High Street chain collapse sweepstake

[gottago]

I noticed in the run up to Christmas that The Entertainer has started opening on Sundays for the first time. I assumed that might have been an indication that they might be on the rocks a bit but turns out the family that owned it transferred full control to an employee owned trust who then pretty much immediately scrapped the Sunday rule back in September. Supposedly it's a trial till Easter but can't imagine there's any going back.

As an aside I'm amazed Sunday trading laws continue under this government given the push for growth via any means they've pursued at various points.

[WillPS]

I noticed in the run up to Christmas that The Entertainer has started opening on Sundays for the first time. I assumed that might have been an indication that they might be on the rocks a bit but turns out the family that owned it transferred full control to an employee owned trust who then pretty much immediately scrapped the Sunday rule back in September. Supposedly it's a trial till Easter but can't imagine there's any going back.

I think they are in trouble, time will tell but the way the sale was orchestrated looks to me suspiciously like the owners realised the destination and figured out a way they could extract value as the chain descends down the doom loop without risking Wilkinson family style criticism about their failure to invest/greed. I could be wrong.

When I worked there (20 years ago now, crikey) the assumption was that the owner's children were being lined up to take over the mothership. I think one of them had been given the 'gadget shop' brand (purchased out of administration) to run.

Even then there was a real concern that the market for toys was shrinking - both because of population changes but moreso because junior school aged children, boys in particular, were increasingly not bothered about toys. More space was given over to girls toys but in the decades since I think the same largely applies to both genders; once they get a screen of their own that tends to cover their entertainment demands. And parents are often happy to not have the mess.

As an aside I'm amazed Sunday trading laws continue under this government given the push for growth via any means they've pursued at various points.

Much as I would love to see Sunday trading abolished there's little demand for it from retailers. The current situation suits them as they essentially have all the trade they'd get in a day compressed in to 6 staff hours. Most of the Sunday enhancements went as minimum wage was hiked, so if Sunday trading was relaxed they'd end up with a higher wage bill with hardly any extra takings.

Recent movements have been toward reducing opening hours in general for the same reason. It wouldn't surprise me to see more shops moving towards Sunday-type hours all week; whenever I go shopping first thing anywhere it's always dead, even in the run up to Christmas.

[BBC TV Centre]

As an aside I'm amazed Sunday trading laws continue under this government given the push for growth via any means they've pursued at various points.

Much as I would love to see Sunday trading abolished there's little demand for it from retailers. The current situation suits them as they essentially have all the trade they'd get in a day compressed in to 6 staff hours. Most of the Sunday enhancements went as minimum wage was hiked, so if Sunday trading was relaxed they'd end up with a higher wage bill with hardly any extra takings.

Recent movements have been toward reducing opening hours in general for the same reason. It wouldn't surprise me to see more shops moving towards Sunday-type hours all week; whenever I go shopping first thing anywhere it's always dead, even in the run up to Christmas.

I think it's also the type of opening hours. Shops need to be open when the majority of people that are economically active can visit the store and make purchases - in Asia shops/restaurants stay open well into the night - maybe sometimes operating on a West-End style opening time, opening from about midday (or maybe an hour or so earlier, say 11:00) to closing at 20:00/21:00.
I see a lot of shops locally that are pretty much lifestyle businesses for the owners, and quite a few fail and they often blame the lack of support, but then again, how can you expect people to support your business if you're open during the times when people are working, and have variable hours based upon the way the wind is blowing?

[Martin Phillp]

I had to pop into Sainsbury's to collect a microwave from Argos at 10am on New Year's Day and not surprisingly it was quiet in the supermarket and the Argos concession. In Argos there was only a customer collecting Vax shampoo and me.

Argos itself had opened at 8am on NYD at the same time as Sainsbury's.