What company is next to go bust?
- Thread starter Ricochet J
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Soldato
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[TW]Fox;13158740 said:
I don't mean to be rude but are you completely illiterate or something ?, or maybe partially blind, I said the gentleman that told me was a manager of a store, it not information "from people who have a mate who had a mate whose girlfriends mothers uncle once wore a Manager badge in Shop W", why are you saying that ?, and another thing, why are you presuming this person knows less then you ?, I'm not saying he's right but if I had to edge my bets I take the information from a manager of said store over some random internet geek with a self inflated ego that has never even worked at the store.
And also please takes a lesson in the history of economics and learn what happened through the great industrial revolutions, it is inedible that these stores are going to close, many have been in trouble for years, the current economic climate is just pushing these already troubled company's over the edge, peoples shopping habits are changing and evolving and as is technology and peoples understanding of it as more and more people are becoming accustom to it, take my mum for example, she hasn't got the internet yet but when she saw saw me last she was telling me how the other mums she is friends with were telling her that they brought many of their presents on-line this year as it was cheaper and less stressful, now she wants to do the same next year so she wants me to set up broadband at her home for shopping, could you of even dreamed this 20 years ago ?.
Like I said shopping habits are evolving and stores have to adapt, as we've seen technology evolve and change over the decades and peoples wants and needs change the industry has to adapt and change, but during this process many company's/factory's etc will end up having to close as they haven't gauged changes in the consumer market properly or the need for their services has just diminished due to technological advances, one industry dies and another is born but this doesn't happen over night.
And also I'm not ROFL at these company's going under, that is a silly thing to say.
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Edit: Ignore
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Yes, yes I am.
Becuase of what he allegedly told you. If the company genuinelly was in trouble and the market had yet to cotton onto it, what sort of a 'manager' would tell you anyway?
'edge your bets'? Is that like hedging your bets for illiterate people?
Could you explain the parellels between the 1800's and the financial situation of the UK's largest newspaper distributor which recently announced profits this financial year would be inline with expectations?
Excuse me whilst I choke on the irony of you calling me illiterate.
WH Smith has not been 'in trouble for years' and neither has half of the other stores mentioned in this thread. Some, however, have - and these ARE the ones now experiencing difficulty.
Very touching story but also very irrelevent in a situation where companies with insufficient working capital are calling in the administrators.
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Welcome to a few days ago, infact it's probably this one that prompted this very thread. Why are you shocked? This is one of the inevitable ones (Thats like being inedible but it's for literate people) given that:
a) Virgin Megastores had been suffering from declining revenue for some time, hence Virgin's decision to sell the business last year
b) The collapse of EUK left Zavvi in a precarious situation where they had to negotiate new credit terms with new suppliers but had insufficient cashflow
No, it was Zavvi as it popped up after the huge 'OMG ZAVVI' thread.
Don't know much about their business, but I have to agree that it's hard to really see them continuing to thrive without diversifying or moving with the times. A lot of their products (cds, dvds, books, games) will be taking a massive hit from the boom in online shopping, their stationary is overpriced (somewhere like Staples or even supermarkets/Wilco should be stealing their business), same applies for cards, and I doubt they can make massive profits on papers and magazines. Thinking about it, I reckon in the past 2 years I've probably only gone into Smiths unaccompanied maybe half a dozen times max.
Essentially WH Smith was the kind of company well suited to the 80s and 90s, it was a place I'd always go in when looking for certain items, it had a good range and you could kill a few birds with one stone. But nowadays there's really nothing you could put your finger on and say they are a market leader in, or even just sets them part from the crowd - heck, at least Woolworths had pic'n'mix, they were quite cheap, they had a restaurant, they a passable selection of cheap homewares (good for students etc).
As an aside, a good example of a company which has diversified a bit is Homebase - a few years back, they were basically just another B&Q who sold a few kitchens and bathrooms, but they've branched out a bit into very reasonably priced furniture. I think they are part of the same group as Argos and have similar prices, but having big warehouses means people can actually try stuff before they buy it.
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Magazines, they sell a lot which you just can't get anywhere else (other than subscription online). However I doubt this brings in much revenue.
Don't forget WH Smith's presence at all major railway stations and Motorway Service Stations where they have a near monopoly on the supply of newspapers, magazines and snack foods. Smiths News, the distribution arm, is also owned by the same parent company despite the De-merger from the retail arm a few years ago and is a very succesful company also.
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JJB in Cabot Circus (Bristol) had huge clearance sale posters up....but on the subject of JJB can anyone tell me why they have steps/escalators up to the shop ie why you can seemingly never just walk straight in? The one in Plymouth is the same and it's rather confusing.
In terms of sales today, I went in to Bristol with my Brother at 10 and until around half 11/12 ish it was quite quiet...started to get busy though, and in House of Fraser massive amounts of clothes were 50 - 70% off.
In terms of final pricing though, I don't recall guy's stuff being vastly cheaper than last year. eg in Ted Baker, last year the tshirt I'm wearing now - £28ish. New tshirt £24, some other stuff £22 and some other stuff £40-odd. Shirt I got for Christmas down from £30 to £17 in HOF which seemed about normal. It's all the girls stuff that seems to be going mega-cheap...£200 dresses down to £50....though what fool ever pays full price for a girl's dress
That said TM Lewin had some excellent prices - most shirts £25, some as low as £19....though I seem to remember they usually do 3 for £90 anyway.
In terms of sales today, I went in to Bristol with my Brother at 10 and until around half 11/12 ish it was quite quiet...started to get busy though, and in House of Fraser massive amounts of clothes were 50 - 70% off.
In terms of final pricing though, I don't recall guy's stuff being vastly cheaper than last year. eg in Ted Baker, last year the tshirt I'm wearing now - £28ish. New tshirt £24, some other stuff £22 and some other stuff £40-odd. Shirt I got for Christmas down from £30 to £17 in HOF which seemed about normal. It's all the girls stuff that seems to be going mega-cheap...£200 dresses down to £50....though what fool ever pays full price for a girl's dress
That said TM Lewin had some excellent prices - most shirts £25, some as low as £19....though I seem to remember they usually do 3 for £90 anyway.
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[TW]Fox;13159814 said:
A friend, and I'm not saying that he's right but I'm guessing he would be in a position that enables him to understand the situation more than you do, the thing that got me angered was your ignorant presumption that these people are clueless and in some way inept when you don't even know them and haven't even worked at the store, I just think you could have been a bit more tactful that's all, instead of steam rolling in as you usually do insulting people that you've not even met.
Yes I will accept that, I am on the autistic spectrum but I should have checked that over properly, in haste I do tend to rely heavily on my spell checker and as 'edge' and 'inedible' are real words it didn't pick up my mistakes, so for that I do apologise.
What has that got to do with anything ?, obviously many company's will be making a profit this year, not everything is as easily effected by advances in technology, a lot of it has be do with consumer shopping habits and people still like to buy newspapers, what can I say.
I'm not so sure tbh, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/3648949.stm, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/wh-smith-is-looking-overvalued-583638.html, http://www.computerweekly.com/Artic...smith-links-it-trouble-to-fall-in-profits.htm, I remember a few years back they said they had to seriously rethink their marking strategy due to declining profits, since then their shares have been on a steady increase from april '04 (when they seemed to be in trouble) up until May '07 where it looks like they could be back on the decline, and yes not all company's have been in trouble before the current economic crisis but many have been or have just been breaking even, which is obviously a very dangerous situation to be in atm.
Maybe some of these companies wouldn't be in this situation if they had adapted in the first place, take Woolworths for example that have been in decline for years now, most of their stores were still stuck in the 50's, my local pound stretcher looked more professional than our main Woolworths store, and I know many other people have said the same in here in-regards to their local stores, they left it too late to try and modernise and adapt.
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I'm curious as to why you think that working behind the tills at WH Smiths or perhaps being a manager doing things like writing staff Rotas and organising putting stock out means you suddenly understand how to interpret financial statements and make doom-mongering predictions for the future.
Given that this little 'debate' has come about after you predicted the demise of WH Smith because your mate 'said so' I'd say it has everything to do with anything. I'm not talking about Woolworths or Zavvi.
There we go again being general when I'm being specific. WH Smith posted a profit of, combined across all groups, more than £100m over the last financial year.
How the hell those milkshake stores stay afloat ceases to amaze me. 'Shake Away', 'Shake King', 'Moo Moo's' ...
[TW]Fox, I'm not quite sure why you felt the need to jump on lowrider007's back. He merely repeated what a friend had said, which hardly makes it appropriate for you to start insulting his intelligence. Although now the conversation is far more civil, naturally ...
[TW]Fox, I'm not quite sure why you felt the need to jump on lowrider007's back. He merely repeated what a friend had said, which hardly makes it appropriate for you to start insulting his intelligence. Although now the conversation is far more civil, naturally ...
You seem to be implying people are questioning his argument, when they are not. It was his attitude which was unneccary.