Comet, HMV, Blockbuster. Do we care?

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Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

Not too sure how long the " Edinburgh Woolen Mill " or "Lake land Plastics /Cooking " can last ?? But !! I dont see any Pound Shops closing just yet !!

Perhaps you know different but I thought Lakelands huge mail order business was very profitable. And I don't think any of Philip Green's businesses are threatened following his last announcement on increased profits.

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

Every day, I get emails from Debenhams stating they have, 10% off until, such and such a date, next day it's 20% off, last week it was 50% off.
I think they are struggling a bit, even though the one we, (Wife) goes into seems to have plenty of women looking, or window shopping.

I must admit to online shopping, far better to compare prices, and you don't freeze walking around from shop to shop, all done from the comfort of your own home.Plus you save on petrol/diesel, if travelling to another town City to shop.

Jim.

Lincoln .7

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 16,832

We had a 'Pound' shop in Bury St Edmunds.

Then a '99p' shop opened, and shortly after the 'Pound' shop closed.

It made me laugh anyway.

Moggy

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

:D....probably the same owners!!;)

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 1,966

Nothing is forever. I grew up thinking Woolworths were always going to be there.

Which big name is going to be next I wonder ?

W H Smith never seem to be that busy, on the odd occasion I've been into one of their shops.

I was chatting with somebody about a month after Woolworths disappeared and they said the main reason why they went bankrupt is that they didn't actually own any of their shops. He said they were all rented (leased whatever) and so when they needed to raise money to pay increasing bills the best they could do was reduce outgoing cash rather than increase incoming cash.

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

I am not sure that that was the case., or at least a part of it. The group was simply unable to service its massive debts of around £400 million and was forced into administration. It had been over-trading for years and the recession finally did for it. Many of its stores were bought by Poundland and the Co-op and others but many remain empty to this day. Woolworths On-line started trading the same year the group closed.

Member for

18 years 2 months

Posts: 2,017

Working at ASDA in the Music and Video Dept. over Christmas, it doesn't suprise me that HMV are suffering, the CDs we were selling were usually less than £10 and 3 for £20 and that was for newly released CDs

Still, HMV is somewhere I still go to often and often buy CDs so i'd like to see them still be there in the future.

Member for

14 years

Posts: 949

Call me anti-social, but I hate going out to the "High Street", or even the "Shopping Centre". It is a miserable experience for me. I even try not to go to the supermarket. I hate the abundance of young mums, sully-faced teenager and old people that have nothing better to do than block the way through in large groups. I hate people not watching where they are going, I hate - it seems - everyone having to be doing something with their phone every dying second. In fact, as they talk so loudly into their little smartphones, it just serves to reinforce my opinion that they have nothing of any interest to say in the first place. And, getting parked can be a pain at best. Just getting into the car park, you have to go round cars stopping to let off painfully lazy people that can't walk an extra 100m and that's before getting a space that someone casually drives in as you were.

No, bring on the internet. I can buy what I want, when I want, and completely dodge a large part of society I have no interest in.

In fact, the only social experience I want is down the pub with friends that are actually interesting.

Member for

15 years 1 month

Posts: 479

If your pub hasn't gone the way of many others, ThreeSpool!

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

ThreeSpool - I know exactly what you mean. Fortunately we have a high street which still has a good mix of shops and, apart from the occasional moronic buggy-pushing-phone-jammed-to-ear mothers, it all works quite well. Supermarkets I loathe - in and out as quickly as possible and in the early morning!!

Member for

11 years 8 months

Posts: 569

We had a 'Pound' shop in Bury St Edmunds.

Then a '99p' shop opened, and shortly after the 'Pound' shop closed.

It made me laugh anyway.

Moggy

There was a humorous programme on BBC 1 not too long ago about the wars between those two.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nts9x

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

At least H.M.V. have at least decided to do the honourable thing, and honour the Gift Vouchers folks had given to them at Christmas.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

Member for

19 years 10 months

Posts: 3,808

I got a membership card at Blockbuster earlier last year for the first time, but only ever used it once, probably the case for a lot of people who can easily find the films on TV with a lot less hassle.