Metropol

Up to 14 M&S stores to close.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42886154

WillPS wrote: Tue 23 Jan, 2018 10.54
Sainsburys are announcing something similar today.

All staff are being called in for meetings about the future colleague structures etc. AFAIK.

g67bbx wrote: Wed 31 Jan, 2018 11.38 Up to 14 M&S stores to close.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42886154

Nice to see Steve Dresser (SirKen on here) mentioned.

The M&S in Keighley has a store front with signage using the M&S logo from about 15 years ago, and I expect it is just as dated inside, so it’s no surprise a store like that is on the list.

Regarding WHSmith, yes many specialist magazines are only stocked there. Yes you get quite an extensive selection at the largest supermarkets, but not as large, and every doesn’t have one the biggest supermarkets.

There is a future in there somewhere, and I would like to see them stay, I know some people seem to revel in the news of legacy retailers going bust, but they just need to start again from scratch. Stop having everything being in an offer that isn’t even that good and sort the pricing out.

Their stock levels must be massive, as there is some stuff that never has a hope in shifting and stays around forever. They had big packs of sharpie pens piled up all over at Christmas that were probably something like £12.99 or “our best ever offer” 2 for £20, but the same stuff were probably about £8.99 in a supermarket, so as a result they are still in stock.

They also over price stuff like Creme Eggs, but of course “2 for £1.20” yet nobody buys them and still sell them at full price two months later and presumably they all end up thrown out.

The travel shops are obviously something else again, I’d still like to find out why they stock all that random stuff.

Most, if not all, of WHSmith's motorway service shops are franchises. Therefore it is the franchisee who has made the decision to stock ducks with wellies and scarecrows.

1500 "Middle Management" jobs to go at Morrisons. However 800 management vacancies open and 1700 shop floor jobs to be created.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42907151

My original Nectar card lists Sainsbury’s, Debenhams, Barclaycard and BP as the partners. If anyone was wondering who were the originals.

Toys R Us apparently needs to find £15m before the end of the month or its dead.

https://www.retail-week.com/general-mer ... 05.article

Toys R Us UK is reportedly searching for a rescue deal to prevent it from falling into administration at the end of the month.

Advisers to the toy retailer are scrambling to secure new investment by the middle of next week as the business faces a £15m tax bill, due on February 27, according to Sky News.

Privately-owned toy retailer The Entertainer and restructuring firm Alteri Investors are both understood to have expressed interest in buying parts of the business in the last few weeks.

Hilco, another restructuring firm, has also been linked with the deal.

According to Sky, Hilco has tabled a deal to take on a clutch of the retailer’s 105 stores but is only willing to go ahead if it is structured as a pre-pack administration.

rdobbie wrote: Thu 04 Jan, 2018 21.17

WillPS wrote: Tue 02 Jan, 2018 13.07
On a similar note I think it might be the year Homebase is shrunk down to a couple of sites selling off old branded stuff.

The converted Bunnings stores are selling Homebase branded stock (as regular stock, not clearance items). Incidentally, for those who haven't yet been to a Bunnings, they don't have a Bunnings own brand, but Aldi-style "phantom" brands.

The Homebase-Bunnings conversions seem to be going very slowly with only 15 stores done so far, not at all like the speed of the Safeway-Morrisons conversions. It means it's going to be a long time until Bunnings TV and national press ads become financially viable, and this will delay the brand from taking off.

Since writing this after my first trip to Bunnings I've noticed the most obvious change of all - they've removed the entire mezzanine floor from the building. It seems a strange decision to actually decrease the amount of trading space.

Talk in retail week that Bunnings is now regretting the homebase takeover and is thinking of exiting the UK market all together. You wonder whether Home Retail Group were just trying to offload Homebase so they could merge (profitable) Argos into Sainsburys...

My local Homebase is currently receiving the Bunnings refurb, signs are already up.

At one point it was rumoured that Asda had acquired the site and had submitted plans to Bromley council, which didn't happen.

Pete wrote: Sat 17 Feb, 2018 21.31

rdobbie wrote: Thu 04 Jan, 2018 21.17

WillPS wrote: Tue 02 Jan, 2018 13.07
On a similar note I think it might be the year Homebase is shrunk down to a couple of sites selling off old branded stuff.

The converted Bunnings stores are selling Homebase branded stock (as regular stock, not clearance items). Incidentally, for those who haven't yet been to a Bunnings, they don't have a Bunnings own brand, but Aldi-style "phantom" brands.

The Homebase-Bunnings conversions seem to be going very slowly with only 15 stores done so far, not at all like the speed of the Safeway-Morrisons conversions. It means it's going to be a long time until Bunnings TV and national press ads become financially viable, and this will delay the brand from taking off.

Since writing this after my first trip to Bunnings I've noticed the most obvious change of all - they've removed the entire mezzanine floor from the building. It seems a strange decision to actually decrease the amount of trading space.

Talk in retail week that Bunnings is now regretting the homebase takeover and is thinking of exiting the UK market all together. You wonder whether Home Retail Group were just trying to offload Homebase so they could merge (profitable) Argos into Sainsburys...

Erm, isn't that exactly why they did it?