is another brand owned by Tesco, but they're independently owned stores using the "one stop" brand/marketing and pay a fee (surprisingly small) for the right.
Kite159
Veteran Member
It could be a case of the landlord wants too much money for rent, or its an old building which costs too much to operate (in terms of heating)
underbank
Established Member
High turnover and lots of customers doesn't necessarily mean it covers it's costs. It may have very high overheads, not just rent and rates, but if it's an old building, it's power and utility costs could be astronomical. Different products have different margins, so the local demographics/buying patterns may mean that an unusually high proportion of sales are on low margin items. It could be profitable at the moment, but if the lease is up for renewal, the landlord may be wanting a stupidly high increase in rent, or the property may need major/expensive refurbishments meaning it's not viable to do. Lots of reasons other than low sales/customers. M&S will be doing forecast financial models for each store, and even if it's profitable today, with expected cost increases and customer falls, it may well become unprofitable within the term of the next lease, so better to cut it loose now rather than have it unprofitable for several years until the next lease renewal in maybe 10 years time.
underbank
Established Member
Yes, indeed, it's all part of the business plan. But there are also the consequences of not having stock in stores, i.e. lost sales/customers where it's hard to quantify the true cost to the business. Also, as more and more online retailers are realising and struggling to manage, the costs of postage (many offer free postage), and then costs of returns, both freepost return, then staff to process the refunds and staff to re-pack the items, and in some cases, loss on having to sell off the returned stock through discounters - the costs can be huge. It's always the unforeseen consequences that the "bright young things" with MBAs never think about. I can understand smaller stores not having the full range, but if a store has a particular range in stock, then it's a reasonable expectation for them to have the "common" sizes in stock. It makes no sense to have gaps on the rails when the warehouses have hundreds in them. If the store can do next day delivery if you order online, then surely their stock control systems should ensure next day delivery to replenish their rails if they sell out of a size 36 in a particular style/colour of trousers!
Dai Corner
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Indeed. A good retailer will also know exactly what is on the rails in each branch and enable their potential customers check stock and reserve online. If I want to buy a particular style of trousers in a 38 Long from Marks and Spencer I'd be happy to go to Newport, Cwmbran, Cardiff or Cribbs Causeway as long as I know it'll be waiting for me.
underbank
Established Member
Agreed. And why the likes of Argos have managed to survive - excellent stock control and giving people the option to check in advance what stock is available in the store, better still, to be able to reserve it - i.e. "click and collect". Even some supermarkets and other retailers have online stock checking facilities, such as Currys. If customers know their items are available in store, they're more likely to make an effort to drive, park, etc to go and buy. If it's a lottery as to whether they'll have stock or not, you either don't bother or you just buy online instead.
Go into M&S or Clarks and they can't even tell you whether nearby stores have it in stock - that's ridiculously poor they don't have access to their own internal stock systems! In fact, Clarks are so bad, sometimes they don't even know they have it in their own stock room (had it twice when we've asked for a particular range only to be told no and directed to online ordering, when someone else at the till has interupted and said that yes, in fact they do have that range in stock!).
We're supposed to be in the high-tech digital age, but some shops are still in the dark ages with their stock control systems.
xc170
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On the subject of shops not having stock, I recently had to buy a new oven, so went to a big retail park, tried B&Q and Currys, neither had anything other than the most expensive ovens in stock in store despite what their websites claimed, so I went to Costa, sat down with a coffee, got my phone out and ordered one from AO.com so again, £200+ that a bricks and mortar shop could have easily picked up, went to an online retailer...
I know ovens aren't something you buy every day and owing to the size are difficult to keep a decent stock of in store, but these companies shouldn't claim to have them in stock on the website when they're not. But it's not just ovens, it's most things these days, if you walk into a shop and ask for something, most of the time all you get is "We don't have it in stock, but we can order it for you", well, no, I came to a shop because I want it now, I can order it myself on line thanks, probably cheaper.
I know ovens aren't something you buy every day and owing to the size are difficult to keep a decent stock of in store, but these companies shouldn't claim to have them in stock on the website when they're not. But it's not just ovens, it's most things these days, if you walk into a shop and ask for something, most of the time all you get is "We don't have it in stock, but we can order it for you", well, no, I came to a shop because I want it now, I can order it myself on line thanks, probably cheaper.
I have walked out of so many shops recently because something I want is either out of stock or I have to jump through some convoluted hoops to get it.
The problem with the stock system isn't that its out of date but its how the staff deal with it. When I was a Retail Manager I constantly had to remind staff about scanning the right barcode and right stock because of the impact it has on the system. I cringe when something isn't scanning at the till and the person scans something similar with the same price or uses a generic item code. I had to return a picture frame recently and shuddered at the way it was returned.
Online has a similar problem though. I order my Daughters Christmas present from Disney online. It was in stock and my order was accepted. A few days later I got an email to say it was out of stock !!! Disney are notorious for taking your money and then cancelling the delivery. After I complained they refunded the delivery charge. Annoyingly it was back in stock a few days later !!!
Retail is pretty terrible overall, regardless of how you choose to buy.
My favorite website for ALL my purchases now is pricespy. When I get frustrated in store I fire it up and check the alternatives. It's saved me more than a few quid over the past couple of years.
Busaholic
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I don't really buy online, although my wife does, including stuff for both of us. I went to my local M&S last weekend in order to buy some food, but had to go up to the first floor to use the loo and went through the menswear department in order to reach it. Being totally unfashionable, I tend to buy M&S trousers when I need some more, and I passed a series of large sale rails featuring trousers varying in waist size from 28 to 46. There were only a couple of the smallest and largest size, but all the other sizes were well represented with perhaps five to fifteen pairs, with the sole exception of 38 inch waist, of which there were none, and, guess what my waist measures?
Since I recognised reality and sized up from 36 a couple of years ago, I've found it much harder to get trousers in both this size and medium length (31). They're always 29 or 33, at least when they're in the sale. So I end up buying some in Asda, again when I'm looking for the loo, even though I know (and they probably do too!) they'll fall apart within the month. Message to M&S -keep what is obviously a popular, standard size in stock!
trash80
Established Member
I always get my jeans from M&S but as i have long legs i've long given up ever finding a pair my size in store. I agree with you about keeping popular sizes in stock though. My local Debenhams only seems to keep S to L in stock though a brief survey of shoppers at the shopping centre would indicate XXL would be more useful.
SteveP29
Member
That's HMV flooded with K-Tel records and CD's
And a huge stock of Dansette's to play them on.
This man is going to overreach himself, and I hope it's soon.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...y-hmv-bid-brexit-dvd-sales-amazon-competition
And a huge stock of Dansette's to play them on.
This man is going to overreach himself, and I hope it's soon.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...y-hmv-bid-brexit-dvd-sales-amazon-competition
cjp
Member
A heads up for HMV might have been John Lewis's decision to stop selling DVD players
Sorry - it was the facility to order fashion and home wear etc I was doubting. I can't see why anyone would go into Dover to order goods. Pick up from an on-line order - yes (hopefully they have sufficient storage space). I would be interested to see how much use is made of it.
I agree with food - our local Food Hall seems to be doing quite well even though it is wedged between Aldi and Home Bargains.
gazthomas
Established Member
It came when they bought Booker (of cash and carry fame). How it got through the competition and marketing hoops I'll never know, though I'm sure the threat from Aldi and Lidl factored
Basher
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The high street is finished in my opinion,
When I was a lad we had corner shops and I had to go each day for the household groceries. The along came the small self service shops great I did not have stand in a queue, great more football time. then came the supermarkets and then the hypo markets, shopping centres, retail parks and now groceries can be delivered to my door. Admittedly we did not have refrigerators and food was dispensed and wrapped in grease proof paper. Then we got cars so we could get around and visit the retail parks etc.
We spent precious time shopping around for the best value/quality, paying to park our cars walking around looking for particular shops.
I can now sit at home and buy online and have it delivered or click and collect, at my local pickup point.
Now, the post office parcel delivery will be at risk soon, here's why. Husband and wife are at work, a parcel needs to be delivered they are not in, so a card is left telling them to collect at a local office at hours which they are at work. Does the post office not realise that if they deliver at 10 am and no body is at home they will also not be able collect before 12 noon.
I always get click and collect even though i'm retired.
When I was a lad we had corner shops and I had to go each day for the household groceries. The along came the small self service shops great I did not have stand in a queue, great more football time. then came the supermarkets and then the hypo markets, shopping centres, retail parks and now groceries can be delivered to my door. Admittedly we did not have refrigerators and food was dispensed and wrapped in grease proof paper. Then we got cars so we could get around and visit the retail parks etc.
We spent precious time shopping around for the best value/quality, paying to park our cars walking around looking for particular shops.
I can now sit at home and buy online and have it delivered or click and collect, at my local pickup point.
Now, the post office parcel delivery will be at risk soon, here's why. Husband and wife are at work, a parcel needs to be delivered they are not in, so a card is left telling them to collect at a local office at hours which they are at work. Does the post office not realise that if they deliver at 10 am and no body is at home they will also not be able collect before 12 noon.
I always get click and collect even though i'm retired.
Iskra
Established Member
Post office parcel delivery: my local one opens at 0700 and is busy at that time with people collecting parcels before they go to work. They hold it for 3 weeks. They also open Saturday mornings. Or, you can always just arrange for it to be delivered to you at work instead, thus solving the problem.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The couriers (particularly DPD which is actually quite reasonable) will kill off the awful Parcelforce, and letter delivery is dead.
A couple of years ago I gave Royal Mail 10 years...I reckon we're down to 8.
I also concur that they are awful. Recently I bought a TV; unlike other deliverers they never told me they were coming and they didn't even leave the parcel at the local office, but in the next town and despite the card saying we will try again, they didn't. Their website is clunky and the phone goes unanswered. In future I will try very hard to avoid buying from anyone who uses them.