Page 164 of 197
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Tue 16 Mar, 2021 22.03
by JAS84
That's true. I saw an advert in a newspaper for Morrisons, and it said certain eggs were 75p, including a Mars one that includes a full size bar plus an egg. You would normally pay 75p for the Mars bar on it's own, so that egg is definitely being sold below the RRP, and probably at a loss.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Tue 16 Mar, 2021 22.38
by gottago
I'm kind of amazed Thorntons lasted as long as it did. I'll eat pretty much anything sweet but Thorntons is phenomenally average chocolate. Definitely not worth the prices they charge when you can get much higher quality chocolate, and even packaging, from Hotel Chocolat for not much more.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Tue 16 Mar, 2021 23.53
by scottishtv
gottago wrote: ↑Tue 16 Mar, 2021 22.38
I'm kind of amazed Thorntons lasted as long as it did.
I was tempted to criticise them too - still dislike their
awful Christmas ad that looks like it was made by a team from The Apprentice, and hate the wanky term "proactively communicated" used in the news story above.
However, gradually reducing their High Street presence over a number of years and becoming a middle-of-the-road supermarket and online chocolate brand actually looks like it might've been a half-decent business strategy (or a stroke of luck). Didn't realise they are owned by Ferrero.
I also did quite like getting an Easter egg with my name on it as a kid.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 17 Mar, 2021 01.10
by bilky asko
gottago wrote: ↑Tue 16 Mar, 2021 22.38
I'm kind of amazed Thorntons lasted as long as it did. I'll eat pretty much anything sweet but Thorntons is phenomenally average chocolate. Definitely not worth the prices they charge when you can get much higher quality chocolate, and even packaging, from Hotel Chocolat for not much more.
If by "not much more" you mean "at least double the price", yeah. But then you'd expect chocolate at double the price to be better - and I don't deny Hotel Chocolat is brilliant.
But Thorntons isn't going anywhere in any case, it's staying as a supermarket brand - I don't imagine we'll ever see one of the Hotel Chocolat Sleekster boxes with a Half Price barker at Tesco.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 17 Mar, 2021 21.52
by thegeek
My mental image of the Thorntons brand is that it was unimaginably posh when I was child, then their shops became fairly ubiquitous in the early 2000s without me really noticing, and have already gone bust about three times - probably due to private equity sharks.
Is that far off reality?
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 17 Mar, 2021 23.09
by Philip
As long as they keep making Thorntons Special Toffee then it's all good.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 17 Mar, 2021 23.21
by Jonwo
Hotel Chocolat's growth in recent years has been interesting to see, their products aren't cheap but clearly there is a market for premium chocolate.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 24 Mar, 2021 15.36
by Robinhood
Eight more John Lewis stores are announced to closed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56511374
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 24 Mar, 2021 18.54
by Charlie Wells
It was only about two years ago that their Peterborough store had a £21M revamp. The top floor was opened up to the public, whilst the store was effectively divided in half to reduce the overall size slightly. I wonder whether it's possible any of these stores might get saved if they get a last minute rent reduction offer.
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 24 Mar, 2021 20.15
by Charlie Wells
Re: High Street chain collapse sweepstake
Posted: Wed 24 Mar, 2021 20.19
by all new Phil
They do seem to be massively behind the curve when you look at what Costa and Starbucks are doing with order & collect, drive thru etc. I love Nero but they don’t seem overly savvy.