The next store to close is....

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  • Jamie Oliver’s flagship London restaurant was today cleared out by bailiffs one week after his business collapsed.

    Some 1,300 jobs were put at risk when the celebrity chef’s chain crumbled after it racked up debts of £71.5million.

    This morning bailiffs were seen removing tables and chairs from the restaurant near Piccadilly Circus in London’s West End.

    Everything was emptied from inside the building – including his cook books – and loaded into a van parked outside.

    Pictures taken this morning show the men inside the eatery quickly removing every piece of furniture and kitchen equipment.

    Story and pictures on link above.

  • The High street as we know it, or knew it, is doomed, it's a wonder it's survived this long. The first kicking the high street received was from councils who allowed big supermarkets to built on the edge of towns and drain trade away from town centres, then came the onslaught from the gig economy and on-line retailers who not only exploit their EU supplied workforce, but largely avoid tax and have minimal overheads. I sense the grim reaper is knocking on the door of the High street...

    ...and he's draped in an EU flag, could be another thread ;)

  • I wonder what will replace the High Street, though? Presumably, more houses...

    That's happening in our very small town. Empty shops are being turned into flats. We have never had any big name retailers, other than supermarkets.

    All our other shops are small independents, including the usual takeaways, dentists, hairdressers, etc.

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • In my experience High streets are becoming the preserve of betting shops, charity shops, fast food outlets and opticians. Perhaps not so much in the bigger towns & cities, but certainly in small towns.

  • Yep. My little town, which is part of a much wider London conurbation mess, is all takeaways, betting, charity, sun parlours (I'm in Essex, innit...) and other rubbish.

    That's happening in our very small town. Empty shops are being turned into flats. We have never had any big name retailers, other than supermarkets.

    Had a woolworths once, but as my town is part of a bigger town, I've not had any of the brand name retailers immediate to me.

  • The American owner of Boots The Chemist is exploring the closure of hundreds of shops in the latest blow to Britain's crisis-hit high streets.

    Sky News has learnt that Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has placed more than 200 outlets under review for possible closure during the next two years.

    Sources close to the company insisted on Tuesday that decisions had yet to be made about the stores under scrutiny, but acknowledged that a significant number were likely to be shut.

    Full story on link above.

  • I used to like Boots when I worked in London, as it was my primary go-to place for a sandwich. These days, the supermarkets have taken all their market share now.

    I was speaking to a relative about prescriptions last week and he did start using Boots as his prescription supplier of medicines, but after he arrived in the store to pick up his stuff which should've been ready, he was told he would have to wait at least a hour. The staff were also bickering with each other about who would serve the next customer....:rolleyes:

    If Boots had any sense, they would've tried going back to their roots and make their prescription service as slick a machine as possible, instead it's a mess. They could've knocked out all the high street independents, if they had been clever, but instead they will likely collapse.

    There is also the fact that their stores are everywhere. Everywhere I used to work in London, there was always a Boots store within a five minute walk and another store a few more minutes walk away after that. WHSmith used to the same, their shops everywhere.

  • I know of a lady who works in Boots in a town near us. She only sticks it out because she is close to retirement. They treat their employees badly, in this shop at least. Nobody stays there very long, unless they have good reason. They have insufficient and inexperienced staff, even on the pharmacy section.

    Mark Twain — 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'

  • Last time I went into Boots was for a prescription about 7 years ago. My local Sainsbury's now has a pharmacy section so I'd probably go there. We have a Boots on the same site but why? On-line services, stores like Superdrug and the supermarkets have really finished them off IMHO. Just like W.H. Smith. Nothing special.

  • Yep. My little town, which is part of a much wider London conurbation mess, is all takeaways, betting, charity, sun parlours (I'm in Essex, innit...) and other rubbish.

    Had a woolworths once, but as my town is part of a bigger town, I've not had any of the brand name retailers immediate to me.

    I have fond memories of 'Woolies' mainly because of the pic & mix sweets, which is why Woolworths was important to the average 7 or 8 year old. I'm going back long before the chain went bust, in fact to the 1960's. Mum would occasionally allow my bro and I to pick a small bag of sweets, I think 2oz each, and we would always discreetly eat one before we took them to the counter to pay and thought we had got away with the crime of the century. Talk about the age of innocence.

  • I am a retired retailer and believe retailers are partly to blame for their own downfall. Of course, internet shopping was always going to damage them, and the fact greedy landlords have ripped them for years hasn't helped either. There is a saying in retail "retail is detail", well it isn't actually. Buy the right stock, and sell it at the right price, it's actually that easy. The companies I worked for were particularly bad at stock control, and in turn had to discount stock to clear lines, and thus reduce margins. A 16 hour part timer could open a box and pinpoint a new line that would not sell. The £100k pa buyer didn't have the same ability though, how very strange !!. Retails biggest killer was the decision to open more and more hours. They didn't realise that by opening more hours they simply cut the cake into smaller pieces and increased overheads. To counteract this the directors have reduced staffing, which in turn has made customer service worse, and standards worse.

    The intelligent are being oppressed so the stupid don't get offended

  • Good post Bibbles.

    When a new Co-op store opened in my town last year, to begin with it was great. Well, the first day anyway. Loads of staff and fully stocked shelves, but by the second day it was obvious how the store would be run. Very low numbers of staff, long opening hours and half empty shelves. I gave up.

  • Mothercare UK administration plan threatens 2,500 jobs

    Baby goods retailer Mothercare has said it plans to call in administrators to the troubled firm's UK business, putting 2,500 jobs at risk.

    Mothercare said its 79 UK stores were "not capable of returning to a level of structural profitability and returns that are sustainable for the group".

    "Furthermore, the company is unable to continue to satisfy the ongoing cash needs of Mothercare UK," it added.

    It said stores would continue to trade as normal for the time being.

    We've spoken about Mothercare before earlier in this thread and its surprising it has taken this long for them to collapse. If they had brought in proper expertise on all things babies and toddlers earlier, aka mothers, rather than spotty teenagers, they would've survived. Like most retailers now, stuffing shops with clueless employees is a lose lose situation all round.

  • Like most retailers now, stuffing shops with clueless employees is a lose lose situation all round.

    It's what drives people to shop on-line and get their product recomendations from like-minded forum members who often have practical experience of what's good and also bad.

  • My children were all dressed by Mothercare, and they all prayed for the day they would have outgrown the Mothercare range

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