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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Sept 16, 2023 6:30:14 GMT
One of the Wilko sites bought by the owners of Poundland is here in Stockport.
Ironically, Poundland acquired a BHS site, opened a Poundland there and closed it again. We then had to make do with the smaller established Poundland. Their acquired Wilko site is within a row of shops just outside the town centre so may be cheaper to rent.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Sept 20, 2023 23:45:56 GMT
It was very sad to walk past the branch in the Oaks centre in Acton and see the clearance sale. The high street is really in dire straits. Problem is that more people are shopping online such as on Amazon which is killing the high street. I much prefer to shop in store No the councils, LTN's undesirable thieves have been killing the High St. I cannot tell the last time I went to a traditional High St to shop. I mainly go to out of town retail parks. |
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Post by greenboy on Sept 21, 2023 6:56:17 GMT
Problem is that more people are shopping online such as on Amazon which is killing the high street. I much prefer to shop in store No the councils, LTN's undesirable thieves have been killing the High St. I cannot tell the last time I went to a traditional High St to shop. I mainly go to out of town retail parks. Also town centre parking charges, as mentioned in a previous post Nugent Retal Park offers three hours free parking and it's hardly surprising so many people go there to shop rather than Orpington High Street. |
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Post by vjaska on Sept 21, 2023 11:39:46 GMT
Problem is that more people are shopping online such as on Amazon which is killing the high street. I much prefer to shop in store No the councils, LTN's undesirable thieves have been killing the High St. I cannot tell the last time I went to a traditional High St to shop. I mainly go to out of town retail parks. It depends on the high street in question. LTN’s & the council haven’t made much of a dent into Brixton because most who shop there don’t travel by car - any issues we’ve had has been mainly internet shopping as well as Network Rail hiking rent prices of shops under the arches which led to several not returning after the refurbishment of the arches a few years ago |
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Post by northlondon83 on Sept 26, 2023 5:43:54 GMT
Went past Wilko in Uxbridge yesterday and noticed how much has changed in the past month! Didn't have a look inside but the majority of items were reduced, with the basement floor being completely shut. Won't be long until it completely disappears.
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Post by allentc on Sept 27, 2023 10:40:32 GMT
Shame about Wilko I thought their stuff was reasonably priced and decent quality. There isn't a much talked about BM or Home Bargains near me.
It is my theory that one of the reasons for failure was too rapid an expansion. That is previously they may have only had a store or two within say a 30-60min radius of where you live then suddenly over a few years there is one on every street corner. Few businesses have cash reserves sufficient to entirely cover the upfront costs of setting up a new shop so many resort to borrowing. In addition the "shop on every high street" rapid expansion model leads to some very dubious decisions to open in places that actually are poor choices (throw stuff at a wall and see what sticks). Rather than perhaps what is considered the old fashioned cautious way of slowly opening a few new shops in very select areas, evaluating their performance (quickly closing those that fail) and giving them time to pay themselves off (replenish the cash reserves) the model these days seems to be an explosion of expansion funded by debt. You get a massive increase in revenue which makes headlines and pleases the city. Problem is a company becomes so debt laden that any blip (even temporary) that sees sales fall off by a small amount means that debt can no longer be serviced and then it becomes a downward spiral as interest builds on interest.
Another example of "too rapid" expansion is Maplins. Previously was only in a few select high streets then suddenly in a matter of only a few years were everywhere then failed. Same with some chain restaurants that pop up on every high street and then go bust. With Lidl and Aldi it is different with their rapid expansion as food is an essential item so people generally don't cut back on eating when times are hard since it is a necessity. With Wilko, Maplins the items in their shops are more "discretionary" and so are the first things to be cut when there is a downturn in the economy. Hence why IMO the rapid expansion model works for some types of businesses but not others.
There is saying with family businesses (there are variation to this): The first generation sows it, the second generation grows it, the third generation blows it!
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