Changes on the High Street

[Stephen]

Perhaps most people will be savvy enough to book slots rather than turning up and queuing.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Perhaps most people will be savvy enough to book slots rather than turning up and queuing.

It's not generally how people work when they go into town or a shopping centre.

And the Apple model wasn't that hot either when I booked a technician slot. Sure, they had a well developed method and they called you out of the queue when they were ready - half an hour after the appointment time.

I suppose JL could have those who have booked queuing at one door and Hoi Polloi at another door, street configuration permitting.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Try and avoid doing things worthy of judgment and execution. You’re a rational being, not an impassioned animal.

That said, for a rational being you’re having a surprisingly difficult time understanding why a shop struggling with unprecedented limited capacity, at its most busy time of year, might resort to planning a way to control who is in its premises and when.

As a rational being I’m sure you’re not going to start bleating about your human rights being infringed or other such nonsense.

I think irrational fury is an entirely justified response, two things engrained in every true Brit from a young age are the importance of queuing correctly and moaning, if the first is going to be usurped away from us it's only right we can use the full fury of the second to rail against it.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

It's not generally how people work when they go into town or a shopping centre.

And the Apple model wasn't that hot either when I booked a technician slot. Sure, they had a well developed method and they called you out of the queue when they were ready - half an hour after the appointment time.

I suppose JL could have those who have booked queuing at one door and Hoi Polloi at another door, street configuration permitting.

People have got used to queuing now. Its just a way of life since COVID. it is a good idea and one that I'm sure JL have spent a lot of time looking into. They are just trying to get ahead of the curve. So to speak. It might work and then again it might not. No harm in trying it.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Stephen

People have got used to queuing now. Its just a way of life since COVID. it is a good idea and one that I'm sure JL have spent a lot of time looking into. They are just trying to get ahead of the curve. So to speak. It might work and then again it might not. No harm in trying it.

One thing about socially distanced queues, they move quicker

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Mr K

One thing about socially distanced queues, they move quicker

One has had waiting rooms online lately.

[Carth]

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun:

Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire has fallen into administration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk, administrators have confirmed.

The high street giant, which includes the Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton brands, hired administrators from Deloitte after the pandemic "severely impacted" sales across its brands.

Arcadia Group also owns TopMan, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Evans.

Stores will stay open as the business tries to find buyers for the brands.

The group, which runs 444 stores in the UK and 22 overseas, said 9,294 employees are currently on furlough.

Arcadia also have concessionary outlets in Debenhams, currently in administration, which could also be the end for that store group as well.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Arcadia also have concessionary outlets in Debenhams, currently in administration, which could also be the end for that store group as well.

Debenham has been coming for a long time. A store that has totally refused to move with the times. The stores still look like they did in 1978.....

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun:

Debenhams is set to close all of its 124 shops permanently and disappear from the high street after rescue talks to save the chain failed.

The business is set to be liquidated after JDSports pulled out of bids to save the troubled department store chain, putting 12,000 workers at risk.

Debenhams' website will continue to trade and shops will remain open until current stock is sold, but it’s believed stores will close early next year.

JD Sports was the last remaining bidder for Debenhams, which has been in administration since April.

The 242-year-old retailer had been considering a potential sale since the summer after it went into administration for the second time in a year.

Debenhams has already cut 6,500 jobs since May. It currently has 12,000 workers.

The collapse comes after Debenhams' sales in the six months to October plunged to £323million versus billions in its heyday.

No surprises there, tough for the staff just ahead of Christmas.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Mr K

Debenham has been coming for a long time. A store that has totally refused to move with the times. The stores still look like they did in 1978.....

^^ Absolutely this. An appalling shopping experience, selling vastly overpriced goods. As you say a store that has stayed firmly stuck in the mud with little attempt to change or modernise. The demise has been long on the cards, well before Covid which as is many cases has simply accelerated the process.

I feel for the employees, but won't miss the store itself one bit.

The one positive is that it might give the surviving department stores a little more breathing room ... thinking of John Lewis and Frasers mainly, though there are other regional ones still surviving.

[1andrew1]

Debenhams (unlike Arcadia) had a fairly successful online business. I wouldn't be surprised if this is snapped up.

I would also expect Selfridge's to acquire the Miss Selfridge brand from Arcadia's administrators but is less likely to acquire the shops that go with it.

Originally Posted by Chris

The one positive is that it might give the surviving department stores a little more breathing room ... thinking of John Lewis and Frasers mainly, though there are other regional ones still surviving.

At the rate the current lockdown policy is killing off business, we wont have any left to breathe.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Paul

At the rate the current lockdown policy is killing off business, we wont have any left to breathe.

I was telling my sons on Sunday when they walk down the high street next summer it will be all boarded up, Cleethorpes is all hospitality based.