Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Dai Corner]

Depending on who you buy from you may find that any guarantee (unless insurance backed) could be worthless if the company subsequently succumbs to a continuation of the same difficult trading conditions.

Indeed. Even if it is insurance backed I'd need to be sure they'd paid the premium and the insurer wouldn't go bust!

 

[Bald Rick]

Has anyone mention Wiggle / Chain Reaction yet? (on line cycling retailer ). Went into admin last week. Mr Ashley sniffing around…

 

[Jimini]

Has anyone mention Wiggle / Chain Reaction yet? (on line cycling retailer ). Went into admin last week. Mr Ashley sniffing around…

Ah that's a shame -- hadn't seen that one. I've used Wiggle for many a year for various bits and pieces.

 

[Bald Rick]

Ah that's a shame -- hadn't seen that one. I've used Wiggle for many a year for various bits and pieces.

They are still trading. but use a credit card…

 

[dangie]

Has anyone mention Wiggle / Chain Reaction yet? (on line cycling retailer ). Went into admin last week. Mr Ashley sniffing around…

I used to be a frequent buyer from Chain Reaction but haven't used them for a few years. I suspect the difficulty in obtaining stock both during & after Covid hasn't helped.

 

[Bald Rick]

I used to be a frequent buyer from Chain Reaction but haven't used them for a few years. I suspect the difficulty in obtaining stock both during & after Covid hasn't helped.

I gather its the owning group (Signa Sports United) has money troubles - they bought wiggle in 2021.

 

[Anonymous10]

In fairness, The Entertainer have relatively compact stores (rather than the warehouse-sized Toys'r'Us megastores).

Plus they do put on a level of entertainment - there's often a member of staff at the door "demonstrating" a toy, which makes it quite a fun retail experience, somewhere that kids want to visit. Little touches too, like the steps at the till, so that kids can step up and pay for their toys themselves, colourful shops.

If you gave a kid the option of The Entertainer versus Argos/ Tesco then they'd go for the former.



Agreed.

WH Smith is in that awkward middle ground where it's not really best at anything. If I want a bookshop I go to Waterstones. If I want a stationers I go to Rymans/ Staples. If I want specialist information I go online, rather than buying a magazine that was published the previous week. If I want a magazine/ newspaper then they cost the same at other shops, so there's no advantage to Smiths. If I want toys or DVDs then there are much better retailers for those things too.

As I said on the Toys'r'Us thread, there's a danger to being in the middle ground, where you aren't the first choice destination for anything. Toys'r'Us weren't as cheap as Amazon or as fun as The Entertainer or as convenient as the large toy selection in large supermarkets.

BHS weren't as cheap as Primark or as upmarket as M&S or as specialist as a Long Tall Sally/ Evans/ Jacamo (etc).

JJB closed because they were caught up in the middle of Sports Direct (cheap), JD (trendy), Go Outdoors/ Decathlon/Blacks (specialist equipment).

To succeed, you need to be the best at something - however niche - once customers are inside your shop then they'll likely pick up other things - you need to give people a reason to visit, rather than just being there. Nobody would go out of their way to somewhere like BHS/ JJB, which is why they eventually failed.

Boots is fairly middle ground - not as cheap as Superdrug/ Savers/ Bodycare and not as luxurious as some specialist "beauty" places (e.g. in department stores) - they have to rent some huge retail space for their shops but a lot of it is filled with things like sandwiches and gifts as it becomes harder to stay competitive in the "shampoo" market.

I can see Waterstones/ HMV surviving, simply because they are the last shops in town to do what they do - they are the best bookshop/ record shop because they are the only bookshop/ record shop - so at least there's a need to visit.

Maybe the next one will be Mothercare - since a lot of kids things can be bought in supermarkets now. But they have the advantage that they are a "safe" place for inexperienced parents who don't know the first thing about which buggy to buy, and a "nice" place for grandparents choosing cutesy outfits (that would have been a lot cheaper in Primark).

Much as I love shopping in CEX, I'm not sure about the longer term future for a company relying on second hand DVDs/ games, now so much is streamed. People will still buy the physical products that they love (in HMV etc), but CEX kind of rely on the people who like things and then discard them - and such people are much more suited to Netflix / Play Station Network etc.

The aficionados will keep buying the originals in places like HMV but they won't sell them at CEX for a quarter of what they originally paid - much of the stock in CEX is from five/ten years ago now - so I don't know what they can do to turn that around. Focus on the second hand electronics? Game will suffer too, but at least people will need Game to buy original products - and they have diversified into toys/ clothing/ merchandise.

It's easy to say that there appear to be too many phone shops (there certainly do to me) - they face the additional problem that phones from five years ago are still about good enough - you wouldn't want a five year old phone in 2003 or 2008 but smart phones got to a level that was good enough for most people about five years ago, so there's less *need* for the latest version.

If you are a serious gamer or photographer then an iphone 5 will seem archaic but to Joe Public it does most things that an iphone X does, so there becomes less need to keep upgrading, so less need for mobile phone shops that relied on us changing our phones every twelve/ twenty four months.

Only thing I buy from smiths is a navy magazine which I can only find there otherwise I agree.

 

[DavidGrain]

James Villas, a holiday company, have today announced that they will cease trading at the end of the year and holiday payments will be refunded

 

[317 forever]

With new international owners for Stagecoach, Go-Ahead and coming soon for Arriva, I wonder whether they will take over more independent bus companies?

 

[Peter Sarf]

With new international owners for Stagecoach, Go-Ahead and coming soon for Arriva, I wonder whether they will take over more independent bus companies?

Monopoly and Mergers commission might think otherwise ?.

Reminds me Flixbus are spreading in the UK and I see the services of Megabus coaches seem to be receding.

 

[GusB]

Monopoly and Mergers commission might think otherwise ?.

Reminds me Flixbus are spreading in the UK and I see the services of Megabus coaches seem to be receding.

One thing that has disappeared is the Monopolies and Mergers Commission! It's the Competition and Markets Authority these days, having been the Competition Commission prior to that.

 

[richw]

Safestyle Windows went into administration on Friday and the administrators have decided over the weekend to wind it up rather than seek new owners. I dont know whether to be sad or glad I never have to hear their adverts again...

These home improvement companies have a long record of going bust and re-emerging.
I used to work for a finance company who financed these types of home improvements. The number of claims for warranty work was unbelievable, and when looking up who sold the product, it would should large well known companies having gone bust multiple times on the finance companies records.
Companies names were stuff like; Windows ltd (2007), Windows ltd (2011) etc, but the public just think they were sold by Windows ltd who are still trading now as Windows ltd (2018) for example and the 2007 and 2011 versions have gone bust

 

[Peter Sarf]

One thing that has disappeared is the Monopolies and Mergers Commission! It's the Competition and Markets Authority these days, having been the Competition Commission prior to that.

Ah ha, thanks. I felt the name had changed but had no idea to what. Too many changes to follow - perhaps I should copy to the "You know your getting older thread" !.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

One thing that has disappeared is the Monopolies and Mergers Commission! It's the Competition and Markets Authority these days, having been the Competition Commission prior to that.

And of course this brings up the hoary old question... Why is there just the one 'Competition and Markets Authority'?

 

[Peter Sarf]

And of course this brings up the hoary old question... Why is there just the one 'Competition and Markets Authority'?

You


and Me

 

[Busaholic]

Shortly to be replaced by the Market Authority For Implementing Action?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Shortly to be replaced by the Market Authority For Implementing Action?

I weakend and googled that and straight away arrived at CMA.

Quango anybody ?.

 

[Cletus]

Troubles at Pontins? Camber Sands and Prestatyn to close immediately.

 

[Dai Corner]

Troubles at Pontins? Camber Sands and Prestatyn to close immediately.

They're owned by Britannia Hotels which does a lot of business with the Home Office housing migrants. Possibly a similar deal has been done?

 

[Trackman]

They're owned by Britannia Hotels which does a lot of business with the Home Office housing migrants. Possibly a similar deal has been done?

Could be right, it was mooted a while back.

 

[richw]

On the subject of holiday parks,
Royale Parks went bust in the summer. They owned a couple of parks I’d stayed in the last few years including Stowford holiday village near Ilfracombe and Hayling island holiday park which they’d only acquired from Parkdean recently.

 

[Cletus]

The Home Office has said the Pontin's camps aren't going to be used for asylum seekers.

 

[Peter Sarf]

The Home Office has said the Pontin's camps aren't going to be used for asylum seekers.

Well obviously the Home Office don't think something unused and available cheap is worth considering .

 

[skyhigh]

Well obviously the Home Office don't think something unused and available cheap is worth considering .

Unless Britannia have other ideas for the site and haven't made it available...

 

[birchesgreen]

The Home Office has said the Pontin's camps aren't going to be used for asylum seekers.

Even the Home Office have their limits.

 

[ScottGallagher]

Went to Blackpool Pontins in the 80s, much different then even though its long gone. Given the dreadful reviews Pontins Parks get (particularly on filth) im surprised its lasted this long especially being owned by Britannia. Only a matter of time before the other parks follow I reckon.

I wouldn't rule out the refugee thing just yet despite what the Home Office say as Britaania are making a lot from it with their other hotels.

 

[Russel]

The Home Office has said the Pontin's camps aren't going to be used for asylum seekers.

Give it time.

 

[Busaholic]

The Home Office has said the Pontin's camps aren't going to be used for asylum seekers.

Even if they were to be, I suspect that would be the Home Office line. There is at least one well-established YouTube channel that delights in 'auditing' hotels that are, or maybe are about to be, housing asylum seekers. The 'comments' below the videos by and large express nasty racist opinions by people who can't even spell basic words, which no doubt spur others of the same 'mind' (I use the word loosely)on.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Even if they were to be, I suspect that would be the Home Office line. There is at least one well-established YouTube channel that delights in 'auditing' hotels that are, or maybe are about to be, housing asylum seekers. The 'comments' below the videos by and large express nasty racist opinions by people who can't even spell basic words, which no doubt spur others of the same 'mind' (I use the word loosely)on.

Those sort of people should be given a job picking fruit and veg. Most of them would be quite happy to let a foreigner take that type of job once they realise what hard work is. I did agricultural work when I was a student and I am quite happy for someone else to do it nowadays - I am probably too old to do it now anyway.

 

[sprunt]

Even the Home Office have their limits.

Do they? We've already established they're putting people up in Britannia hotels.