Credit crunch on the high-street?
Discussion
Dragged along shopping yesterday with Mrs Smart for the first time in a long time, and whilst I was standing around waiting for her to come out of another clothes shop, I took stock of how busy the town was around me.
This was York. There were lots of people out, lots of shopping bags and seemingly no shortage of spending going on.
Is this the calm before the real storm - are these all the folk having a last blast before the impending Grapes of Wrath, or is this just Business As Usual?
What are you seeing in your local town?
This was York. There were lots of people out, lots of shopping bags and seemingly no shortage of spending going on.
Is this the calm before the real storm - are these all the folk having a last blast before the impending Grapes of Wrath, or is this just Business As Usual?
What are you seeing in your local town?
elster said:
Fittster said:
How many stores did you see having sales?
In good times the sales start after Christmas not months before.
Pre Christmas sales have been going as long as I've been an adult.In good times the sales start after Christmas not months before.
"There was once a time when the New Year sales all started on 1 January. Now, however, fierce competition between retailers and fears of an economic slowdown mean that prices are being slashed at the height of the Christmas shopping crush.
There was once a time when the New Year sales all started on 1 January. Now, however, fierce competition between retailers and fears of an economic slowdown mean that prices are being slashed at the height of the Christmas shopping crush.
Most of the big department stores were reluctant to discuss sales figures and customers in the past few weeks. But it is telling that beleaguered Marks & Spencer staged its first pre-Christmas price cuts for the first time this year.
A spokeswoman for the company said: "We haven't done it before but in November we had a one-day spectacular to launch our Christmas range and it proved to be so popular that we did it again yesterday."
Date: Saturday, 4 December 2004
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/...
I suspect people are still spending but cutting their budgets, things are bad but unless your job is shakey i doubt people are stopping spending. What seems to get forgotten is that you may stop going to restaurants, but you will still eat, you may stop buying designer but you may move to Next or River Island stuff, people will move to cheaper products or alternatives before they stop buying.
I work supporting retailers, and what i've heard is that although there are similar numbers of people in the shops, the average spend is down an people are far more likely to buy lower priced and reduced products where unfortunatley the proffit isnt
not the case for all retailers of course..
i did read something on here though that made a lot of sense - whereas typically in the past people would shop for houses, new cars etc for 'feel good' they are more likely to buy smaller items on credit cards to achieve the same 'feel good' feeling..
not the case for all retailers of course..
i did read something on here though that made a lot of sense - whereas typically in the past people would shop for houses, new cars etc for 'feel good' they are more likely to buy smaller items on credit cards to achieve the same 'feel good' feeling..
In Brighton yesterday, huge queues for all the car parks, town centre absolutely heaving with shoppers. Could hardly move - was there for about 45 mins and went home, couldn't stand the crowds. Whether they were actually buying or not, I don't know - maybe it's just a Saturday ritual, "going down to the shops".
Weekly and monthly targets are being exceeded by a long margin in most concessions in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre.
The whole place is as busy as always. Yes, there are pre-Christmas sales as there are every year.
I sat outside there the other night waiting to pick someone up (not a stranger in a stalker way, it was arranged I hasten to add!
) and counted the number of people leaving and the amount of bags they were carrying.
In 10 minutes I counted over 300 people leaving, absolutely ramped up with purchases.
If there's a shortage of money and/or credit you'd never know down there.
The whole place is as busy as always. Yes, there are pre-Christmas sales as there are every year.
I sat outside there the other night waiting to pick someone up (not a stranger in a stalker way, it was arranged I hasten to add!
) and counted the number of people leaving and the amount of bags they were carrying.In 10 minutes I counted over 300 people leaving, absolutely ramped up with purchases.
If there's a shortage of money and/or credit you'd never know down there.
A town centre on a Saturday will always look busy. The real measure is how much each person is spending, if they're spending at all.
Not to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
Not to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
The feedback I get from local estate agents I speak with, is, the recession has been with us for the last year with very few people buying property or upgrading. Maybe people are making do with what they've got and are enjoying spending the money they would otherwise have used to upgrade. Other feedback suggests possible hard times will hit the high streets around spring time.
ZR1cliff said:
The feedback I get from local estate agents I speak with, is, the recession has been with us for the last year with very few people buying property or upgrading. Maybe people are making do with what they've got and are enjoying spending the money they would otherwise have used to upgrade. Other feedback suggests possible hard times will hit the high streets around spring time.
There will be a lot of businesses down the sh*tter in January, as the sales figures needed fail to materialise. High Street retailers generally live and die on December's trading.Could be the last Christmas of Woolies as we know it, too.
10 Pence Short said:
A town centre on a Saturday will always look busy. The real measure is how much each person is spending, if they're spending at all.
Not to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
I think John Lewis's problems are because of their dullest advert everNot to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
elster said:
10 Pence Short said:
A town centre on a Saturday will always look busy. The real measure is how much each person is spending, if they're spending at all.
Not to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
I think John Lewis's problems are because of their dullest advert everNot to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
10 Pence Short said:
elster said:
10 Pence Short said:
A town centre on a Saturday will always look busy. The real measure is how much each person is spending, if they're spending at all.
Not to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
I think John Lewis's problems are because of their dullest advert everNot to mention that margins are being squeezed so the profitability of a lot of the spending isn't that great.
John Lewis, for example, has seen falls in sales by as much as 20% in some stores. From memory, only 2 or 3 stores are seeing sales growth.
I think the cheaper end of the market are a lot busier, and profits are up.
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