Halfords hopefully useless at car servicing/repairs etc, never had such a bad experiance, never again.
They must be doing something right as Pinarello (the manufacturer that was making Team Skys road bikes) are now using them as their official UK outlet now.
BHS? They're getting worse and worse - more and more utter tat clothes, with less and less stock (always a precursor to going out of business when the stock's not replenished). They'll get replaced by M&S as their stuff hurtles downwards in price.
Superdrug,Burger King...They will go next....Oh and maybe Holland and Barratt
Superdrug will survive longer than Boots. In fact, pharmacies - although not exactly recession proof - will always exist, since you can't buy a lot of what they sell online. If that ever changes, they'll be out of business quicker than you can blink. And I can't see Burger King disappearing any time soon. People always want at least the illusion of choice, so there will always be a large competitor to McDonald's. In any case, fast-food outlets are almost exclusively franchised - there's no end of idiots queueing up to work their fingers to the bone for 16 hours a day over 25 years to retire on a tiny pension whislt making the banner company & its shareholders rich.
Agreed - they were always good at doing good quality basic / classics like plain polo shirts and stuff like that - now they have badges and nonsense all over everything and the quality is crap as they try to compete with the chinese stuff. They need to get back to basics. They need a new motto 'We've dropped the nonsense'
I don't agree with M&S actually, yeah their clothing range isn't exactly hipster but it certainly serves a purpose for a certain age group.
And their food section is awesome, I think they could survive of that alone if it came to it.
WH Smiths have gotta be the next to go, they don't offer anything unique and what they do sell is fairly expensive. They're another retailer that is being superseded by the internet and supermarkets.
Argos was talked about before but I have just read the Autumn report they put out. They are with us for a long time to come.
They're scaling back the paper catalogues and are aiming for an all online experience now, arent they...whether at home or in the shop itself (think I read that somewhere, anyway!)
Argos was talked about before but I have just read the Autumn report they put out. They are with us for a long time to come.
They're scaling back the paper catalogues and are aiming for an all online experience now, arent they...whether at home or in the shop itself (think I read that somewhere, anyway!)
That is what the report says, click and collect at keen internet prices. How they can do this with so many stores and staff is a bit beyond me. I guess they have invested lots of profit over the years in the right places.
Supa Electrics - Orpington High Street. I don't know how a small, overpriced retailer of washing machines and toasters survives in the current climate. Always empty and can't imagine anyone who would buy from there these days.
The shop that always amazes me is the gift shop just to the left of the main entrance at Bexleyheath Broadway. Think it's called Gallery Gifts and has been there since the centre opened I think. From the window it looks like it's full of cheap tat.
The shop that always amazes me is the gift shop just to the left of the main entrance at Bexleyheath Broadway. Think it's called Gallery Gifts and has been there since the centre opened I think. From the window it looks like it's full of cheap tat.
Off topic a wee bit .. there are a couple of shops in Cleethorpes, in an old fashioned 'resort style' parade of shops, tea rooms, cafés etc which are a marvel. One is a wool and knitters shop, the other a model toy shop. How they survive I do not know. I have been here for 7 years, people tell me the wool shop has been open, relatively unchanged with the same owner since the early 70s, a similar story for the model shop. Discounting the idea that they are covers for nefarious activity, it must be that these shop are as much a hobby as a viable business
Off topic a wee bit .. there are a couple of shops in Cleethorpes, in an old fashioned 'resort style' parade of shops, tea rooms, cafés etc which are a marvel. One is a wool and knitters shop, the other a model toy shop. How they survive I do not know. I have been here for 7 years, people tell me the wool shop has been open, relatively unchanged with the same owner since the early 70s, a similar story for the model shop. Discounting the idea that they are covers for nefarious activity, it must be that these shop are as much a hobby as a viable business
Don't underestimate the black market for Ginsters, Werthers and Blue Rinse.
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At present, there's bugger all else out there for most of them.