High Street chain collapse sweepstake

[BBC TV Centre]

I don't think I have ever seen many shoppers inside an Amazon Fresh store and I pass 2 of them regularly when going to work.

On the occasions I have been inside the goods have been quite expensive - I do not know if they are trying imitate the Tesco Express convenience style pricing but it's not really somewhere I'd go first.

[Martin Phillp]

I think the issue for Amazon Fresh is that you have to have the Amazon Shopping app before you even go inside the shop, so that excludes part of your customer base who either don't like Amazon's working practices, the way they've contributed towards the decline of the high street or simply those customers who don't own a smartphone.

The Amazon method also seems gimmicky, compared to those rival convenience store brands that allow you to scan products with your phone and then pay at the till or use Google Pay to complete the transaction.

[WillPS]

Do they make a profit? I only ever get a chance to visit them off-peak, and they're generally only as busy as a neighborhood Tesco Express seems to be, and on a similar staffing level. The technology must be a bit of a higher overhead, but I assumed the supply chain side shared a bit with Whole Foods so made that more cost effective.

(By the way, I think it's 18,000 jobs worldwide, not just Europe)

There are only 7 branches of Whole Foods in the UK. I really don't think the supply side synergies represent a serious saving for them in the UK vs, say, a Nisa member.

[thegeek]

I appreciate they're no Nisa, but adding a dozen or so new stores to an existing operation does give you a bit of a saving on starting from scratch.

[Martin Phillp]

Argos are pulling out of Ireland. All stores to close by June.

[m-in-m]

Argos are pulling out of Ireland. All stores to close by June.

I had forgotten about the Irish operation. Given how few stores in the UK have been spared from being combined into anm Sainsbury's it isn't a surprise. In addition the cost of servicing those stores with stock must be expensive - I presume they have no DC on the island of Ireland.

[Martin Phillp]

This doesn't affect the Argos stores in Northern Ireland which are part of the main UK Sainsbury's Argos business where they have a mix of standalone stores and concessions inside Sainsbury's.

The Argos Ireland website also looks like it was designed for 4:3 monitors.

https://www.argos.ie/

[WillPS]

Argos are pulling out of Ireland. All stores to close by June.

I had forgotten about the Irish operation. Given how few stores in the UK have been spared from being combined into anm Sainsbury's it isn't a surprise. In addition the cost of servicing those stores with stock must be expensive - I presume they have no DC on the island of Ireland.

They do have distribution of some sort in Belfast.

[ballinagrappa]

FlyBe has entered administration for the second time in three years with all flights grounded.

[thegeek]

and Paperchase, again, but with the brand being picked up by Tesco
https://news.sky.com/story/tesco-eyes-s ... d-12799670

[GeekyJames]

a real shame about Paperchase, will definitely be a gap in the High Street for a more premium card and stationery shop