Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[pdq]

Jessops use CEWE for their off site printing like photobooks, I have used them for years when covering weddings and never had an issue with them, their on site photo printing is top notch too it is just their product knowledge, they will take anyone looking for a job now with less training, it reminds me of another company to do with photography called Tempest, you know the ones that do all the school prints, well the reason that Tempest are losing schools hand over fist is because they use less photographers now and more salesmen that can point and shoot with bridge cameras, hence why when I went for a job years ago I was told I was over qualified.

The last couple of Tempest photos we had were awful - trying to be arty with jaunty angles and odd backgrounds and not taking care that the little person being photographed looked their best. We ended up going to Max Spielman and having a photoshoot there instead - half the price and I could confirm we were happy before printing.

 

[Swanny200]

Tempest are very point and shoot, you have guidelines as to where lights need to be set up, backgrounds etc... you were not allowed to change the settings on the camera (which a few years ago was a Fujitsu bridge camera) no guidelines on if a child was wearing glasses how to adjust the lights to stop glare or how to position your subjects to stop it, poses had to be the same, no deviation from the Tempest plan, we stopped buying the kids school pictures and waited till they got home and I dug out my Sony and 50mm prime, I also did about 5 or 6 of their friends too in a mini group and solo shoot, when the oldest was leaving Primary, I ended up doing the prom shoot too, Max Spielmann have done really well from Tempest's misfortunes as well, they do know what they are doing and have their guys trained up well.

The other company are Venture, you get the shoot fairly cheap, sometimes from the likes of groupon, you go to the studio as a family, get the shots from a really friendly photographer, the kids jump around, he gets some amazing shots and then you go back a while later, ooh and aah at the amazing shots to be told you have to pay through the nose just for 6x4 pictures, they may be more professional than Tempest but they are still salesmen pretending to be photographers and they are pushy at that, one in Glasgow once told a friend that if they were not prepared to buy at that moment, that they can watch them get deleted on his mac as it wouldn't be worth his time keeping them, the friendly photographer turns into a not very friendly salesman.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

STA Travel has gone under this evening.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

He must have thought it was worth saving, but when you have the likes of amazon, WEX, or even London Camera Exchange who are very knowledgeable and in some cases give second hand stuff a basic refurb before sale, Jessops are as you say Dixons for photographers and stargazers who like a hard sell

I talked upthread about my time at Dixons, but one thing I do remember was that there were a few salespeople I worked with who were experts in their specific area. One bloke in particular was a photography specialist and his reputation as a fair and knowledgeable salesman preceded him within those circles. There would sometimes be half a dozen customers who insisted on dealing with him rather than any other salesperson who happened to be behind the "small and expensive" counter!

I have no idea if the company has continued to occasionally employ salespeople who know what they're talking about and aren't "extended warranty robots"... there's probably the odd one I suppose.

 

[Busaholic]

Jessops use CEWE for their off site printing like photobooks, I have used them for years when covering weddings and never had an issue with them, their on site photo printing is top notch too it is just their product knowledge, they will take anyone looking for a job now with less training, it reminds me of another company to do with photography called Tempest, you know the ones that do all the school prints, well the reason that Tempest are losing schools hand over fist is because they use less photographers now and more salesmen that can point and shoot with bridge cameras, hence why when I went for a job years ago I was told I was over qualified.

You may find that H. Tempest has closed, having not survived the Covid closedown. Beric Tempest is now in his 80s and it's an old fashioned, paternalistic firm: one of its then two longstanding fulltime school photographers was a friend of mine, who retired about five years ago and died two years ago. I don't believe he got replaced.

 

[DavidGrain]

JD Williams are closing their House of Bath brand. I am a little surprised that a mail order/online brand would be closing in these times. However I did some research and find that their parent company N Brown has taken a £50m loan under Coronavirus loan scheme and also has certain covenants under a £125m credit facility. They have reported at 40% fall in sales

 

[SteveM70]

JD Williams are closing their House of Bath brand. I am a little surprised that a mail order/online brand would be closing in these times. However I did some research and find that their parent company N Brown has taken a £50m loan under Coronavirus loan scheme and also has certain covenants under a £125m credit facility. They have reported at 40% fall in sales

I worked for JD’s parent company N Brown plc for a year in the early 2000s. On my first day I was stunned. It was like walking into 1973. Archaic systems, immense inefficiency, lazy but bullying senior management, but profitable because they were one of the few places that catered for “very plus size women” (a growing market, ho ho) and a lot of customers were lonely and used the phone call to place an order as a helpline / chatline.

One of my other memories was the utter stupidity of the ordering system and how it offered substitutions if a product was out of stock. Customer orders a blouse in a certain style. No stock, so what happens? Send her the matching skirt!!

I left in 2002 to go self employed, I couldn’t cope with that place. Oh, and they had a head of department who on his first day got everyone together, stood on a table and shouted “Some of you will have heard the acronym FIFO and think it means first in first out. Well no. In my world it means fit in or f*ck off”

 

[Tetchytyke]

M&S had massive issues when the offshored their manufacturing, particularly with the sizing of women’s clothes and ensuring consistency when different factories on different countries shared the production of an item. That was ages ago, no idea if it’s any better now

It isn't. I am a portly middle-aged man and nothing I try on in M&S seems to fit me properly anymore. If the trousers fit me in the leg I have a very explicit camel-toe; if they fit me in the crotch the legs flap around two inches below my ankle. Not to mention M&S seemingly thinking that the XL size also needs to include XL sleeves; I'm fat, not Stretch Armstrong.

If M&S can't even do clothes for portly middle-aged men properly, then what is the bloody point? So I get my stuff from Next or Gap.

The food is good, though. And certainly here they're no more expensive than Tesco on a lot of things, and where they are slightly more expensive the quality justifies it. A lot of people do their weekly shopping in M&S here. I couldn't get it when I moved here, but now I can.

JD Williams are closing their House of Bath brand. I am a little surprised that a mail order/online brand would be closing in these times.

JD Williams make their money through the interest payments on the goods, rather than the actual goods. A combination of increasing default rates and, even before Covid, the FCA sniffing around the market due to some "interesting" business practices, will put pressure on them. Nearly everyone I see at work has a catalogue debt, the credit limits were normally ridiculously too high, and something will give eventually.

Like with BrightHouse, a company that exploits the poor will be no great loss.

You may find that H. Tempest has closed, having not survived the Covid closedown.

Well that's one piece of good news to come out of Covid. Rip-off merchants of the highest order.

Hope people find new jobs though. Ones where they don't use the emotional hard-sell to flog overpriced tat.

 

[Busaholic]

It isn't. I am a portly middle-aged man and nothing I try on in M&S seems to fit me properly anymore. If the trousers fit me in the leg I have a very explicit camel-toe; if they fit me in the crotch the legs flap around two inches below my ankle. Not to mention M&S seemingly thinking that the XL size also needs to include XL sleeves; I'm fat, not Stretch Armstrong.

If M&S can't even do clothes for portly middle-aged men properly, then what is the bloody point? So I get my stuff from Next or Gap.

I'm portly and in very, very late middle age( ) and the usually reliable M&S seem determined to become a lottery. Even if they have trousers in my waist size, they're either in 'long' or 'short' leg and never in 'normal', presumably because they all got bought and no-one thought to re-order because the others had to sell first! When there's a sale, there are trousers in fifty shades of yellow or pink, to fit all those with a waist size of 32 or 46, with nothing in-between, and even then only for dwarves or giants.

 

[SteveM70]

I'm portly and in very, very late middle age( ) and the usually reliable M&S seem determined to become a lottery. Even if they have trousers in my waist size, they're either in 'long' or 'short' leg and never in 'normal', presumably because they all got bought and no-one thought to re-order because the others had to sell first! When there's a sale, there are trousers in fifty shades of yellow or pink, to fit all those with a waist size of 32 or 46, with nothing in-between, and even then only for dwarves or giants.

A lot of clothing used to be bought in what were known as ratio packs - for example 20 jumpers consisting of 2 x S, 6 x M, 8 x L, 4 x XL. The obvious problem is that if the ratio doesn’t match what gets bought, replenishing the sizes that have sold out just means you also get more of the ones you still have stock of. The specification of the ratios used to be quite scientific (Tesco had a “Scottish ratio” for example) but it’s still a poor way of working compared to ordering by size (especially for trousers where there are more variants) and most companies have got rid of it now. Maybe M&S haven’t

 

[si404]

Not to mention M&S seemingly thinking that the XL size also needs to include XL sleeves; I'm fat, not Stretch Armstrong.

I'm skinny with short legs, and they don't stock shorts of the skinnier waists. You'd have thought that skinny people aren't necessarily really lanky!

And no, buying the largest from the children's section isn't going to fly - the tight crotch area problem is even worse as the children's range doesn't seem to factor that in, even for the 15-16 age 'size'.

But then again, that's almost everywhere.

 

[DavidGrain]

I have been able to buy most of my clothes from JD Williams (previously Premier Man) and they do provide a very good range in sizes and in trousers that means waist sizes and inside leg lengths.

A lady friend of mine was lamenting a week or so ago about the loss of Long Tall Sally as she is a slim 6ft+ lady and does not know where she can go now for trousers.

 

[route101]

Im 38 waist and always find it hard finding them in short leg. Tried ordering online and wrong jeans came.

 

[Dai Corner]

I have to say I've had no trouble getting trousers to fit from M&S over the last 40 years.

Inside leg 31"
Waist increasing from 28" to 38" in 2" increments over the years!

I was in the House of Fraser store in Swindon a few days ago. Actually it was branded 'House of Fraser Outlet'.

It had the air of a 'ghost shop' and I got the impression that there would be no staff to stop me if I picked up whatever I wanted and left without paying. They might even be glad to get rid of some stock!

 

[RichT54]

I used to buy virtually all my clothes in M&S, but these days I'm really struggling to find anything I like. Why are so many men's clothes only available in black, very dark blue or beige? Why do they stock so many slim/skinny fit jeans when many of their customers need regular fit? Why do nearly all their casual jackets feel like they are made out recycled bin bags and the sleeves are all lined with polyester that is guaranteed to make my arms sweat? Why do they have to sew countless large labels inside, in all the world's languages? Why do they make the soles of their shoes out of a substance that quickly cracks and lets in rain water? Why do they make t-shirts so that the hems start unravelling the first time they are washed? Why does the size on the hanger often not match the size of the garment? Why do they have to keep playing that god-awful music?

 

[xotGD]

This thread appears to have drifted in a rather unexpected direction.

I wonder when we'll see more companies going under in the travel and tourism sector?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Some one mentioned House of Fraser. Yes definitely a ghost ship these days. Looks like it is being run down. Reminds me of when Woolworths were looking more and more sad before that went bust.

If you pick your timing right and aren’t fussy you can get great bargains in M&S when the yellow stickers go out (stuff that needs to clear).
It’s good if you are indecisive as you can let the stickers decide....
Not so healthy when you can’t resist the family sized trifle for 50p!
And i can’t recommend eating a whole pyramid of profiteroles on your own.....

Yup. Thats what I do in Morrisons, usually fits in with my journey home from work. And... Oh yes I have OD'd on something nice that i would not normally buy !.

My sympathy.
I will go out of my way to avoid having to go to a bank in person, because every time (admittedly exceptionally infrequently) that I do I feel that the person I'm talking to isn't interested in what I'm there for but is trying to sell me something I don't want. I can't conduct a simple transaction such as paying in a cheque without having to endure a sales pitch. Fortunately I have little need to do this nowadays.

Years ago I noticed my local HSBC bank got rid of two counters (numbers one and two) and the "system" happily called people forward to counters three, four or five. The space liberated by the two missing counters was replaced by two rooms primarily for selling product that you never knew you wanted. Incidentally the calling forward system has gone (it doubled as an advertising screen iirc) replaced by a single queue.

I have noticed the post office counter staff regularly want to try and and sell me something. I think Talk Talk used to crop up often - it was some phone/internet package that was well known for being awful. I think the post office (shops) have struggled ever since the replacement of benefit cheques by payments direct to claimants' (overdrawn) bank accounts. Less people in the place with money burning a hole in their pocket.

You mean you can’t see the appeal of popping into Lidl for a loaf and some ham and leaving with an angle grinder, some flip flops and a rug?

Oh, yes. That is what draws me into a Lidl !.

Found their work trousers are hard wearing and useful. So are the ones from Aldi. Worst thing is you have to keep checking and buy them when they are in stock but worth the wait.

I also grab a small slice of bread coated with cheese etc - a sort of small pizza . It fills me up better and cheaper than a burger when I need a snack while shopping after work.

You go there because you don't need the huge product range, and the smaller shops mean less time shopping.
The quality is good at both, definitely better than ASDA and Morrisons, but not quite as good as Tesco and Sainsburys, and they are £30-50 cheaper than the big supermarkets for a big shop.

Exactly. My drive-to Sainsburys is too big and they keep moving stuff around. My walk too Sainsburys got halved in size and is now a bit too small. My local Lidl is now bigger. I was brought up on Boots but gave up using them a lot when I was trying to buy stuff in a lunch break. Superdrug are marginally cheaper and easier to get round.

I do find that some staff have a superiority complex towards those who they deem not to be 'typical M&S customers'. Others are really helpful.

I find the account of the cakes odd; round my way (East Kent) M&S start yellow labelling the goods at about 15:00 on the sell-by date (that is 2 Foods and 1 department store selling food). I rather got the impression that they were scrupulous in clearing out of date (and sometimes damaged, in-date) food. If they were cream cakes, they would not be in the best of condition next day (before or after 15:00). I could suggest you've got some pretty rogue management in Lewisham (I found an on-line review - that was rubbish too so you are not alone)!
I once picked up a reduce price (slab) cake in the Co-op but they wouldn't sell it to me as the sell-by date was the previous day (I hadn't noticed).

Morrisons too. I had an utter bargain that was for the previous day. I could not persuade the checkout staff to let me have it.

I used to buy virtually all my clothes in M&S, but these days I'm really struggling to find anything I like. Why are so many men's clothes only available in black, very dark blue or beige? Why do they stock so many slim/skinny fit jeans when many of their customers need regular fit? Why do nearly all their casual jackets feel like they are made out recycled bin bags and the sleeves are all lined with polyester that is guaranteed to make my arms sweat? Why do they have to sew countless large labels inside, in all the world's languages? Why do they make the soles of their shoes out of a substance that quickly cracks and lets in rain water? Why do they make t-shirts so that the hems start unravelling the first time they are washed? Why does the size on the hanger often not match the size of the garment? Why do they have to keep playing that god-awful music?

I used to use M&S a lot for clothes. But their clothes seem to be rather expensive and the quality is definitely not there any more. Everything seems to wear out faster than it used to. I generally buy things in the sale. Mind you I used Primark for a while and their clothes are definitely fragile.

 

[Tetchytyke]

For clothes, I'm increasingly finding the supermarkets have the best range. Especially Sainsbury's, whose stuff is well made and fits well and is a sensible price.

As for House of Fraser, Mike Ashley can do "pile it high and sell it cheap" but struggles with anything else. Sports Direct is a soul-destroying shopping experience, but the prices are good. That tactic doesn't really work for a department store though, which really needs to be a destination rather than something you endure for cheap Adidas trainers.

 

[DavidGrain]

I have bought clothes from both Sainsburys and Tesco but you do need the larger stores for this and for me that involves travelling longer distance as my local branches are not big enough.

 

[Darandio]

For clothes, I'm increasingly finding the supermarkets have the best range. Especially Sainsbury's, whose stuff is well made and fits well and is a sensible price.

We found this during lockdown. We had normally been buying from Asda/George and were fairly happy with it but there was a point during the recent debacle where they wouldn't deliver to the local store for pickup. We then looked at Sainsburys/Argos and found the TU range, turns out they were a bit cheaper for good quality and they were happy to let us pick up at the nearest Sainsburys local.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

This thread appears to have drifted in a rather unexpected direction.

I wonder when we'll see more companies going under in the travel and tourism sector?

STA Travel went under the other day. Not surprising, as gap-year travels haven't really been happening since March. Though it wouldn't surprise me to see that being one of the first areas of international tourism to come back.

 

[GusB]

I had to purchase a new shirt for a funeral, and had no idea what collar size I was. When I approached the staff in Tesco to ask if I could try it on, the lady pulled out a measuring tape and told me right away. The experience was a world away from the one we had in M&S when I took my dad to buy a shirt a few months previously.
Most of my clothes have recently come from Sainsbury's Tu range, and I've been fairly happy with them.

 

[xotGD]

More cuts in the banking sector:

"The Co-operative Bank has said it will cut 350 jobs and close 18 branches due to the current "economic uncertainty" and the shift to online banking."

 

[Jamesrob637]

More cuts in the banking sector:

"The Co-operative Bank has said it will cut 350 jobs and close 18 branches due to the current "economic uncertainty" and the shift to online banking."

Although 350 jobs is a tragedy, it's pittance compared to other industries. Most of the staff could TUPE or be easily redeployed elsewhere in the banking sector.

 

[DavidGrain]

Most of the staff could TUPE or be easily redeployed elsewhere in the banking sector.

Where would the TUPE to? TUPE relates to a Transfer of Undertaking not to redundancy within the undertaking. As all banks are reducing staff it is unlikely that they can easily find other jobs in the banking sector.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Other companies at risk:

Accessorize/Monsoon (if they haven't gone already)
Last of the Debenhams stores

Harvey's (furniture)
Jack Wills
Acadia (Topshop, Dorothy Perkins)
Laura Ashley
Possibly H&M and Boots Opticians

Seems like the only retail clothes store doing well is Primark

 

[Swanny200]

Other companies at risk:

Accessorize/Monsoon (if they haven't gone already) Still Going for just now
Last of the Debenhams stores Agreed, seeing as Mike Ashley is buying out other sports chain competitors rather than helping out what he already has in HOF and Debenhams, but there are rumours that Next are interested in buying them.

Harvey's (furniture) Surprised them and the likes of DFS are still going to be honest
Jack Wills Again part of the Mike Ashley "Couldn't give a toss" group
Acadia (Topshop, Dorothy Perkins) Yep and the loss of quite a few old names off the high street, also Evans which has been overtaken by online larger clothing companies
Laura Ashley
Possibly H&M and Boots Opticians H&M have done reasonably well, but maybe not good enough, I have never used Boots Opticians to garner an opinion

Seems like the only retail clothes store doing well is Primark

Ikea are another one that seems to be doing better, they have been pretty good since the restart with distancing, click and collect etc...
Mike Ashley has just bought DW Sports including their gyms, be interesting to see what he plans to do with them.

 

[SteveM70]

Mike Ashley has just bought DW Sports including their gyms, be interesting to see what he plans to do with them.

I wouldn’t put it past Ashley to have done it mainly to get back at Dave “did I ever mention I played in the FA cup final and broke my leg?” Whelan. He hates him

But that aside, I’d imagine he’ll rebrand the gyms, and where the associated shop is within a few miles of a Sports Direct (Halifax is one example, and also I think near Ikea at Birstall) the SD shop will close and relocate

 

[S&CLER]

After my experiences I wouldn't be sorry to see the Vue cinema chain close down. I had £82.45 worth of advance tickets booked for live relays from Covent Garden and the New York Met when the lockdown was announced. I rang Vue's customer service number (quite hard to find) and after 15 minutes on hold gave my details and was assured that my credit card would be refunded soon. That was in late March, and I still haven't had any money back. Today, the first day our local Vue reopened, I tried to get a refund over the counter, but was told that was not possible. I've just tried the customer service number again, held for 5 minutes, and then gave up. I won't be going again, and hope the scoundrels go bankrupt.

 

[Swanny200]

After my experiences I wouldn't be sorry to see the Vue cinema chain close down. I had £82.45 worth of advance tickets booked for live relays from Covent Garden and the New York Met when the lockdown was announced. I rang Vue's customer service number (quite hard to find) and after 15 minutes on hold gave my details and was assured that my credit card would be refunded soon. That was in late March, and I still haven't had any money back. Today, the first day our local Vue reopened, I tried to get a refund over the counter, but was told that was not possible. I've just tried the customer service number again, held for 5 minutes, and then gave up. I won't be going again, and hope the scoundrels go bankrupt.

Vue and Cineworld have both been complaining about losing money, when half of the films that were due to come out have been put straight onto streaming platforms you can understand, but then again they make enough money as it is, that coupled with the way they treat some of their staff the bad outweighs the good.