High Street chain collapse sweepstake

[Nick Harvey]

Robert Dyas

My goodness, I'd forgotten all about them.

I wonder if the pointless Mr Ryan Pannell still works for them?

[all new Phil]

I read something the other day that suggested that maybe one supermarket might take over another in the next year. It didn't mention any names, however. There are rumours of Morrisons buying Iceland, but I think it was hinting at something bigger.

So there's another name for you anyway - Iceland. They'll be gone within a year I reckon, bought by Morrisons.

[Dr Lobster*]

Yep, Iceland, a nothing place really, they do the good nice thing, but not the sort of place i'd make to effort to get to, if not a merger with Morrisons, maybe Farm Foods which seem to specialise in the same sorts of thing.

Mothercare and ELC are quite expensive (extortionate at times and reasonable at others), but they do have a niche market - as you probably know, i have two children (oldest 3, youngest 18 months) and they had quite a few toys from both of the above this year and some of their ELC branded toys you just can't get anything like or a good from anywhere else. Quite a few of the toys from there have taken quite a battering (like being flung off a high chair onto a hard floor) and still work.

and in our town there isn't that many other places to get toys now that woolworths has gone and our closest toys r us is around a 60 mile round trip away.


i'd forgotten about JJB, wasn't it moments from death a few years ago?

The thing about HMV which gets me though, is like Game, the layout of the stores are generally bad, there isn't enough space to comfortably browse, but most of all, and the shops smell of BO (well, both ours do)

[m-in-m]

The owner of toy and novelty gift chain Hawkin's Bazaar brand has gone into administration.

I never knew they were a local company.

[WillPS]

Homebase and Argos ?!? Not likely... the stores operate in completely different ways, and are not compatible for a merger, whilst both companies could cut any stock that overlaps such as Outdoor Electronics & Furniture, it is more likely that they will just close stores if the bills start to bite.

They already do seem to overlap on stock quite a bit - e.g. the Colour Match range (Argos, Homebase)

And despite that, profits have crashed.

On the other hand, WHSmiths profits are up, even if their sales are down - I reckon they can ride out the storm for a while.

My predictions are:
- Mothercare / ELC closing (already pulling out of town centres, doesn't bode well)
- JJB (frankly surprised they're still around)
- Past Times (feels like it's had its day, so to speak)

I also think M&S is going to have a bad year: They seem to be doing everything humanly possible to disassemble the formula that brought them back from the brink a few years ago (e.g. over-diversification of instore brands again, alienating their younger female customers again, making their stores bland and impossible to navigate again, withdrawing other brands from their food halls again)

Good shout on all accounts. The M&S situation is farcical.

[marksi]

Barratts makes 1600 people redundant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16366095

The administrator of troubled shoe chain Barratts Priceless has said it has made 1,610 employees redundant.

The job losses are at the retailer's concessions within other stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Administrators Deloitte said selling the concession part of the business will "not be achieved".

However they are still trying to find a buyer for Barratt's 173 high street stores, which remain open. 18 store closures have already been announced.

Deloitte said it is working with the concession holders, which include department stores, to see if the former-employees could be re-employed in other parts of their businesses.

[Alexia]

Hawkins Bazaar also in administration.

[James L H]

Hawkins Bazaar also in administration.

Hawkins Bazaar is a shop full of tat. I once had to go in to try and return a present for a friend and the 'manager' of the store was having non of it even though the product had never been opened, had a receipt and was bought within 7 days. The irony was on the back of the receipt it had a message about Hawkins 28 Day refund policy.

[Areso]

That's Entertainment who have taken over the old Virgin/Zavvi store nearby I'm sure will fold soon. The store appears to be around 60% pre-owned CDs which certainly isn't sustainable when they're less them about (two) pound less than a brand new copy from Amazon or Play.

[Andrew]

WHSmith will be safe because of their profitable travel business. Even if they decided to reduce their presence on the high street there would be no need for wholesale closures like if they were closing down entirely. Remember many Woolworths branches were probably profitable.

The impression of Wilkinsons seems to have changed a lot recently, a few years back it was seen as a slightly more upmarket version of a cheapo scruffy poundshop, now it is pretty much identical to how Woolworths was.

[WillPS]

The travel and high street businesses are run as distinct units (as was the News operation before they sold it). I wouldn't be surprised to see them split.

Wilkinson is so much nicer than Woolies ever was. They've made a great turnaround - although what possessed them to keep that clearly outdated brand so long I do not know.

Hawkins Bazaar also in administration.

Hawkins Bazaar is a shop full of tat.