First retail ‘name’ to pop off 2018
Discussion
SebastienClement said:
Changing the topic slightly...
Last week Kerryfresh / Fresh to store ceased trading suddenly. They supplied fresh food to the convenience sector - and had some BIG contracts including large names like WHSmith, Boots etc...
Tescos must be absolutely laughing their socks off at the moment having bought Bookers. P&H have gone, fresh to Store gone...
That doesn’t leave a whole lot of competition in the convenience supply sector.
What’s the alternative to Bookers? I can only think of NISA.
Greencore do Food deliveries & have picked up some business.Last week Kerryfresh / Fresh to store ceased trading suddenly. They supplied fresh food to the convenience sector - and had some BIG contracts including large names like WHSmith, Boots etc...
Tescos must be absolutely laughing their socks off at the moment having bought Bookers. P&H have gone, fresh to Store gone...
That doesn’t leave a whole lot of competition in the convenience supply sector.
What’s the alternative to Bookers? I can only think of NISA.
Fresh To Store have been in difficulty for quite a while - thats why they lost their Poundland contract a few weeks back.
tumble dryer said:
Question. Sorta on topic.
Retail centres and the like, what’s the forecast? And also, yield from these outlets – up or down?
I’m thinking that the knock-on effect of ‘the death of retail’ has the potential for far wider implications.
Huge declines in value currently. There will be some serious money lost by investors in the sector. Retail agents are refusing letting instructions in some centres, as it is like flogging a dead horse.Retail centres and the like, what’s the forecast? And also, yield from these outlets – up or down?
I’m thinking that the knock-on effect of ‘the death of retail’ has the potential for far wider implications.
SebastienClement said:
Changing the topic slightly...
Last week Kerryfresh / Fresh to store ceased trading suddenly. They supplied fresh food to the convenience sector - and had some BIG contracts including large names like WHSmith, Boots etc...
Tescos must be absolutely laughing their socks off at the moment having bought Bookers. P&H have gone, fresh to Store gone...
That doesn’t leave a whole lot of competition in the convenience supply sector.
What’s the alternative to Bookers? I can only think of NISA.
BestwayLast week Kerryfresh / Fresh to store ceased trading suddenly. They supplied fresh food to the convenience sector - and had some BIG contracts including large names like WHSmith, Boots etc...
Tescos must be absolutely laughing their socks off at the moment having bought Bookers. P&H have gone, fresh to Store gone...
That doesn’t leave a whole lot of competition in the convenience supply sector.
What’s the alternative to Bookers? I can only think of NISA.
Parfetts
Costco
Not a big list, I agree. All have specialities they are a bit cheaper than the others on.
ymwoods said:
Bestway
Parfetts
Costco
Not a big list, I agree. All have specialities they are a bit cheaper than the others on.
Also depends on whether you want deliveries or not. I have been out of retail for many years. Often a company with one or two units will be cheaper than the likes of booker, who have head office costs.Parfetts
Costco
Not a big list, I agree. All have specialities they are a bit cheaper than the others on.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/...
‘Homebase is the most disastrous retail acquisition in the UK ever’
‘Homebase is the most disastrous retail acquisition in the UK ever’
gothatway said:
Maybe I should finally get round to popping into my nearest Binnings (one of the first Homebase stores to have been rebranded), just to see what it's like. On the other hand - why bother ? B&Q is nearer and a known quantity.
It's exactly like stepping into what you would imagine an Aussie DIY store would look like. Quite impressive in that it looks like they now have everything you'd need to build a bungalow that wouldn't look out of place on Ramsay Street but there is significant amounts of space given over to jacuzzis, massive (and I mean massive) barbecues, and garage storage units that are larger than a standard UK garage.It looks as if they did precisely zero research into what the UK DIY market is like, and got rid of all the managers who could have told them.
I would imagine that whoever buys Homebase/Bunnings from Wesfarmers will get it for about 50p.
saaby93 said:
Grainger - 67 stores
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-43588365
Sad but not surprising. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-43588365
The chain carried a real edge for many years but that dwindled terribly in recent times. I've a lot of history with the store, I started shopping there when it was just a small octagonal stall in the Grainger Market in Newcastle. There was a competitor store in the Green Market across the road called Charlie's. Grainger Games won that fight in the end, massively. When I first visited Grainger Games they had a tiered display on their stall counters with games laid flat to space out the stock!
They really lost their way by the start of the current generation of consoles. That was when the twin forces of online shopping and in-console purchases started to bite. The prices for used games at trade in plummeted to the point it was barely worth taking them in. The stores were overloaded with used games and any 'hot' used games was overpriced. It was typical to see a new game selling for £44 and an identical, used copy for £42 next to it. It made no sense to buy used in that case, when there was always the slightest chance of the disc being damaged.
The writing was on the wall by the time the stores moved to the 'Trade Nation' brand. Games sales were collapsing and they moved to selling tatty merchandise and used phones. It's telling that in the leaked email seen by the likes of Polygon, that the head office instructed staff in the closed stores to box up all the Trade Nation stock (phones and tablets) before anything else as that will be where a large amount of the cash liability in each store lies.
The stores themselves were pretty awful. Invariably sweaty little dumps, I never much liked them but I'd brave them for a bargain. Their poor customer service knacked them as I had a falling out with them a few years ago, in the Xbox 360 era, when they refused to refund me after selling me a used game with a cracked disc at the Metro Centre store. For the price of a £9 used game, I stopped going there and started using Amazon. That's thousands of pounds of custom directed elsewhere, just by me. When I spoke to my friends about the collapse of Grainger Games they all lamented it but it seemed they'd stopped shopping there long ago too. Downloads are king, trumping even Amazon.
I lament the passing of the high street game shop as shopping for games as a young lad was life's greatest pleasure and the excitement of getting a new one after reading about it in CVG was tremendous. But long gone are the days of dark, neon lit stores with racks of Megadrive games hanging on racks and so too are the foul beige and orange themed Grainger Games shops consigned to history.
davepoth said:
gothatway said:
Maybe I should finally get round to popping into my nearest Binnings (one of the first Homebase stores to have been rebranded), just to see what it's like. On the other hand - why bother ? B&Q is nearer and a known quantity.
It's exactly like stepping into what you would imagine an Aussie DIY store would look like. Quite impressive in that it looks like they now have everything you'd need to build a bungalow that wouldn't look out of place on Ramsay Street but there is significant amounts of space given over to jacuzzis, massive (and I mean massive) barbecues, and garage storage units that are larger than a standard UK garage.It looks as if they did precisely zero research into what the UK DIY market is like, and got rid of all the managers who could have told them.
I would imagine that whoever buys Homebase/Bunnings from Wesfarmers will get it for about 50p.
t ,never had what you wanted and the staff were dire ,since the bunnings takeover vasty better range and attitude think its ok now ....powerstroke said:
Our homebase was st ,never had what you wanted and the staff were dire ,since the bunnings takeover vasty better range and attitude think its ok now ....
And the opposite has happened at my local store.t ,never had what you wanted and the staff were dire ,since the bunnings takeover vasty better range and attitude think its ok now ....It was never great, but at least you could get what you needed.
I went in there yesterday for the first time in a couple of months and was shocked at the decline.
The place was a tip. They have ripped out the fitted bathroom displays (presumably as they no longer stock them) and in their place next to the damaged displays were stacks of no-name wcs, baths, etc but at prices the same as you can buy known brands.
Move on to tiles. The range is patheticly small but even worse is the area is filthy, and what little stock they have is all in damaged boxes.
The whole store just had an air of dispair hanging over it, as if it knew it was just marking time until it was closed down.
And what is completely stupid is this store should be making a fortune. It has no immediate competition as the nearest B&Q is 15 miles away (as are Wickes, etc) and it is serving a town with a reasonably affluent population of around 30,000.
PF62 said:
And the opposite has happened at my local store.
It was never great, but at least you could get what you needed.
I went in there yesterday for the first time in a couple of months and was shocked at the decline.
The place was a tip. They have ripped out the fitted bathroom displays (presumably as they no longer stock them) and in their place next to the damaged displays were stacks of no-name wcs, baths, etc but at prices the same as you can buy known brands.
Move on to tiles. The range is patheticly small but even worse is the area is filthy, and what little stock they have is all in damaged boxes.
The whole store just had an air of dispair hanging over it, as if it knew it was just marking time until it was closed down.
And what is completely stupid is this store should be making a fortune. It has no immediate competition as the nearest B&Q is 15 miles away (as are Wickes, etc) and it is serving a town with a reasonably affluent population of around 30,000.
This sounds like the nearest one to me. It was never great, but at least you could get what you needed.
I went in there yesterday for the first time in a couple of months and was shocked at the decline.
The place was a tip. They have ripped out the fitted bathroom displays (presumably as they no longer stock them) and in their place next to the damaged displays were stacks of no-name wcs, baths, etc but at prices the same as you can buy known brands.
Move on to tiles. The range is patheticly small but even worse is the area is filthy, and what little stock they have is all in damaged boxes.
The whole store just had an air of dispair hanging over it, as if it knew it was just marking time until it was closed down.
And what is completely stupid is this store should be making a fortune. It has no immediate competition as the nearest B&Q is 15 miles away (as are Wickes, etc) and it is serving a town with a reasonably affluent population of around 30,000.
B&Q shut down a year ago to be replaced by a Range. So still competition, but just in different sectors within the store.
It's only saving grace is that they do seem to have decent plants at good prices. There's a screwfix, builder's merchants, and a country stores type place and that's it.
It's looking really tatty.
talksthetorque said:
This sounds like the nearest one to me.
B&Q shut down a year ago to be replaced by a Range. So still competition, but just in different sectors within the store.
It's only saving grace is that they do seem to have decent plants at good prices. There's a screwfix, builder's merchants, and a country stores type place and that's it.
It's looking really tatty.
Hasnt Range already taken over much of Homebase? Country stores type places closing too see up a pageB&Q shut down a year ago to be replaced by a Range. So still competition, but just in different sectors within the store.
It's only saving grace is that they do seem to have decent plants at good prices. There's a screwfix, builder's merchants, and a country stores type place and that's it.
It's looking really tatty.
https://www.hortweek.com/range-takes-homebase-stor...
G’day from bunnings home town here in Western Australia!
I’m amazed that Bunnings thought they’d be able to take on B&Q and win. Here Bunnings has a near monopoly and they crush anyone that tries to take them on - how they didn’t see B&Q as the Bunnings of the UK I’ll never know.
Bunnings have just complete the execution of Masters, their best competitor and are currently turning some old Masters retail units into Bunnings. At the height of the DIY store war, Bunnings would find a Masters store with a vacant block alongside and build a store next door! One town near us had a very successful Masters store for about 3 yrs because the nearest Bunnings was 30mins drive - It only lasted 3 yrs because Bunnings took 2yrs to buy the units surrounding Masters, tear them down and build a new Bunnings next to Masters.
All they needed to do was look at the history of Homebase and realise that something must be wrong.
It’s interesting to read here that a UK Bunnings really is like an Aussie one with massive barbies and spa baths - That’s really a dumb thing to try and sell in the UK. No wonder they’re failing.
I’m amazed that Bunnings thought they’d be able to take on B&Q and win. Here Bunnings has a near monopoly and they crush anyone that tries to take them on - how they didn’t see B&Q as the Bunnings of the UK I’ll never know.
Bunnings have just complete the execution of Masters, their best competitor and are currently turning some old Masters retail units into Bunnings. At the height of the DIY store war, Bunnings would find a Masters store with a vacant block alongside and build a store next door! One town near us had a very successful Masters store for about 3 yrs because the nearest Bunnings was 30mins drive - It only lasted 3 yrs because Bunnings took 2yrs to buy the units surrounding Masters, tear them down and build a new Bunnings next to Masters.
All they needed to do was look at the history of Homebase and realise that something must be wrong.
It’s interesting to read here that a UK Bunnings really is like an Aussie one with massive barbies and spa baths - That’s really a dumb thing to try and sell in the UK. No wonder they’re failing.
Its not looking good across the board, if we stop spending we will be in big big trouble imo
Where is the good news ffs
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/01/e...
"It has been a bleak few weeks for many of Britain’s retailers, with last month’s lengthy cold snap heaping added pressure on to firms that were already having to contend with consumers feeling squeezed by weak wage growth and rising inflation.
Last week, H&M said price cuts and cold weather were to blame for a slump in profits at the start of the year, and earlier in the month Carpetright signalled it may be considering axing up to a quarter of its 409 UK stores.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Next recently described 2017 as the toughest year in the past 25 years, fashion retailer Ted Baker warned of challenging trading conditions, Moss Bros issued a stark profits warning, B&Q reported falling sales, Mothercare said it remained in talks with its bankers, and New Look’s creditors voted to slim down the struggling fashion retailer.
Many retailers had been hoping the Easter weekend would bring some good news as people reinstated shopping trips that they had cancelled because of the freezing conditions, and took advantage of better weather to visit garden centres and DIY stores."
Where is the good news ffs
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/01/e...
"It has been a bleak few weeks for many of Britain’s retailers, with last month’s lengthy cold snap heaping added pressure on to firms that were already having to contend with consumers feeling squeezed by weak wage growth and rising inflation.
Last week, H&M said price cuts and cold weather were to blame for a slump in profits at the start of the year, and earlier in the month Carpetright signalled it may be considering axing up to a quarter of its 409 UK stores.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Next recently described 2017 as the toughest year in the past 25 years, fashion retailer Ted Baker warned of challenging trading conditions, Moss Bros issued a stark profits warning, B&Q reported falling sales, Mothercare said it remained in talks with its bankers, and New Look’s creditors voted to slim down the struggling fashion retailer.
Many retailers had been hoping the Easter weekend would bring some good news as people reinstated shopping trips that they had cancelled because of the freezing conditions, and took advantage of better weather to visit garden centres and DIY stores."
The issue isn’t consumer spending per se...it is the move online.
An online retailer I am involved with was 28% up yoy last month.
By contrast, retailers have high fixed costs, increasing business rates, pensions, living wage liabilities and are stuck in a vice with declining revenues and increasing costs.
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