Businesses Going Bust

[Gizmogle]

Woolworths and MFI were the first main businesses to go, now it looks like Zavvi and Dixons/Currys are going bust too!

What is the cause of all this? I blame the internet!

High street stores just cannot compete with internet prices. Play.com shows a very good example where a brand new Wii game was on offer for £17.99 with free delivery, whereas places like GAME had it on offer for £24.99!

 

[laseandre]

What she said.

 

[BJMorley]

It's to do with money. Prices go up and up, and while many wages stay around or under the inflation rates, people won't buy the most expensive stuff, so they shop around for the cheaper stuff.
So, when sales drop of more expensive items in electronic shops for example, many companies can't find the money to keep going, making the company more and more likely to go bust.
Play.com have got cheaper because more and more people are looking for the cheaper products, and with more people finding the items quicker on the internet, so high streets are likely to lose customers. Also, Play.com get there stock direct from the warehouse to your door, while with high street shops, most have to be distrubuted from warehouse to shop to door, so the costs will be higher due to this.
Brandon

PS. Hope it makes sense.

 

[devon_metro]

Its cheaper to deliver to a shop as its normally done in bulk. Quite simply people aren't buying things as most people got 0% pay rise this year, as businesses are cutting back. Stores that are in competition with each other are stuffed unless they can afford to knock down prices. Ultimately the internet makes the buck, its simple and easier. It also only needs to employ a few staff, to deliver items which is normally contracted to Parcel Force (as an example), and in the distribution centres, unlike shops which employ staff and with the associated costs of going into town (particularly true in Torbay where Torbay Council have recently installed on street parking meters [rip off]) are higher so it leads to a spiral of decline. People shop online > shops close > Nothing left in town to entice people in etc etc etc etc etc

 

[P156KWJ]

channel 4 and WHSmiths are supposed to be in trouble too aren't they?

 

[5872]

Dixons/Currys hock: - I seriously doubt that...

 

[Gizmogle]

That doesn't surprise me with their prices!

It's a shame though, as I quite enjoy high street shopping.

EDIT: Wait, Channel 4? Everyone loves C4!!

 

[P156KWJ]

won't miss Smiths, especially at stations! There's 2 at Nottingham (well, one of em is one of those Smiths at Pumpkin cafe places) and I bet they'd just get replaced by either another sodding coffee shop or a McDonalds they should use it as a proper travel centre or something!

 

[Ascot]

Well today's me mom's last day at work from Woolies and it's one of the last stores to close.

 

[Gizmogle]

It's a shame that all these places are going. What's going to be on our high streets in 10 years?

 

[P156KWJ]

are the employees of woolies getting any kind of bonus?
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It's a shame that all these places are going. What's going to be on our high streets in 10 years?

to be fair this happened with many places some decades ago as it does. It'll recover. Not too bothered myself, although it's a shame to see empty stores (Victoria Market is so depressing for that reason) they are nearly all selling rubbish that I wouldn't buy!

 

[Gizmogle]

I wasn't alive some decades ago

 

[Craig]

Also, Play.com get there stock direct from the warehouse to your door

And you don't pay VAT on most items IIRC, so their prices are a lot cheaper than the high street.

WHSmiths are supposed to be in trouble too aren't they?

The retail section maybe. But they also have their newspaper and magazine distribution section which should be able to support them. I doubt they'll go under but they might scale back their retail operations a bit. They could start with getting rid of DVD sales. Like Woolworths, their range is small and prices are high.

are the employees of woolies getting any kind of bonus?

They should receive a redundancy payment, along with their P45

 

[class 313]

What is the cause of all this? I blame the internet!

What a incorrect comment to make.

What is the cause of all this? People not having money to spend so companies aren't getting the income they need then bang, in come the administrators.

Now, what's causing us to have such little money? Mainly because the world is falling into a recession!

Do you not watch the news?
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I
Play.com have got cheaper because more and more people are looking for the cheaper products, and with more people finding the items quicker on the internet, so high streets are likely to lose customers. Also, Play.com get there stock direct from the warehouse to your door, while with high street shops, most have to be distrubuted from warehouse to shop to door, so the costs will be higher due to this.
Brandon

PS. Hope it makes sense.

No not at all.

Play.com have not decreased their prices because people are looking for bargains. I know what you mean, just worded it wrong. They have to decrease their prices. Why? Because nothing would sell. Simple. So to try to keep above the crunch, prices of things will come down... But as Woolworths and others have seen, that just wasn't enough to save them. You will continue to see buiesniess to close down. Only the biggest will survive.

Now to the point of the internet, no sorry its not the internet that is closing these shops. As I said above, its the recession. Indeed the nest isn't helping but is really not the main cause of this mess. As Miles said, we will recover from this, but it will be a rough and indeed a tight ride!

 

[Ascot]

are the employees of woolies getting any kind of bonus?
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Redundancy pay, welcome pack to the dole, P45, and 'cos the company shut before 10 weeks notice they get 10 weeks pay as a "bonus". Plus since all stock was at 90% a few mins before the store shut to sell the stock i got some swish TVs, coffee machines, Irons and other tack. (with the usual 20% off the discounted price for admin staff) .

 

[richa2002]

One shop I have noticed becoming more competitive is Argos which actually seems to offer reasonable prices these days. For example, managed to get Guitar Hero 4 with a Guitar for only £49.99! Before Christmas too.

 

[Mojo]

The retail section maybe. But they also have their newspaper and magazine distribution section which should be able to support them. I doubt they'll go under but they might scale back their retail operations a bit. They could start with getting rid of DVD sales. Like Woolworths, their range is small and prices are high.

You're absolutely right there... my sister used to work for WHS and says that the travel (railway stations, airports, etc.) and the newspaper distribution sections are doing quite well, but it's just the High Street stores aren't.

You've got to look out for companies who sold off their stores and now rent them back. A lack of fixed assets can be quite dodgy.

 

[Craig]

You will continue to see buiesniess to close down. Only the biggest will survive.

Jessops are on the verge of going under and have been for a while, but some of the smaller independent shops seem to be doing well. I suspect that could be down to the level of service offered by the staff (those in Jessops often seem to be clueless). Value added services are often a factor (as well as price) when deciding where to shop. Big doesn't always mean better.

 

[class 313]

Jessops are on the verge of going under and have been for a while, but some of the smaller independent shops seem to be doing well. I suspect that could be down to the level of service offered by the staff (those in Jessops often seem to be clueless). Value added services are often a factor (as well as price) when deciding where to shop. Big doesn't always mean better.

To be honest, depends what these little shops sell, but you're certainly right its not always the case.

 

[BJMorley]

:
No not at all.

Play.com have not decreased their prices because people are looking for bargains. I know what you mean, just worded it wrong. They have to decrease their prices. Why? Because nothing would sell. Simple. So to try to keep above the crunch, prices of things will come down... But as Woolworths and others have seen, that just wasn't enough to save them. You will continue to see buiesniess to close down. Only the biggest will survive.

Now to the point of the internet, no sorry its not the internet that is closing these shops. As I said above, its the recession. Indeed the nest isn't helping but is really not the main cause of this mess. As Miles said, we will recover from this, but it will be a rough and indeed a tight ride!

What I was trying to get across, someone thinks alike

 

[Ascot]

Credit Crunch hasn't got much to do with Woolies anyway. Ever since 2005 they knew Woolies wasn't going to last much longer because of the crap stock and low sales. They had millions of debt before July.

 

[class 313]

Credit Crunch hasn't got much to do with Woolies anyway. Ever since 2005 they knew Woolies wasn't going to last much longer because of the crap stock and low sales. They had millions of debt before July.

Ah yes, Woolies never really kept with the time. Shops like Wilkinsons didn't help either. But then the crunch finally ended it all.

 

[Mojo]

Dixons/Currys hock: - I seriously doubt that...

Why's that? Have you seen their accounts?

 

[Gizmogle]

I bought a PSP game from Currys for 94p

 

[Darandio]

Redundancy pay, welcome pack to the dole, P45, and 'cos the company shut before 10 weeks notice they get 10 weeks pay as a "bonus". Plus since all stock was at 90% a few mins before the store shut to sell the stock i got some swish TVs, coffee machines, Irons and other tack. (with the usual 20% off the discounted price for admin staff) .

Thats wrong mate, they won't get 10 weeks pay at all, maybe this rule applies if the company involved is still a going concern and is making only a portion of the workforce redundant. In this case, Woolies or the administrators don't even pay the redundancy, all workers have to apply for redundancy money via the statuatory redundancy payment scheme which you guessed it, is paid by the government. And it isn't instant in most cases neither.

You can have a go here and work some sums out to see how much you would get if your company fell the same way as Woolies:-

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/employment-legislation/employment-guidance/page33157.html

 

[Z12XE]

EDIT: Wait, Channel 4? Everyone loves C4!!

Indeed, and last year was something like their best year for viewing figures.

However Channel 4, although government has been saying it will run out of money by 2012, I suppose people aren't advertising so much.

A good example is 'local' radio (whats left of it) notice how many of the adverts are either Government campaigns or adverts trying to get people to advertise.

I've noticed on Kiss 105-108 during their network programming (which, lets be honest is most of the time) they are now using filler songs or other local fill ins during the opt outs in place of adverts whilst the provider of the programme (Kiss 100 London) is still having adverts.
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But then the crunch finally ended it all.

The so called Crunch led to their banks which their owed millions to call in the debt as they could see the proposed restructuring of the company would have meant they would get little, if anything back.

 

[Ascot]

Thats wrong mate, they won't get 10 weeks pay at all, maybe this rule applies if the company involved is still a going concern and is making only a portion of the workforce redundant. In this case, Woolies or the administrators don't even pay the redundancy, all workers have to apply for redundancy money via the statuatory redundancy payment scheme which you guessed it, is paid by the government. And it isn't instant in most cases neither.

You can have a go here and work some sums out to see how much you would get if your company fell the same way as Woolies:-

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/employment-legislation/employment-guidance/page33157.html

Not quite, They are getting redundancy money and the 10 weeks pay because they didn't get notice. Unless they are lying to their employees I doubt you.

 

[Darandio]

Not quite, They are getting redundancy money and the 10 weeks pay because they didn't get notice. Unless they are lying to their employees I doubt you.

Have you got evidence of that anywhere? I am presuming when you talk about lying to their employees you mean Woolworths, who no longer exist and are not paying out the redundancy anyway.

When a company goes "bust", there is no notice. True, you can apply for notice pay as part of the statuatory goverment scheme but normally you are only entitled to what is worked out by age and years of service plus any holidays for the calendar year worked out pro rata. I have had to do this twice now after working for companies that have called the administrators in. On the first occasion, I had to wait 11 weeks to receive any kind of payment and it didn't amount to much as I was only 20 at the time, even for 5 1/2 years service.

Whilst on the subject, there are plenty of news stories out today from Jersey regarding the Woolworths employees there. They are not entitled to a penny because the government scheme doesn't cover the channel islands.

 

[Ascot]

Have you got evidence of that anywhere? I am presuming when you talk about lying to their employees you mean Woolworths, who no longer exist and are not paying out the redundancy anyway.

When a company goes "bust", there is no notice. True, you can apply for notice pay as part of the statuatory goverment scheme but normally you are only entitled to what is worked out by age and years of service plus any holidays for the calendar year worked out pro rata. I have had to do this twice now after working for companies that have called the administrators in. On the first occasion, I had to wait 11 weeks to receive any kind of payment and it didn't amount to much as I was only 20 at the time, even for 5 1/2 years service.

Quite a few employees is my evidence and yes Woolies is the company i'm on about. We all know the money comes from the Government. However because they had less than 10 weeks notice 'till the store shut, they get the pay. Only people who don't get the redundancy money your on about are those who worked under 2 years or so.

 

[Bighat]

Woolworths and MFI were the first main businesses to go, now it looks like Zavvi and Dixons/Currys are going bust too!

What is the cause of all this? I blame the internet!

High street stores just cannot compete with internet prices. Play.com shows a very good example where a brand new Wii game was on offer for £17.99 with free delivery, whereas places like GAME had it on offer for £24.99!

Well, that arguement doesn't hold good for DSG (Currys/Dixons/PC World).

They have a huge internet sales operation, so on this reckoning they SHOULD be coining it!