Metropol

I noticed the advert in the window saying "Shop now in store, pay later with Klarna". I know they're overpriced, but maybe things are worse than I feared.

I suspect if the High Street stores are sold off then whoever buys them will want to keep the WHSmith brand name so maybe they would operate under a franchise?

My nearest Homebase is reopening as The Range on Friday complete with temporary signs to cover the old Homebase branding, although they're using dual brand Range/Homebase Garden Centre branding.

So popped into the The Range (ex Homebase) today.

The conversion seems to be similar to how Poundland converted ex 99p Stores by stripping out the Homebase shelves, put theirs up and stick the POS using the existing Homebase till area of which there's only three tills.

The main negative is they've kept the old Homebase florescent lighting which isn't very bright.

However it was very busy while Poundland was the quietest I've seen it trade.

The final Beales department store is closing in May in Poole with claims that the NI hike has made it not viable to continue trading.

Martin Phillp wrote: Tue 11 Feb, 2025 18.06 So popped into the The Range (ex Homebase) today.

The conversion seems to be similar to how Poundland converted ex 99p Stores by stripping out the Homebase shelves, put theirs up and stick the POS using the existing Homebase till area of which there's only three tills.

The main negative is they've kept the old Homebase florescent lighting which isn't very bright.

However it was very busy while Poundland was the quietest I've seen it trade.

It's quite something how Poundland stores can differ so much from town to town. Perhaps the competition with The Range is what's driving the changes.

moden wrote: Wed 12 Feb, 2025 16.25

Martin Phillp wrote: Tue 11 Feb, 2025 18.06 So popped into the The Range (ex Homebase) today.

The conversion seems to be similar to how Poundland converted ex 99p Stores by stripping out the Homebase shelves, put theirs up and stick the POS using the existing Homebase till area of which there's only three tills.

The main negative is they've kept the old Homebase florescent lighting which isn't very bright.

However it was very busy while Poundland was the quietest I've seen it trade.

It's quite something how Poundland stores can differ so much from town to town. Perhaps the competition with The Range is what's driving the changes.

The Poundland is an ex 99p Stores which still looks awful to this day. I think The Range is better on cutting prices than Poundland at the moment, plus the town used to have a Wilko, so people are going up to the Range for the Wilko branded products in addition for the other bargains.

I really loathe The Range. The tat makes Dunelm seem like high class yet the prices are somewhere between ordinary and garden centre level. Staff always seem totally miserable and the owner is an arse hole. I don't get how it's seemingly so successful.

Some of the Wilko stuff is decent but the price is similar to what Wilko were charging... and part of the reason Wilko died on its arse was because their prices became obscene.

I loved Wilko up to 5 years ago, but I'm over it at this point.

WillPS wrote: Thu 13 Feb, 2025 14.06 I really loathe The Range. The tat makes Dunelm seem like high class yet the prices are somewhere between ordinary and garden centre level. Staff always seem totally miserable and the owner is an arse hole. I don't get how it's seemingly so successful.

It's oddly good for storage and kitchenware. But the bulk of the shop is poor and they're very run down.

moden wrote: Wed 12 Feb, 2025 16.25 It's quite something how Poundland stores can differ so much from town to town. Perhaps the competition with The Range is what's driving the changes.

To be honest, I'd be surprised if Poundland doesn't start having trouble soon. Their stores a bit pointless now? People used to go there because everything was a pound and you got odd and quirky things. Now everything isn't a pound and it's not particularly cheap either. Not to mention giving up space for random stuff like freezer food and clothes is just so out of place and it's been going downhill ever since PepCo took over imo.

B&M and Home Bargains are both much superior stores for that market imo.

Edit: https://news.sky.com/story/poundland-ow ... s-13291225 - It looks like it's already started.

Poundland's strategy of going into providing convenience stores appears to be not working either. The Poundland Local store in my area now closes at 7.30pm Mon-Sat rather than 9pm which is 30 mins earlier than the nearest standard Poundland.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of those Local branded stores become standard Poundland stores or closed.