Because WHSmiths have known to have troubles in the past and keep on clinging on. Same with HMV and Game, just this time HMV has ran out of road. Others will follow the same fate sooner or later then the big boys like Amazon take their place. That's business.
HMV Finally closing down for good?
- Thread starter Scania
- Start date
Because WHSmiths have known to have troubles in the past and keep on clinging on. Same with HMV and Game, just this time HMV has ran out of road. Others will follow the same fate sooner or later then the big boys like Amazon take their place. That's business.
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Dec 2010
- Posts
- 7,382
Good Lord just put it out of it's misery...
Case in point. https://goo.gl/images/aXxnbS
It's not Amazon dodging anything its the government leaving thing's convenient because they like the status quo, Why the **** should Amazon just willingly pay something they don't need to? Would you?
Definitely not, but Jessops have suffered from people coming into the shop, looking at the goods, having the camera demonstrated to them by the sales advisor, sometimes spending an hour or more with the customer only for them to say 'thanks very much I'll make a decision later' then ordering from Amazon. There's a price to pay for being able to hold the thing, have it demonstrated to you and being able to try it out yourself. Something you can't do at Amazon.
Soldato
Valid point, but at the same time that's why Amazon have to accept the cost incurred with no questions asked returns for 14 days and Jessops wouldn't.
No that's the Consumer contract regulations. If you buy something sight unseen you have the right to return it once you've examined it. For any reason.
Soldato
And yet I've been into chain stores where they won't even let you open a box to look at the product or to see if it fits, and then tell me they won't allow a return if it doesn't. And that's before you get to the woeful product knowledge you can experience in store. If the bricks and mortars are offering higher prices, less product knowledge, worse returns policy and no opportunity to inspect/test the goods, then why on earth would you shop there instead of online?
All this guff that the big chains spout about why they are better than online and why you should shop there is just nonsense. It's the first thing they cut to improve their profit margins. There are some exceptions, like John Lewis or Richer Sounds that have had good policies that they have carried over to their on-line stores (ie they leverage one off the other), but even that is beginning to get worn away in the face of online pressure.
Mike Ashley was interviewed on Sky I think, for his thoughts on how to save the high street, he was pretty much bang on, and I hope his ideas are listened to and acted upon.
The Brits are truly lazier than other nations, the death of the high street is nowhere near as prevalent in our EU neighbours, however, the silly business rates, ludicrous parking charges, and unrealistic rents are a recipe for total disaster.
Who wants to live in a country with no vibrancy or community, with stuff just farmed out from faceless, frontless, windowless warehouses, what a rubbish way to end up.
As usual in the UK, the Government has absolutely ZERO vision, ZERO capability, ZERO ideas, and ZERO ambition to do anything about it until its beyond too late. It is incredible watching the decline, like a slow motion car crash, with the political class totally clueless and rudderless and unfit for purpose running this country into the ground.
All while almost every penny spent with stupid companies like Amazon leaves the country for good. Brits are committing a slow commercial suicide, and you'd think with the "patriotism" of Brexit, people would wake up, smell the non-highstreet american chain coffee, and flipping support BRITISH companies who pay tax into the BRITISH tax system, but its all "I CAN SAVE £2 and not have to leave my sofa, YAY", then 20 years later.. "OH WHERE ARE ALL THE SHOPS?! My town is a ****-hole now!!"
All far too predictable.
The Brits are truly lazier than other nations, the death of the high street is nowhere near as prevalent in our EU neighbours, however, the silly business rates, ludicrous parking charges, and unrealistic rents are a recipe for total disaster.
Who wants to live in a country with no vibrancy or community, with stuff just farmed out from faceless, frontless, windowless warehouses, what a rubbish way to end up.
As usual in the UK, the Government has absolutely ZERO vision, ZERO capability, ZERO ideas, and ZERO ambition to do anything about it until its beyond too late. It is incredible watching the decline, like a slow motion car crash, with the political class totally clueless and rudderless and unfit for purpose running this country into the ground.
All while almost every penny spent with stupid companies like Amazon leaves the country for good. Brits are committing a slow commercial suicide, and you'd think with the "patriotism" of Brexit, people would wake up, smell the non-highstreet american chain coffee, and flipping support BRITISH companies who pay tax into the BRITISH tax system, but its all "I CAN SAVE £2 and not have to leave my sofa, YAY", then 20 years later.. "OH WHERE ARE ALL THE SHOPS?! My town is a ****-hole now!!"
All far too predictable.
Soldato
I went into two different large retailers today looking to buy a TV both advertising the particular model, neither carrying stock but they can order one in...
Meanwhile I can go online and get it delivered to my house next day free of chsrge.
The high street needs to do something.
Meanwhile I can go online and get it delivered to my house next day free of chsrge.
The high street needs to do something.
Soldato
Did you read the report I linked to ? They are not struggling, if you’re looking for your next big bye bye it’s probably going to be Superdry
They can't stock everything they have on display. In order to have a good selection of models they need to stock only the popular models and items.
The EU was meant to be saving grace of British failure to evolve, it was meant to provide a largely homogeneous marketplace to grow companies to compete with American ones, instead people were greedy ***** and it never achieved it's goal, probably also because the US isn't stupid and saw it coming a mile off. Instead China takes that grace with an even bigger even more homogeneous market than even the US is, if they don't suffer too badly in the recession they will largely takeover as the markets start competing. Instead of being the middling winner the EU is now just a pitiful battleground.
Regardless, I don't ******* care about any high-street shop (nostalgia is for losers and sycophants), i'm very happy with monopolisation because it's the natural human course and beating against it would appear to be utterly pointless with current Democratic system's in place in the West, until the UK and US truly balance out the politics so that voices can legitimately be heard for once.
Soldato
If you are not going to stock it don't advertise it.
Like I said it's available to order with next day delivery for free online but the store could only offer for it to be delivered to store on 3-5 days.
This isn't the first time a store has had no stock and I'm sure it happens every day for other customers too.
Soldato
My missus keeps coming up with different things HMV could try to stay in business and gets quite upset when I point out, the decision has already been taken at the highest level and there is less chance of them staying open than getting Brexit sorted properly!
It's not new by any means, who remembers MVC and the various other entertainment stores? When we lived in South Wales a few years ago, used to pop into Cardiff on a Monday morning for the big disc hunt and there was at least half a dozen places keeping a good stock of entertainment media. First MVC went, then Woolies with Smiths pulling the plug on mass sales of CD's and DVD's followed by Virgin/Zavvi et al.
Probably the only hope at this stage is HMV keep some sort of online store, but would you trust paying up front for goods to a company known to be n a state of financial peril.
It's not new by any means, who remembers MVC and the various other entertainment stores? When we lived in South Wales a few years ago, used to pop into Cardiff on a Monday morning for the big disc hunt and there was at least half a dozen places keeping a good stock of entertainment media. First MVC went, then Woolies with Smiths pulling the plug on mass sales of CD's and DVD's followed by Virgin/Zavvi et al.
Probably the only hope at this stage is HMV keep some sort of online store, but would you trust paying up front for goods to a company known to be n a state of financial peril.
Soldato
One of the reasons they are all disappearing, i have not walked into a shop to buy something for about 4 years
Not sorry to see HMV go it was always over priced and when they was in trouble before you would think that would make them change the way they do business this now shows it has not.
They should have adapted with the market but like so many others they use excuses rather then change which back then they could have moved to a model like cex with pre owned covering extras like vinyl.
Game will be the next one to go another one that deserves it
They should have adapted with the market but like so many others they use excuses rather then change which back then they could have moved to a model like cex with pre owned covering extras like vinyl.
Game will be the next one to go another one that deserves it
Man of Honour
I spend a lot of time in Slovakia and Austria. Over here, the concept of buying online seems to be in it's infancy. Most people I speak to rarely buy things online, and even having an Ebay account seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Amazon is fairly popular though.
Almost everything here is a high street purchase, when I tell my girlfriend I'm looking for something to buy online she gives me a look like I'm genuinely mental.
Almost everything here is a high street purchase, when I tell my girlfriend I'm looking for something to buy online she gives me a look like I'm genuinely mental.
Soldato
Perhaps HMV should Merge with Game, although does state digital has marginally better growth than physical.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46746593
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46746593