What company is next to go bust?
- Thread starter Ricochet J
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![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
If you think its all about 'attention' then why not deny me it by ceasing talking about me in a thread about companies going bust.
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Please guys, give it a rest with the personal insults. We're having a good debate. Let's not let it down.
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;13160307 said:
But I haven't just used my friends creditability in this debate though have I, I have also contributed my own opinions and information as well, and I have told you that I'm not even sure that my friend is correct in his assumptions, this is all just conjecture at the end of the day, no one knows what is happening for a fact, and one year of good profits based primarily on cost cutting isn't really concrete evidence that they are going to be completely fine.
It could and it couldn't, end of the day I was just randomly passing on what a friend told me while we was queuing up in the post office, as he was a manager at a store I thought I'd post it up, I really didn't think it was such a serious offence to pass on information.
Yes I did, becuase of how you reacted to my post first, if someone insults me or my friends who they don't even know then obviously I'm going to react to that.
I've already explained you were simply one of many posting random sensationalist viewpoints from 'friends who are managers'. Had you been the only one I'd probably not even have noticed it, but as you were not it was a case of 'oh not ANOTHER 'friend in the know' based opinion...
Surely mobile phone retailers are going to go bust.
People weren't changing their phones as often, or going for the new technology that the mobile companies have developed.
Now with the recession on people will see the mobile phone as a way to save money.
People weren't changing their phones as often, or going for the new technology that the mobile companies have developed.
Now with the recession on people will see the mobile phone as a way to save money.
Interesting one that. On the one hand common sense dictates that in times of economic hardship luxuries like new toys/phones are cut back on. But the mobile phone market is interesting in that most of the phones are considered by most consumers to be 'free' - they get a 'free' phone every x months in return for £x line rental. I suspect most won't stop upgrading.
It also depends on the business model of the retailer. I dont really know how the phone shops do it - they use the comission from networks to pay for the handsets but do they have huge stock holding?
I noticed somebody mentioned DFS. The interesting thing about the DFS business model is that it has virtually no debt and few people owe it money. This sounds odd given virtually all its stock is sold on interest free credit over a long period of time but the way they operate is actually very clever. You buy, say, Sofa A for £1000 @ 36 months interest free. You owe DFS, at this point, £1k. But DFS then simply sell this debt to a bank instead for, lets say, £800. DFS receives £800 cash right away for the Sofa it just shifted on interest free credit, and the bank takes on the debt. This means any bad debt is the problem of the bank. It's a clever way of doing business which means even though everything is sold on credit most of the income is cash.
The only problem with it is what happens when the banks dont want to buy the debt anymore? Thats where it might fall down.
It also depends on the business model of the retailer. I dont really know how the phone shops do it - they use the comission from networks to pay for the handsets but do they have huge stock holding?
I noticed somebody mentioned DFS. The interesting thing about the DFS business model is that it has virtually no debt and few people owe it money. This sounds odd given virtually all its stock is sold on interest free credit over a long period of time but the way they operate is actually very clever. You buy, say, Sofa A for £1000 @ 36 months interest free. You owe DFS, at this point, £1k. But DFS then simply sell this debt to a bank instead for, lets say, £800. DFS receives £800 cash right away for the Sofa it just shifted on interest free credit, and the bank takes on the debt. This means any bad debt is the problem of the bank. It's a clever way of doing business which means even though everything is sold on credit most of the income is cash.
The only problem with it is what happens when the banks dont want to buy the debt anymore? Thats where it might fall down.
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Soldato
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[TW]Fox;13160393 said:
That's understandable but like I said it was they way you worded it, presuming that these people were clueless idiots and being generally condescending about it, and like I said above if you read all my posts in this thread, including the posts I made before the one when I stated that a friend of mine presumed WHSmiths was going next you'll see that I had already been injecting my own opinions and theory's into this thread, just like you are, but I wasn't just basing my opinions on one year of profits or my friends prediction but my own intelligence and understanding of economics and how industries have been effected in the past due to technological advances and changes in peoples shopping habits, I'm not saying I'm right, it was just an opinion.
I just don't like the way you become aggressive and rude in your posts sometimes, and we all supposed to accept that becuase "oh that's just the way fox is lolzzz".
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Look, if you say something like "according to my friend" and someone calls you on it, you can either say "prove me wrong" or do something to back it up.
You were wrong, and the way you posted it was potentially incendiary. "John Lewis is going to go bust next according to my mate" is a recipe for disaster on the internet, wouldn't you say?
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Soldato
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Like I've said, I don't mind someone calling me on it but it's the way Fox goes about it like a bull in a china shop, of course people are going to call me out on it but I really don't see how what I wrote was an open invitation to be insulting, and I did back it up, well attempted to at least.
What was I wrong about ? I still personally don't believe that WHSmiths is completely safe yet, and this is not based on my friend's opinion's but mine which I have already posted in this thread.
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I think you are being a little OTT with the whole 'insulting' thing, don't you? Firstly the remark I made was not specific it was very general (I used 'friends' which means more than one - ie, collectively), and last time I checked 'utterly clueless' was hardly insult of the year 2008. Arguably you were more insulting as you directly insulted me, whereas I simply implied that people in this thread were reeling off opinions from utterly clueless people.
Other people on this forum are more insulting than I was in this thread every single day and NEVER get pulled up on it. I think you are milking it a tad quite frankly
Your 'backup' to your opinion came only after you'd engaged in a slagging match with me and questioned my literacy skills. But of course I'm the rude one 
Shall we just agree to disagree?
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Soldato
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[TW]Fox;13160522 said:
Well considering you've already criticised me for being too general.....
It wasn't just that, it was the how the post was worded as a whole and the way it was delivered.
Actually I'll agree with you on that one as Muffin has not contributed anything to this discussion apart from insulting me, directly and indirectly, if he had done it through debate I'd semi-understand but just to appear and insult me out of nowhere without repercussion is a little unfair I feel, and that's after I RTM'd his post, now I suppose he well presume that is acceptable behaviour on here
...But of course I'm the rude one
No I admit I was rude as well, but that was only off the back of you being the instigator, perhaps in hindsight I shouldn't of stooped that low even though I took offence to your post.
I guess so,
hugzzz
?
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I love the people stating
If they went down (which I think some serious economic problems would be needed for that) the western world really would be up ***** creek! If Apple went down there would be some umming and arring but microsoft leave a huge gap in the market that would take years to fill.
If they went down (which I think some serious economic problems would be needed for that) the western world really would be up ***** creek! If Apple went down there would be some umming and arring but microsoft leave a huge gap in the market that would take years to fill.
If Microsoft was ever to go down, it would most likely be over the course of a decade or so. I couldn't imagine such a giant collapsing within a year or three.
As such, I would assume there will be other competitors around by the time Microsoft finally caved in.
That's a possibility, but this thread is about companies that are going to go bust shortly. If that happened to Microsoft we would be ******. If it happened over 10 years either apple would open up their OS or linux or similar would come along.
Soldato
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WHSmith next. Bloke down the pub said so. Must be true
See, I told you Fox, you didn't listen did you.
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I reckon Smiths too. Not based on anything really, but I can't think of a single thing I would puposely go into one fot. Newspapers are sold at supermarkets, books and all the other rubbish they do. Ok, they may do well from passing trade at key locations but in my mind they have gone a bit stale, like woolies did.
Just a quick note on the JJB situation...
As a now EX employee at JJB Sports Head Office (yay) the current sale is nothing drastic. "95% Sale", it's only all of the **** that is reduced by that much, the rest is still making decent margins on. I think shoe laces are just about the only thing that were 95% off when I was there two weeks ago. Yes they started the sale early but it's no different than they would have done if they hadn't bee in trouble.
The stores are still bringing in millions, (top stores beinging in £220-£300k a week) there is a lack of cash which is making paying back loans a bit hard.
Chris Ronnie has been spending money hand over fist on training and store refits at a very wrong time, it's been a schoolboy mistake but as long as the banks lay off JJB will be fine. Not helped that Chris Ronnie is backed by an Iclandic Consortium...
He needs to get rid of the OSC asap though as that's a waste of time. He had the oppurtunity to sell the leisure clubs back to Dave Whelan which he really should have jumped at, although they do make a lot of money.
There have been rumours amongst the ranks that he's purposely driving the business into the ground for his mate Mike Ashley to buy though...
As a now EX employee at JJB Sports Head Office (yay) the current sale is nothing drastic. "95% Sale", it's only all of the **** that is reduced by that much, the rest is still making decent margins on. I think shoe laces are just about the only thing that were 95% off when I was there two weeks ago. Yes they started the sale early but it's no different than they would have done if they hadn't bee in trouble.
The stores are still bringing in millions, (top stores beinging in £220-£300k a week) there is a lack of cash which is making paying back loans a bit hard.
Chris Ronnie has been spending money hand over fist on training and store refits at a very wrong time, it's been a schoolboy mistake but as long as the banks lay off JJB will be fine. Not helped that Chris Ronnie is backed by an Iclandic Consortium...
He needs to get rid of the OSC asap though as that's a waste of time. He had the oppurtunity to sell the leisure clubs back to Dave Whelan which he really should have jumped at, although they do make a lot of money.
There have been rumours amongst the ranks that he's purposely driving the business into the ground for his mate Mike Ashley to buy though...
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