Is there any brand equity in Homebase? For me it always reminds me of what was a good DIY chain in the 90s ruined by buyouts and private equity. And towards the end of its days was rather overpriced and didn't know what it was doing.


I think most of the 'ruin' was done by HRG rather than ...

Alexia wrote: Thu 27 Feb, 2025 20.33 Got a gut feeling after visiting Saino's earlier that it's not long for this world in its present form.

Fear not.

Martin Phillp wrote: Sun 23 Feb, 2025 18.41 The Original Factory Shop has been acquired by Modella Capital, making it a parent company to Hobbycraft.

Sister company, surely?

I really loathe The Range. The tat makes Dunelm seem like high class yet the prices are somewhere between ordinary and garden centre level. Staff always seem totally miserable and the owner is an arse hole. I don't get how it's seemingly so successful.

Some of the Wilko stuff is decent but the ...

I always find it interesting when historic bank branches are removed and previous frontages that were carved into the building itself are exposed.

When did banks start using all the coloured metal and plastic on their buildings?


Presumably the same time signage in general moved in that ...

Blewatter wrote: Tue 28 Jan, 2025 12.59 https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/don ... h-revival/

Really good article from The Spectator about WHSmith

Is it? It's riddled with inaccuracies.

Seems a bit presumptuous to suggest the reason they're leaving the high street is because a lot of people didn't like their new logo!


As James says above, it was more that one of the lead theories behind the awful rebrand was so that the business could be spun off with its own awful name ...

WHSmith non-travel stores for sale:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7zj8yr5x7o.amp

My presumption was this was the reason behind the terrible December 2023 rebrand. Will be interesting to see who might be interested in it.

I noticed on my recent trip to Asda the other day that there was a load of new POS featuring the older 'Rollback' logo with the big smiley face which they apparently phased out a few years ago but it seems is back again.


I noticed that too... I thought Rollback was a Walmart thing they were ...

AGuyFromUpNorth wrote: Sun 12 Jan, 2025 16.53 Not a supermarket, but sad to see that the super-retro Sheffield branch of The Body Shop is closing this week. They still have the original signage and shop layout from when they opened about 30 years ago.

Aye, turns out it's a franchise store. Who knew!

I don't think there are any Halifax or Lloyds branches in Scotland anymore.


No, but Halifax customers are already free to use Bank of Scotland branches and vice versa (since Halifax is just a trading style of Bank of Scotland plc).

In addition I understand Bank of Scotland also offer some ...