Changes on the High Street

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Carth

Student accommodation, it's the next big thing

Good call but in some cities it's probably reached saturation point. Don't know about Den's area though.

All the high street closures show to me how far ahead Littlewoods was when it closed its store, went online only, and introduced new brands like Very.co.uk.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Carth

Student accommodation, it's the next big thing

We already have too much of that down here as a fair proportion of the local populace think there is far too much of that already.

---------- Post added at 05:08 ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 ----------

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Good call but in some cities it's probably reached saturation point. Don't know about Den's area though.

All the high street closures show to me how far ahead Littlewoods was when it closed its store, went online only, and introduced new brands like Very.co.uk.

Far too much already Andrew.

There are already some 5,200 purpose-built student bed spaces in the city, leading to fears that too many student blocks are being built.

Cllr Mahony asked what happens when some rooms are occupied by students, others by visitors. He said: “It is a problem because we might end up with half empty blocks because there are not enough students to live in them.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/new...rented-1629029

[Carth]

hmm, well if student accommodation isn't the deal, how about work houses for the poor (it's the next big thing)

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun:


Poundworld is set to appoint administrators this morning, putting 5,300 jobs at risk after rescue talks broke down.

The discount retailer could become the biggest chain by number of workers this year to fall into insolvency, according to Sky sources.

It is understood that Poundworld's owner, TPG Capital, rejected previous offers to buy the business out of a pre-pack administration.

Deloitte, which has been co-ordinating efforts to find a deal for the business, is now likely to run another sale process once appointed as administrator

There has previously been speculation that Poundworld was going to axe 100 shops but if the retailer goes into administration, this could now put more of its 355 stores at risk.

The budget store has been losing cash for the past two years. Losses jumped to £17.1million in 2016 to 2017, from £5.4million the year before.

I guess it was only a matter of time.

[heero_yuy]

Quote from Sky news:


The Chinese-owner of Hamleys toy store will not be investing in House of Fraser (HoF), leaving the department store chain scrambling for cash to survive.

HoF, which is currently owned by China's Sanpower Group, had been waiting on a £70m investment from C.banner, which would have given it a 51% stake in the ailing department store.

"In light of C.banner's announcement, House of Fraser is in discussions with alternative investors and is exploring options to obtain the required investment," HoF said in a statement.

Who would want to invest in department stores these days?

[RichardCoulter]

Poundstretcher now in trouble too.

[RichardCoulter]

There's going to be a series about it on TV; the founder of Poundworld is to try to save Poundstretcher:

http://www.bradfordzone.co.uk/saving...-august-900pm/

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun:


House Of Fraser will push ahead with a plan to close nearly half of its 59 stores in a desperate bid to stave off administration.

The move is expected to put 6,000 jobs at risk by axing 39 outlets by January 2019 to solve a legal dispute with landlords.

They argued a plan to slash rents on remaining stores was unfair to them.

Last night the firm said it is “focused on concluding discussion with interested investors” after an out of court settlement with its landlords, who had opposed the move.

Looking pretty grim.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Looking pretty grim.

If the CVA wasn't approved it would be even grimmer. At least the company can move forward with its plans; if the CVA had been rejected then it would probably have fallen into administration. This gives it a couple of months to find a buyer, which is better than immediate administration. But only a bit!

[heero_yuy]

Quote from Sky News:


The new owner of Homebase will unveil plans to close about a quarter of its stores next week, threatening more than 1,000 jobs.

Sky News has learnt that Hilco Capital, which struck a deal to buy the DIY chain for a nominal sum in May, is expected to outline proposals for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) that will pave the way for roughly 60 of Homebase's 249 outlets to be axed.

Sources said the CVA - a controversial insolvency mechanism which has been deployed by retailers including Carpetright, Mothercare and New Look this year - would be launched by Alvarez & Marsal, the professional services firm, early next week.

The closure plan will come amid further evidence of the deteriorating outlook for British high streets, with House of Fraser desperately battling to secure new funding to avert a collapse that would threaten 17,500 jobs.

With all these chains going CVA it must be bad for the landlords.

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

With all these chains going CVA it must be bad for the landlords.

It’s worse for the landlords if a chain goes bankrupt and they immediately lose 100% of the income, then have to apply to the liquidator to try to recover back rent. All the CVA process really does is force intransigent creditors to confront economic reality, which in turn may lessen the frequency and severity of these massive job loss news stories.

[denphone]

Utterly inevitable...

http://www.cityam.com/290570/house-f...-rumours-swirl

House of Fraser has called in EY as administrators after talks with investors and creditors had "not concluded in a solvent solution".

[denphone]

House of Fraser bought by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct for £90m.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...cue-talks-fail

In a statement to the stock exchange, Sports Direct confirmed it had bought the retailer for £90m in cash, shortly after it fell into administration this morning.

“The group has acquired all of the UK stores of House of Fraser, the House of Fraser brand and all of the stock in the business,” it said.

[Stephen]

Think I'd rather see them go under than be bought by that idiot.

[Hom3r]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Think I'd rather see them go under than be bought by that idiot.

Not if you work there.