Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Bletchleyite]

Can't see House of Fraser staying for much longer, nor Debenhams

Meanwhile in America , there are firms like MoviePass which are literally borrowing money to make it till the weekend

MoviePass, Inc. is an American subscription-based movie ticketing service. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in New York City,[1]the service allows subscribers to purchase a single movie ticket per day for a flat subscription fee per month, quarter, or year. The service utilizes a mobile app, where users check-into a cinema and choose a film and showtime, which results in the cost of the ticket being loaded to a prepaid debit card, which is used to purchase the ticket from the cinema as usual.

(Wikipedia)

Wow, that's complex compared with Cineworld Unlimited or similar. Don't the US "movie theatres" do that? If they do, no surprise that they are losing out.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'll keep an open mind until I try it.

I had some yesterday and it was decent enough. Was similar to the Teavana stuff Starbucks flog.

 

[yorksrob]

It doesn't matter how much custom they attract in itself, it matters if they maximise profits. Virgin Trains' outrageous Anytime fares do not maximise custom, but they do strongly believe they maximise income, which is what they are aiming to do.

The cafe express at Barrow never seems to be heaving. I'm sure if they tailored their product more effectively there are some much greater profits to be had.

 

[yorksrob]

I had some yesterday and it was decent enough. Was similar to the Teavana stuff Starbucks flog.

I like Tarbuck's tea pig (I think thats what its called).

 

[underbank]

Is it the end of the traditional department store as we know it? I remember as a kid in the seventies always being excited at the prospect of a trip to a big city centre department store.

The dept stores can survive but they need to make changes to their stores. I've just been to a city centre and have been in a Debenhams and a HOF. Both were an absolute nightmare due to poor layout, lack of signage, seemingly random allocation of stock around the store. When these city centre dept stores are in older city centre buildings, often over several floors, often with small doorways opening out into adjacent buildings, they're a time consuming and annoying nightmare to navigate. May be fine for certain types of people who want (and have time) to spend an hour or two just randomly walking around the store and being constantly surprised at what is around the next corner, but if you've got a time constraint (lunch hour, parking, bus/train time etc) or with bored children (or partner), you just want to go in, be able to navigate to the area selling what you're looking for, buy the stuff and get out again. The city centre/older dept stores just don't facilitate the modern time-constrained method of shopping. The out of town retail parks etc are so much more convenient as you can see far more of it if its just on one or two floors in a large open-plan area so you're in and out faster. Even given floor plan complications, they could still make navigation easier, i.e. follow the Ikea model where you have to follow a preset path but at least things are grouped sensibly together. In the Debenhams I was in yesterday, because of their "franchise" model, there were dresses etc in several different places on several different floors - that's just adding time to your shopping "experience" which like I say may have been enjoyable in a bygone era but is just annoying when you have time constraints.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I like Tarbuck's tea pig (I think thats what its called).

I had no idea Jimmy had opened up a café chain... do you get a dated joke with your 10th cup?

 

[yorksrob]

I had no idea Jimmy had opened up a café chain... do you get a dated joke with your 10th cup?

I would certainly hope so

 

[greyman42]

I don't think so , as many of the Oxford Street department stores are doing just fine , and John Lewis seems to be doing pretty well

I was recently in the John Lewis branch in Leeds Victoria Quarter. Terrific shopping experience. Great quality, choice and customer service.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Porterbrook seem to be making bad decision after bad decision. Wouldn't be surprised to see them end up in the hands of a rival, especially with new entrants coming to the sector recently.

 

[johntea]

Department Stores are great for 'window shopping' but that is useless to the company unless that ends up translating into a purchase!

John Lewis I would shop at as they generally offer excellent customer service, having said that again the issue is if I know what I want the John Lewis website can probably sort me out without the effort of visiting the actual store anyway!

These days most of my shopping is actually done via impulse purchasing browsing the HotUKDeals website, which actually leads me to another thing - if I shop online I can earn cashback for doing so a lot of the time!

 

[Busaholic]

The companies I see going in the next 12 months:

• Sussex Stationers
  

I thought that went years ago! Were they resurrected?

 

[bramling]

Department Stores are great for 'window shopping' but that is useless to the company unless that ends up translating into a purchase!

John Lewis I would shop at as they generally offer excellent customer service, having said that again the issue is if I know what I want the John Lewis website can probably sort me out without the effort of visiting the actual store anyway!

These days most of my shopping is actually done via impulse purchasing browsing the HotUKDeals website, which actually leads me to another thing - if I shop online I can earn cashback for doing so a lot of the time!

Must admit I’ve had more trouble with John Lewis over the years than anyone else. Return something to Tesco or Curry’s and generally it’s a cheerful young person who will simply smile and replace the item with no hassle. With John Lewis I’ve had several experiences of dealing with exceptionally snotty middle-aged female types who turn the process into an inquest.

 

[ShwervinMervin]

I thought that went years ago! Were they resurrected?

Not 100% sure on that ‘un, there’s one at the top of my road that’s been there since I can remember.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Must admit I’ve had more trouble with John Lewis over the years than anyone else. Return something to Tesco or Curry’s and generally it’s a cheerful young person who will simply smile and replace the item with no hassle. With John Lewis I’ve had several experiences of dealing with exceptionally snotty middle-aged female types who turn the process into an inquest.

JL has gone down the pan for CS in recent years - from the way they have an understaffed electricals/computer return station in store to the dramatic reduction of call centre staff. They have consolidated call centres and many well paid, but experienced, staff have left to replaced by minimum wage drones who give minimum wage service - not that I blame the staff, you get what you pay for.

 

[route101]

At a price where you could buy 3 large fries at Maccies and get more, though I'll give you that they are quite nice. And they do that stupid thing of giving you a small cup of them then throwing more in the bag that end up in the way of everything, which is meant to look generous but isn't.

I'm a massive fan of the Maccies touch screens and new "JIT" service process as it means special orders are no longer a faff (and they're way quicker than Five Guys, whose service is really, really slow). Though I don't like the way they've now stopped you having a sausage and egg McMuffin with as many patties in it as you like

Yeah , the screens make it a lot less awkward to ask for a burger without onion for example , you can add bacon now.

The fries in a bag is Five Guys trademark , along with sometimes employees singing along to tunes.

 

[route101]

KFC has a niche which makes it pretty resilient even post Chickengate

Five Guys opened a store in Luton. Let that sink it. I'm sceptical about the quality of any market research that led to that. It's almost always empty. The Toby Carvery it replaced was usually busy.

And I prefer brioche buns - never been a fan of sesame seeds. (And this was more it was upmarket and fashionable - picked up the taste in France twenty years ago)

The Five Guys ive been into are quieter than they were , cant be too many that havent tried it yet .

 

[Statto]

Last time i was in Curry's half the items weren't priced, whether on the shelf or item so that puts me off.

Not surprised Maplin went under, only time i went in to there store is they had a cable a certain length i needed that i couldn't buy elsewhere, & when you went into there stores you went back out when you saw the prices.

The one thing that Burger King is still quite good at is making burgers. In fact I prefer theirs to a lot of the premium restaurants which are overpriced - that's when I haven't given up queuing.

I like Burger King as well, but haven't been in one for a couple of years, mostly when i'm on a day out i have 20 minutes wait at most for connections whether train or bus, plus Burger King have got rid of seating areas they had at rail stations, so tend to go to Subway, Sainsburys for a sandwich & eat on the train/bus.

I've never been into Byron Burger, there mostly London centric aren't they, although they got adverse publicity couple of years back when they faked an H&S briefing, which turned out to be a Home Office sting with Immigration Officials present.

 

[yorksrob]

Last time i was in Curry's half the items weren't priced, whether on the shelf or item so that puts me off.

Not surprised Maplin went under, only time i went in to there store is they had a cable a certain length i needed that i couldn't buy elsewhere, & when you went into there stores you went back out when you saw the prices.



I like Burger King as well, but haven't been in one for a couple of years, mostly when i'm on a day out i have 20 minutes wait at most for connections whether train or bus, plus Burger King have got rid of seating areas they had at rail stations, so tend to go to Subway, Sainsburys for a sandwich & eat on the train/bus.

I've never been into Byron Burger, there mostly London centric aren't they, although they got adverse publicity couple of years back when they faked an H&S briefing, which turned out to be a Home Office sting with Immigration Officials present.

Yes, the lack of seating at most of their station outlets puts me off. Might help to explain why some of those have dissappeared of late, such as at Leeds and Kings Cross.

 

[greyman42]

Yes, the lack of seating at most of their station outlets puts me off. Might help to explain why some of those have dissappeared of late, such as at Leeds and Kings Cross.

There is a Burger King at York but it seems to be shut at times when you would expect it to be open. Perhaps due staffing issues.

 

[route101]

Last time i was in Curry's half the items weren't priced, whether on the shelf or item so that puts me off.

Not surprised Maplin went under, only time i went in to there store is they had a cable a certain length i needed that i couldn't buy elsewhere, & when you went into there stores you went back out when you saw the prices.



I like Burger King as well, but haven't been in one for a couple of years, mostly when i'm on a day out i have 20 minutes wait at most for connections whether train or bus, plus Burger King have got rid of seating areas they had at rail stations, so tend to go to Subway, Sainsburys for a sandwich & eat on the train/bus.

I've never been into Byron Burger, there mostly London centric aren't they, although they got adverse publicity couple of years back when they faked an H&S briefing, which turned out to be a Home Office sting with Immigration Officials present.

Bryon in Glasgow was only open for 18 months then shut earlier this year , never went .

 

[Iskra]

Little Chef. In fact I was surprised to see it was still in existence, I thought it had already gone.

 

[johntea]

Interesting documentary on Channel 4 tomorrow (well I find these sort of documentaries interesting anyway!) : Saving Poundstretcher

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/gth8pc/saving-poundstretcher--series-1-episode-1/

Documentary following Poundworld founder Chris Edwards after he was brought in by Aziz Tayub and his three sons to try to revive the fortunes of their Poundstretcher chain of discount stores. Chris teams up with middle son Shehzad to streamline the range of products being bought, but this puts him in immediate conflict with Aziz, who buys a huge variety of unusual and niche products. Chris also visits a Poundstretcher in Bolton, where he finds manager Tracey will do anything to keep her store open.

I don't think Chris Edwards lasted too long helping Poundstretcher before waving the white flag, it is astounding how they've outlived Poundworld as the stores I've been in are generally a complete mess and not very welcoming, and if Chris can't even help out it is quite alarming!

 

[Dai Corner]

Little Chef. In fact I was surprised to see it was still in existence, I thought it had already gone.

The Little Chef brand has gone, the restaurants all being closed or rebranded by 31 January.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Chef

Closures Under EuroGarages
A month after the buyout by Euro Garages, the number of Little Chefs dropped down to 66 outlets. This was due to the closure of underperforming sites such as Winterbourne Abbas (whose lease expired 10 February), Balhadie South, Axminster and Dolgellau. These restaurants were set to be converted into Greggs and Starbucks sites opening in May 2017.[citation needed] In February, Euro Garages began a programme to close down all Little Chefs, replacing them with other brands available to them such as Starbucks and Greggs. In July 2017, EuroGarages brought about the closure of two of the chain's prime locations - Popham (which was remodeled by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal back in 2011) and Barton Stacey - which are both set become Starbucks opening later in the year.

The closure was scheduled to be complete before the end of the year, but was postponed until the beginning of 2018. Little Chef stopped running as a brand at the end of January 2018[50] as the licence that Euro Garages uses for the brand expired and any Little Chef's left will become EG Diners until Euro Garages decide on brands to rebrand the remaining estate.

Nobody seems to have updated or turned off the website though!
http://www.littlechef.co.uk/

 

[bnm]

House of Fraser has called in the administrators. The board have given up trying to save the company.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45140874

Department store chain House of Fraser is to appoint administrators after giving up the fight to save the business.

In a statement, it said that talks with investors and creditors had "not concluded in a solvent solution".

House of Fraser employs 17,500 people, including 11,500 concession staff.

Its fate was sealed earlier this month, when Chinese firm C.banner pulled out of a rescue deal that would have brought much-needed investment.

House of Fraser said administrators Ernst & Young had confirmed that the business would continue trading, including all stores and offices, while they attempted to complete a sale.

All 59 shops are set to open as usual on Friday, including 31 that have already been earmarked for closure as part of a restructuring agreement.

• House of Fraser: Five things that went wrong

The firm said: "Significant progress has been made towards completing a sale of the group's business and assets.

"The proposed administrators are expected to continue to progress those discussions with a view to concluding a transaction shortly after their appointment."

Chief executive Alex Williamson said: "We are hopeful that the current negotiations will shortly be concluded. An acquisition of the 169-year-old retail business will see House of Fraser regain stability, certainty and financial strength.

"In the two weeks since the Cenbest and C.banner transaction ceased, the directors have brought forward a number of potential buyers and the group's financial advisers have run a comprehensive M&A process to identify and then develop other third-party interest that has culminated in the senior secured creditors leading negotiations with parties at a critical pace."

Chairman Frank Slevin said: "This has been an extraordinarily challenging six months in which the business has delivered so many critical elements of the turnaround plan.

"Despite the very recent termination of the transaction between Cenbest and C.banner, I am confident House of Fraser is close to securing its future."

 

[nlogax]

The Little Chef brand has gone, the restaurants all being closed or rebranded by 31 January.

That's such a shame but totally inevitable. Heston Blumenthal's attempt to drag Little Chef kicking and screaming into the 21st century didn't do it any favours.

Sad about the Popham site. When I was a kid breakfast there always signalled the start of a west country holiday.

 

[underbank]

That's such a shame but totally inevitable. Heston Blumenthal's attempt to drag Little Chef kicking and screaming into the 21st century didn't do it any favours.

I used to use Little Chef's a lot but they started faffing around with the menus and removing the traditional "staples". I.e. they removed the traditional fish & chips, all day breakfast etc. But worst of all was that they started putting "minimum wage" workers (unqualified/inexperienced) in to prepare the food, so the quality and speed of service nose-dived. The last time I used one, I was languishing in it for over an hour before the food appeared (not peak time, just a few tables occupied). I could see the cooking area, and it was some young lad who was preparing each order separately, one after the other, so instead of cooking orders alongside each other, he did one order, then started on the next - completely incapable of multi-tasking. They caused their own demise - no good whinging about competition, business rates, etc when they alienate their core customer base as is so often the case with these large chains managed by suits in head office who have paper qualifications but no real business acumen.

 

[Dai Corner]

House of Fraser has called in the administrators. The board have given up trying to save the company.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45140874

It's just been announced that Sports Direct have bought the company from the Adminstrators. Presumably there's an advantage in doing this rather than buying direct from the shareholders?

 

[KashmireHawker]

The Little Chef brand has gone, the restaurants all being closed or rebranded by 31 January.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Chef



Nobody seems to have updated or turned off the website though!
http://www.littlechef.co.uk/

And around half of the EG Diners; which EG have run since Little Chef saw it's end, have so far closed with the rest set to be all gone by the end of the year. A very handy website has the list of what's left! https://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/EG_Diner

 

[KashmireHawker]

It's just been announced that Sports Direct have bought the company from the Adminstrators. Presumably there's an advantage in doing this rather than buying direct from the shareholders?

It was believed that the sale was as part of a Pre-Pack Administration, meaning Sports Direct International had done most of the agreement, before HoF went under for approximately 2 1/2 hours. The court formally appointed EY at 7:30am and SDI announced the buy come 10.

 

[GusB]

I was quite taken aback by the very short period of time between the news that House of Fraser had gone into administration, and the announcement that they'd been bought by Sports Direct. The cynic in me thinks it was all a little bit too convenient. I'm not convinced that Sports Direct will be pulling out all the stops to keep the remaining stores going. They own the House of Fraser brand now, and I suspect that's all that really counts. I certainly don't envy the staff - while it may have been a relief to know that you're not being laid off, knowing that you'll be working for Sports Direct isn't really much consolation.