High Street chain collapse sweepstake

Martin Phillp · Thu 01 Jun, 2023 23.51

Toys R Us are returning to the high street under the management of WHSmith.

The first 9 sites will be in:

Canterbury (St George Street)
Chelmsford
Cheltenham
Cwmbran (The Mall)
Oxford (Cornmarket St)
Poole (Towngate Shopping Centre)
Reading (Broad Street)
Solihull (Mell Square)
York (Monks Cross Retail Park)

Philip · Fri 02 Jun, 2023 00.32

But, why?

scottishtv · Fri 02 Jun, 2023 00.41

Martin Phillp wrote: ↑Thu 01 Jun, 2023 23.51 Toys R Us are returning to the high street under the management of WHSmith.

Can you imagine? FREE Lego Minifigure when you buy a Daily Telegraph etc...

BBC TV Centre · Sun 18 Jun, 2023 18.41

Philip wrote: ↑Fri 02 Jun, 2023 00.32But, why?

Trying to capture the nostalgia I'd expect for a new generation of shoppers by capitalising on the name? It rarely works though.

WillPS · Mon 19 Jun, 2023 08.33

WHSmith have some form with this, they did it with both Gadget Shop and ModelZone.

Give it 18 months before it's gone and all that remains is stock which sits in a clearance area at full RRP for a decade or more.

Martin Phillp · Wed 05 Jul, 2023 23.34

Boots are closing one of my local stores, but the good news is while it closes on the 22nd July, it reopens on the 24th as Pyramid Pharmacy, a small family run chain with stores in and around London with the Boots staff being transferred over, with no change to pharmacy orders, so if a customer forgets to pick up a Boots prescription, they'll still be able to collect it.

JAS84 · Sat 08 Jul, 2023 12.22

Empire Cinemas has gone bust. Six closed immediately, leaving Sunderland and Wigan with no cinema at all. The other half of the chain remains open while the administators look for a buyer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66134084

Jonwo · Tue 11 Jul, 2023 13.35

JAS84 wrote: ↑Sat 08 Jul, 2023 12.22 Empire Cinemas has gone bust. Six closed immediately, leaving Sunderland and Wigan with no cinema at all. The other half of the chain remains open while the administators look for a buyer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66134084

I would imagine some of the closed sites will be acquired by other operators, the one in Walthamstow for example was owned by the council so the chances they'll find someone else to operate it is high. The Light Cinema would be good as they don't have a London cinema yet or possibly Showcase.

The news didn't surprise me, the fact that the Empire Haymarket closed back in May was a sign not all was well. That cinema is being redeveloped and I imagine when it reopens it'll be a boutique cinema.

Zimba · Wed 12 Jul, 2023 11.43

Jonwo wrote: ↑Tue 11 Jul, 2023 13.35
JAS84 wrote: ↑Sat 08 Jul, 2023 12.22 Empire Cinemas has gone bust. Six closed immediately, leaving Sunderland and Wigan with no cinema at all. The other half of the chain remains open while the administators look for a buyer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66134084
I would imagine some of the closed sites will be acquired by other operators, the one in Walthamstow for example was owned by the council so the chances they'll find someone else to operate it is high. The Light Cinema would be good as they don't have a London cinema yet or possibly Showcase.

The news didn't surprise me, the fact that the Empire Haymarket closed back in May was a sign not all was well. That cinema is being redeveloped and I imagine when it reopens it'll be a boutique cinema.

Empire were finished then they sold a chunk of the chain off to Cineworld in 2016/17. They were left with some very poor sites after that sale, the Chairman at the time boasted about having shares in Cineworld aswell, very bizarre transaction. Without stuff like the flagship site on Leicester Square, Hemel Hempstead and The Gate, Newcastle they were never going to survive - surprised they lasted as long as they did.

Blewatter · Wed 12 Jul, 2023 21.42

JAS84 wrote: ↑Sat 08 Jul, 2023 12.22 Six closed immediately, leaving Sunderland and Wigan with no cinema at all.

They are planning on building a new cinema in Wigan Town Centre, as part of redevelopments, so hopefully not for very long on that front. Its a shame. The Empire in Wigan, when I went, was always very quiet. It certainly felt a little unloved these last couple of years, but it did have some really cool screening rooms with balconies, like the old cinemas.

thegeek · Fri 14 Jul, 2023 18.38

Jonwo wrote: ↑Tue 11 Jul, 2023 13.35
JAS84 wrote: ↑Sat 08 Jul, 2023 12.22 Empire Cinemas has gone bust. Six closed immediately, leaving Sunderland and Wigan with no cinema at all. The other half of the chain remains open while the administators look for a buyer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66134084
I would imagine some of the closed sites will be acquired by other operators, the one in Walthamstow for example was owned by the council so the chances they'll find someone else to operate it is high.

Turns out that Waltham Forest Council were asked to suspend rent during Covid and didn't, which is in turn being blamed for the site's closure:
https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2023/07 ... rred-rent/