High Street chain collapse sweepstake
31 stores, including Oxford Street to close. Jenners of Edinburgh and Frasers in Glasgow will remain - they're both beautiful buildings and I can't see them remaining quite as grand if they were anything other than a department store.WillPS wrote: Tue 05 Jun, 2018 09.02More like 'crisis? what crisis?'. I'd be surprised if they made it to Christmas.
There's a quite comprehensive history of the business at their archive site. I didn't realise that they once owned Harrod's, or once owned a business which was both an undertaker and fitted out state rooms on ships.
Isle of Wight is still going but they expect to be out of stock and closed by the weekend.WillPS wrote: Sat 02 Jun, 2018 20.06The one on the outskirts of the city centre in Nottingham shut a few weeks ago. The one on the retail park shows no sign of being close to the end, loads of stock today, mostly 60-80% off.thegeek wrote: Sat 02 Jun, 2018 11.30Answering my own question:thegeek wrote: Thu 31 May, 2018 18.54
Speaking of which, is Maplin still clinging on? I went past one on the bus the other day with some "last few days" signs on the window.
Not a lot left - mostly components (reels of 100 resistors, RJ11 connectors, that sort of thing), plenty of odd USB cables that you probably don't need, and drums of Cat5 cable for a tenner. Oh, and all the fixtures and fittings. If I wasn't on my bike I might have bought a basket. The most expensive thing I found was a smart home TRV for £25. I bought some rechargable AAA batteries and a USB-C cig lighter adaper, for a quid each.
Administrators appointed: https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... t-collapseg67bbx wrote: Thu 07 Jun, 2018 12.03 Poundworld very much on thin ice now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44398352
Bye bye Hammonds.... that'll leave a big hole in Hull City Centre.thegeek wrote: Thu 07 Jun, 2018 08.5831 stores, including Oxford Street to close. Jenners of Edinburgh and Frasers in Glasgow will remain - they're both beautiful buildings and I can't see them remaining quite as grand if they were anything other than a department store.WillPS wrote: Tue 05 Jun, 2018 09.02More like 'crisis? what crisis?'. I'd be surprised if they made it to Christmas.
There's a quite comprehensive history of the business at their archive site. I didn't realise that they once owned Harrod's, or once owned a business which was both an undertaker and fitted out state rooms on ships.
Rather sad to see the Plymouth store on this list. Opened as Dingles in 1951 and had the dubious honour of being the first post-war department store built in the UK. It eventually expanded into a small chain with additional stores at Exeter and Bournemouth before being sold to House of Fraser in the 70's, however the Dingles name survived on all 3 stores for a very long time, only finally being rebranded about 10 years ago (and to this day the cafe still uses the Dingles name).thegeek wrote: Thu 07 Jun, 2018 08.5831 stores, including Oxford Street to close. Jenners of Edinburgh and Frasers in Glasgow will remain - they're both beautiful buildings and I can't see them remaining quite as grand if they were anything other than a department store.WillPS wrote: Tue 05 Jun, 2018 09.02More like 'crisis? what crisis?'. I'd be surprised if they made it to Christmas.
There's a quite comprehensive history of the business at their archive site. I didn't realise that they once owned Harrod's, or once owned a business which was both an undertaker and fitted out state rooms on ships.
It also survived a huge fire in 1988 (a terrorist attack targeting 5 House of Fraser owned stores), being largely gutted inside, only to be refitted, have an extra floor added and reopen bigger and better than ever.
Once it's gone I can't imagine that anything of similar stature will replace it. It's a huge building in what must be one of the top 2 or 3 prime locations in the city centre and being left empty will cause a far worse blot on the landscape than anything else so far to close. Sadly it's fate is likely to be years of standing empty followed by redevelopment into yet more student flats with yet more coffee shops and charity shops on the ground floor.
As with all these closures though, it ultimately comes down to using it or losing it - I can't remember the last time I bought anything from House of Fraser.
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Martin Phillp
- Posts: 1538
- Joined: Wed 11 May, 2011 01.28
The Strand Maplin has closed in London.
TVF's London Lite.
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Martin Phillp
- Posts: 1538
- Joined: Wed 11 May, 2011 01.28
When Allders in Croydon closed, it became the 'Croydon Village Outlet' on the ground floor only. You can see the empty floors in various lift videos.cwathen wrote: Thu 07 Jun, 2018 20.25 Once it's gone I can't imagine that anything of similar stature will replace it. It's a huge building in what must be one of the top 2 or 3 prime locations in the city centre and being left empty will cause a far worse blot on the landscape than anything else so far to close. Sadly it's fate is likely to be years of standing empty followed by redevelopment into yet more student flats with yet more coffee shops and charity shops on the ground floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LQcm_ipCs0
However, the good news is as part of the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre as Westfield Croydon, it'll be redeveloped into a John Lewis and Waitrose.
TVF's London Lite.
Why have they dumped all their shit on the street rather than leave it inside for the landlord to sort out?