Changes on the High Street

[denphone]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Looks like they've admitted they can't compete in the clothes market.

Too many quick and nimble competitors who are also cheaper.

[1andrew1]

Marks & Spencer has traditionally had a policy to keep loss-making stores open if it felt that closure would impact the area badly. The chief executive Steve Rowe said that he would review this policy hence some of the closures.

[heero_yuy]

Quote from 1andrew1

Marks & Spencer has traditionally had a policy to keep loss-making stores open if it felt that closure would impact the area badly. The chief executive Steve Rowe said that he would review this policy hence some of the closures.

Very altruistic but I wonder how that plays with the shareholders?

[denphone]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Marks & Spencer has traditionally had a policy to keep loss-making stores open if it felt that closure would impact the area badly. The chief executive Steve Rowe said that he would review this policy hence some of the closures.

The trouble with Marks & Spencer is they need to more adept and proactive instead of being unwieldy and slow to react to the huge seismic changes in our High Street.

[heero_yuy]

Quote from denphone:


The trouble with Marks & Spencer is they need to more adept and proactive instead of being unwieldy and slow to react to the huge seismic changes in our High Street.

If the recent failurs from Woollies onward are a symptom then the days of the traditional department store have to be numbered.

If you spread the effort too thinly then you can't respond when the market taste changes.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Paul M

I do pretty much the same, at least half (if not more) of my orders are from Amazon - not only do I save money anyway, but I also get a discount on amazon vouchers through work, making them even cheaper. Its all delivered to me as well, saving on fuel and parking expenses.

I always use shops where possible, we'll miss them when they're gone, sometimes I wonder why I bother though, I don't use self service either and one of the staff in the supermarket was so put out having to go to a till I actually said to her I was trying to keep her in her job and that thing was going to replace her, might as well have been talking a foreign language, if they have any hope of staying in business they need to offer something the internet can't, personal customer service

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

If the recent failurs from Woollies onward are a symptom then the days of the traditional department store have to be numbered.

If you spread the effort too thinly then you can't respond when the market taste changes.

The post-Woolworths stores that opened in former Woolworths branches all closed down. Wilko seems to have taken some of the Woolworths gap and made a success of it.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

The post-Woolworths stores that opened in former Woolworths branches all closed down. Wilko seems to have taken some of the Woolworths gap and made a success of it.

B&M's have also filled that gap as well Andrew.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Very altruistic but I wonder how that plays with the shareholders?

That's all in the past, M&S's policy has now changed. Of course, there may be more closures to come as rental periods come to an end. BHS and other stores have been locked into some unprofitable locations for long periods of time. They have the choice of
1) Closing the store but still paying the rent.
2) Renegotiating the rent.
3) Going into a CVA - effectively providing a chance to close the stores but not pay rent and renegotiate rent more easily.

Another area to watch in the future betting shops and the impact the maximum spend of £2 on betting machines will have. Bookmakers claim 20,000 jobs. Maybe extreme but there will certainly be some closures.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...-a7601646.html

---------- Post added at 11:48 ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 ----------

Originally Posted by denphone

B&M's have also filled that gap as well Andrew.

Yes, I agree, great store. They also do quite a bit of food too which I don't think Woolworths did.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Yes, I agree, great store. They also do quite a bit of food too which I don't think Woolworths did.

Woolworths used to do food in the old days Andrew then they decided to get rid of their food halls.

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun:


Debenhams is to axe around 320 jobs as part of a £10million cost-cutting plan.

Last month the flagging department store issued a profit warning after a difficult Christmas period where its like-for-like sales fell by 2.6 per cent.

And now it has confirmed it plans to axe hundreds of store manager roles across the country.

But it's not expected the changes will not mean any closures of its 176 stores.

It said it will aim to find new roles for those staff who will lost their jobs.

A spokesperson told The Sun Online: "The review has identified significant cost savings by reducing the complexity of management roles in stores as well as processes to optimise and standardise ways of working.

"The effect is that potentially 320 positions are at risk of redundancy - approximately 25 -per cent of store management roles.

Another in the mould of BHS and HoF. I think the traditional department store's days are numbered.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I think the traditional department store's days are numbered.

As is the traditional 'high street' shopping experience. The only thing they could possibly do is move to where the customers are - which seems to be the retail parks. The trouble there is they then face stiff competition from the big supermarket chains - which is how it all started anyway.

Unless you offer cheap goods people nowadays aren't interested, the word 'quality' will soon be removed from dictionaries

[denphone]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Another in the mould of BHS and HoF. I think the traditional department store's days are numbered.

Indeed a few more years and most of them will sadly have gone the way of the dodo.

Originally Posted by Carth

Unless you offer cheap goods people nowadays aren't interested, the word 'quality' will soon be removed from dictionaries

I dont think thats true at all, people still pay for quality, they just do it online.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Paul M

I dont think thats true at all, people still pay for quality, they just do it online.

I guess so, seems a bit hit n miss to me, putting your trust in a few dodgy reviews and a couple of nice pictures
I guess you can always return it for a refund if it's not as good as advertised though

But yeah, online, that's the future of shopping and a further hit to the high street. I've been patiently waiting for retirement so I can shuffle around town with a shopping trolley - I could miss out on that one