Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Iskra]

The Government must bear some responsibility for the latest redundancies; dropping a lockdown at short notice after saying you wouldn’t at a peak time of year for trading made it inevitable.

 

[Jamesrob637]

The Argos here in Stockport at the front of the Mersey Way shopping centre closed recently but a) not sure whether that occurred pre-COVID as it's been nearly two years since I worked in Stockport and b) there is a significantly larger store less than half a mile away in the Peel Centre. Ash bridge will know exactly what I'm on about, no doubt some others on here too.

 

[C J Snarzell]

I have read an article that says that Subway in America is not expected to survive much longer as they are cutting back on their outlets. I have occasionally used Subway both in this country and in Europe for a quick lunch at a not too bad a price so would be sorry to see them go as franchisees have invested a lot of their own money in the shops.

Subway seemed to have 'overstretched' themselves too much in the last few years. There are two in my town centre and Subways are also located in places like petrol stations and retail parks. I wouldn't be surprised if they streamlined their business empire in the UK in the next year or two.

CJ

 

[FQTV]

Subway seemed to have 'overstretched' themselves too much in the last few years. There are two in my town centre and Subways are also located in places like petrol stations and retail parks. I wouldn't be surprised if they streamlined their business empire in the UK in the next year or two.

CJ

Why? Subway is a franchised setup. Each individual franchisee has responsibility for their business.

 

[C J Snarzell]

Why? Subway is a franchised setup. Each individual franchisee has responsibility for their business.

Fair enough - but I do think a few will go. One of the town centre ones I referred to makes a lot of business from the night time economy. Their revenue has bombed in the last few months because the pubs and bars have not been attracting the same volume of drinkers. You have then had licenced premises only serving alcohol with meals anyway (no point going across the street to Subway then!), and now all pubs/bars are shut again!!!

CJ

 

[GusB]

I suspect Argos's future as an independant retailer is in doubt. There is a stand-alone Argos near me which I am surprised has not yet closed.

The era for catalogue retailers is over with in the new digit age. Index went in 2005 and all the mail order firms like Kays or Great Universal have long gone.

Does anyone remember how it used to work? You bought something from the catalogue, then you could pay weekly installments over a year. My late Nan was a Freeman's rep in the late 1980s - she used to collect everyone's money each week.

I think the Argos brand will only continue in Sainsburys stores as a 'click & collect' point, unless they push for big Internet revenue in a Amazon type scenario.

CJ

The Kay's brand seems to have been merged in with Littlewoods, which I only found out after reading your post. Littlewoods was one of four catalogue brands that were on the go when I did customer service work for them; the others were Kay's, Isme and Very - all under the umbrella of Shop Direct group.

At the time, Kay's and Littlewoods still offered fixed weekly payment terms (20 and 52 were the "interest free" terms, although goods in those catalogues tended to be dearer). Isme and Very worked more like credit cards in that you could pay the minimum balance each more, or more if you wished.

The old "agent" accounts which you describe were still around, but not open to new customers and if they haven't closed completely, the only people holding these accounts will be ladies of a certain age.

My mum was a Great Universal agent for many years.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Trespass the outdoor clothing shops.
All their stores seem run down and I never see them very busy.

 

[birchesgreen]

Didn't they go into administration a few years ago?

 

[FQTV]

Trespass the outdoor clothing shops.
All their stores seem run down and I never see them very busy.

Didn't they go into administration a few years ago?

Jacobs & Turner is a fairly sizeable, privately-owned company based in Glasgow. Their principal business is wholesale; Trespass is just one of their brands, and the only one that they retail themselves. The margin is (or should be) sky-high.

 

[birchesgreen]

OK maybe thinking of another company.

 

[wireforever]

ebay if they don't sort out the website that has been down since Saturday and they keep deleting questions/complaints about it on their social media platforms

 

[skyhigh]

ebay if they don't sort out the website that has been down since Saturday and they keep deleting questions/complaints about it on their social media platforms

Ebay has been down since Saturday? Working fine here, and I've been browsing as normal this weekend...

 

[Red Onion]

It isn’t displaying properly for me, albeit I’m only accessing through my iPad.

 

[FQTV]

ebay is working fine for me on PC and iPad, and I bought things yesterday (Sunday) and left feedback for other things this morning.

 

[Scotty]

A good website for this kind of thing:

https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ebay.co.uk

"It's just you. ebay.co.uk is up"

 

[Peter Sarf]

The Government must bear some responsibility for the latest redundancies; dropping a lockdown at short notice after saying you wouldn’t at a peak time of year for trading made it inevitable.

I blame Covid-19.

 

[Trackman]

It isn’t displaying properly for me, albeit I’m only accessing through my iPad.

Use the app rather than a browser.
If it's Safari, go into the Safari settings - advanced and clear website data for eBay.

 

[Red Onion]

It’s been working fine for me since this morning

Use the app rather than a browser.
If it's Safari, go into the Safari settings - advanced and clear website data for eBay.

It‘s safari I’m using but that’s a handy hint, didn’t know about that! Thank you!

 

[Trackman]

It’s been working fine for me since this morning


It‘s safari I’m using but that’s a handy hint, didn’t know about that! Thank you!

Local newspapers sites block me after reading 20 articles so I use it.
settings>safari> advanced (right at the bottom) > website data.
either search for the website or remove all data.

 

[Westcountryman]

Local newspapers sites block me after reading 20 articles so I use it.

I use an incognito window in Chrome.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

A good website for this kind of thing:

https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ebay.co.uk

"It's just you. ebay.co.uk is up"

Though that won't reveal any "beneath the surface" errors a site might be having, or issues which only affect certain devices or browsers. Still a useful tool, mind.

 

[Cowley]

I think we’re straying a bit off topic here everyone...

 

[Jamesrob637]

WHSmith are in trouble however I can't see them disappearing completely yet. They're targeting an audience that doesn't exist anymore.

 

[xotGD]

Caffè Nero seeking to renegotiate rents with their landlords.

I think we can expect a significant slice of their sites to close and sadly the associated staff to lose their jobs.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Caffè Nero seeking to renegotiate rents with their landlords.

I think we can expect a significant slice of their sites to close and sadly the associated staff to lose their jobs.

I have supported Nero since August as well as pre-COVID, via O2 Priority, but can't remember actually spending much if anything there... maybe last Christmas I paid once the 50p supplement for a festive hot chocolate...

Oops.

 

[Dan17H]

25-30% of pubs.

You can order so much alcohol online these days, and people are turning summer houses into 'bars' complete with TVs and Hot Tubs up and down the land.

 

[birchesgreen]

WHSmith are in trouble however I can't see them disappearing completely yet. They're targeting an audience that doesn't exist anymore.

Its not surprising considering how they treat the few customers they do have. I was in one this morning and the assistant shouted at me across the shop to not touch anything i wasn't going to buy (i wasn't), annoyed me so much i left immediately. No sale for yow today bab.

 

[C J Snarzell]

Greggs have just announced 820 jobs are going due to a slump in sales.

A few forum members have suggested that they were a 'safe' business.

I suspect they have suffered by the drop in commuters and office workers who are working from home - people who would normally buy a lunchtime sandwich or pie.

CJ

 

[FQTV]

Greggs have just announced 820 jobs are going due to a slump in sales.

A few forum members have suggested that they were a 'safe' business.

I suspect they have suffered by the drop in commuters and office workers who are working from home - people who would normally buy a lunchtime sandwich or pie.

CJ

Greggs, as a company, is perfectly safe. Headcount is 25,000, and retail same-company staff churn (turnover) generally averages 60% annually. I don’t know what Greggs figure is at the moment, but even at 30% that’s 7,500 leavers annually.

Staff churn will usually drop a bit in a recession, as there won’t be as many competing recruiters, and I don’t think that Greggs has disclosed exactly what roles they have commenced consulting on, and what proposals are being discussed (eg redeployment).

Greggs still plans to open twenty new shops between now and Christmas, and isn’t proposing any store closures other than those planned in the normal course of estate development.

Nothing of this takes away from how stressful any uncertainty can be for individual employees, and their families, but nothing in the Greggs announcement suggests anything other than a business managing itself appropriately.

 

[alex397]

25-30% of pubs.

You can order so much alcohol online these days, and people are turning summer houses into 'bars' complete with TVs and Hot Tubs up and down the land.

Yes, I think some pubs will be going, with some of those reasons you suggest not helping.

I do buy alcohol in supermarkets, off licences and online too - you can buy lots of rare European beers online which I like to get. However, none of that beats going to a proper pub. Many people will continue going to pubs - it’s good to get away from the house, talk to people you might not normally talk to, try some beers you might not usually buy, chat to the bar staff. It’s clear many pubs act as a community hub which obviously you can’t replicate at home.

I don’t want to live in a world where you work at home, shop at home, socialise on Zoom at home, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. But of course, many of us have been forced to which is impactzing pubs, restaurants and shops.