Personally I don't think either were brilliant options. I fear EuroGarages have overextended themselves with the huge amount of debt they accrued purchasing Asda (then Leon, then Cooplands...). On the other hand, Morrisons - now owned by an American private equity firm - also seems a target for asset stripping.
Speculation that Next might buy them out - but this is only speculation
Hebden Bridge has an unusual retail situation, there are plenty of independent shops of a wide variety, and the Town Council does its best to keep everything locally owned and run. You still have that nice Post Office and the Trades Club. You will not find the high street chains present in Hebden Bridge. such as McDonalds, Wetherspoons, Tesco, Primark, Boots, etc etc.The main supermarket is the Coop. It is long-term policy from the 1970s when the town was economically on its knees yet was brought back to life by an influx of educated practitioners of "alternative lifestyles".
I had heard that Next had been in talks to invest in them back in September, but that had all fallen through.
Absolutely true....plus, there is also a branch of Fat Face on Bridge Gate. The latest news is that two adjacent closed independent shops - Pennine Wine and Cheese company and Holt's greengrocer & fishmonger - are currently subject to a planning application for conversion to an Ice cream parlour. Quite a few of the large number of pubs in the town are owned by the big national pubcos - although different in management and character - so could in a way be described as parts of national chains. These companies are servicing massive debts and I wouldn't be surprised to see one or more of them go under in the not-too-distant future.
Next time you're coming up, feel free to DM me if you fancy a pint or a coffee and a chinwag.
A huge problem in Hebden and other 'tourist honeypot' towns is the rapid proliferation of 'Air BnBs', particularly since lockdown. It's one thing people using their spare rooms to earn a wee bit of extra cash to help pay the bills....but rich 'out-of-towners' - particularly from London - are buying shed loads of terraced houses to become unattended 'Air BnBs', including Bonsall's, our beloved former ironmongers and hardware store, which still has its fascia and empty shop window. Meanwhile, local young people cannot afford to rent a house - let alone buy one - and therefore have to move away. I suppose, at a stretch, you could describe 'Air BnBs' as being franchised branches of a major international chain!
Aren't most of them individually run franchises?
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is a US private equity firm which owns Motor Fuel Group who are the largest petrol station operator. You may have heard of them earlier this year, as they bought the Morrisons supermarket chain.
A new filling station got built on the A11 not far from me a few years ago, I was astonished there was zero provision for EV charging.
OK fair enough, I wonder if it's a regional thing. All the OneStop stores I deal with are privately owned franchises who've converted from Spar or Premier franchises or weren't previously under a buying umbrella.
Wealthy people are still wealthy even in the worst of times, companies which serve the wealthy tend to survive.
Interesting and true enough. Although I would argue that the traditional British elite Agrarian landowners who were extremely rich in the 1850’s, were not so by the 1950’s, hence many of their estates now being owned by the National Trust etc, wealth can and does shift.
I wouldn’t say they are struggling, just the Covid/Lockdown boom has ended for them, so their sales are still probably decent but just look poor in comparison to the last couple of years.
