The closing shop chains thread...

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby rebbonk » Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:33 am

Not strictly a shop, but it looks like Axminster have hit the buffers



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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby dutchman » Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:37 am

Retail chains shut 20 shops a day

Major retailers in Britain closed an average of 20 stores a day over the past 12 months, new research revealed.

The numbers of shop closures by high street chains in 2012 was 10 times the number on the year before, analysis by PwC and the Local Data Company found.

The survey found that 1,779 stores were closed last year, compared with 174 in 2011.

The data, drawn from studies of 500 town centres across Britain, found that jewellers, health food shops, travel agents, and sports goods shops were among the hardest hit, along with banks, computer games and clothing stores.

But other businesses bucked the trend, including pound shops, pawnbrokers, charity shops, cheque cashing and payday loan companies, and betting shops, as well as supermarkets and coffee shops, the report found.

And the number of closures is predicted to rise.

Studies of the three months between December last year and February show the rate of closures could soar to 28 a day, mainly through companies falling into administration.

The past few months have been particularly tough for many major high street retailers, with Blockbuster, Comet, Jessops and HMV have all collapsing.

Figures from the Local Data Company found revealed 7,337 store closures in England during 2012, and 5,558 store openings.

The South East, West Midlands and North West were worst hit, with 376, 265 and 215 more closures than openings respectively.

Cheque cashing and payday loan companies fared the best, with a net change of 121 units, while card and poster shops performed worst, with a net change of 188 units.

Matthew Hopkinson, director of The Local Data Company, said: "2012 was the first year that we have seen significant reductions of multiple retailers in town centres across Great Britain with a net loss of nearly 1,800 stores.

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby rebbonk » Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:30 am

Textiles Direct looking dodgy

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby dutchman » Wed Mar 06, 2013 3:59 pm

It's never long before another name is being added :roll:

Thomas Cook cuts 2,500 UK jobs and shuts 195 high street travel agencies

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Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, is cutting 2,500 British jobs and closing 195 of its high street travel agencies.

Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's Europe and UK chief executive, said it was "never easy" to make job cuts but insisted the company had to make sure its administrative costs were "as low as possible".

The company said most of the job cuts would be in back-office functions, but warned some stores would be closed as part of a major restructuring of the business. The company has more than 800 stores and employs 15,500 people in the UK and Ireland.

"It is never easy to make decisions that impact directly on our people, but we also owe it to our customers to shape the business effectively and ensure that, when they book their holiday with us, our administrative costs are as low as possible," Fankhauser said.

"As we improve and develop our online capabilities, maintaining a strong presence on the high street is an important part of our omni-channel strategy. Even after these changes, we will still have one of the largest retail networks in UK travel."

The news comes on a bad day for the high street. More than 400 jobs are to go at the bed company Dreams, which has been bought out of administration by the private equity group Sun Capital Partners but is closing 93 stores.

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby dutchman » Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:12 pm

Coventry jobs saved as rescue deal agreed for HMV

MORE jobs have been saved across Coventry and Warwickshire after a rescue deal was agreed for struggling retail giant HMV.

Hilco, which owns HMV Canada, announced it had acquired 141 stores – 25 of which had been earmarked for closure, including Nuneaton and Leamington.

The iconic entertainment store collapsed into administration in January following competition from online retailers and supermarkets.

A month later, administrators Deloitte announced plans to close 66 stores – including shops at Nuneaton’s Ropewalk Shopping Centre and Leamington’s Royal Priors.

But a Hilco spokesman yesterday confirmed both sites and Coventry’s HMV have all been saved from closure as part of the deal which will save around 2,643 jobs across the country.

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby dutchman » Tue May 28, 2013 11:19 pm

One fifth of high street stores forecast to close within five years

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The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has forecast that the number of retail stores in the UK could fall by 62,000 by 2015.

Currently online consumption of retail goods is approximately 12.7% and is likely to surge towards 22% over the next five years.

The sharp reduction in stores comes from the effect of businesses shifting online, a process which is being hurried along by the recessionary environment in which rising costs are reducing profit margins for small and medium sized companies.

In November 2012 the Bank of England (BoE) released their quarterly Inflation Report announcing that three in ten stores within the UK were making a loss. The BoE stated that low interest rates were keeping unhealthy companies within the margin of sustaining their operations until recessionary adjustments were made.

Sir Mervyn King, BoE governor, has stated that “obviously, this cannot continue indefinitely”, and added how “policy can only smooth, not prevent, the ultimate adjustment”.

Right now prices are being inflated at around 21% to increase output short term but profits are only rising at 12% and with this pressure the technological shift of the internet is occurring rapidly.

The report estimates that closures will be concentrated across pharmacy, health and beauty stores as well as music, books, gifts and DIY stores. This announcement has been pre-empted by such closures as HMV and Jessops early this year. As many as 316,000 jobs could be lost due to the process.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, the author of the report, said: “Retail stores will remain an important, although smaller, part of the shopping process as online retail continues to grow.”

The shift will mostly affect Wales and the North West of England, which are seen as the weakest margin stores and therefore would take the brunt with as many as 29% of stores closing in Wales.

According to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), hedge funds are already positioning themselves for the risks UK closures expose their investments to by shorting the shares they believe are most exposed. Shorting involves borrowing shares and then waiting for them to fall to buy them back cheap and locking the profit.

Their biggest concerns right now are WH Smith, which has 63% of its shares being shorted, the Home Retail Group – which owns Argos and Homebase – which has more than 20% of shares being shorted, and Halfords which has an enormous 90% of its shares bet on a sharp fall in value.

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby rebbonk » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:16 pm

Three more bite the dust....

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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby dutchman » Thu Jun 27, 2013 1:44 am

I'm familiar with Modelzone. They commission special editions of models from the big manufacturers for sale through their own branches and mail order. They don't have a branch in this area though as far as I know?
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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby rebbonk » Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:38 am

I'm familiar with Modelzone. They commission special editions of models from the big manufacturers for sale through their own branches and mail order. They don't have a branch in this area though as far as I know?


There is (was) one in Leicester. I used it a few years ago.
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Re: [Renamed] The closing shop chains thread...

Postby dutchman » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:49 pm

Blockbuster goes into administration for a second time

Blockbuster has gone into administration for a second time, it has been announced.

The DVD and gaming rental chain - which was sold to private equity firm Gordon Brothers Europe earlier this year - will now face further redundancies.

Gordon Brothers Europe said in a statement that it had "striven to turn around the historically loss-making company by restructuring the business, investing significantly in strategic marketing activities and negotiating with the landlords of its retail outlets".

"The company also tried to develop a new digital platform but was unable to broker a licensing deal with Blockbuster UK's parent company in the US," the company's statement continued.

"Regrettably, the months since the acquisition have also coincided with a period of poor trading performance across both rental and retail sales."

It has been confirmed that there will be 32 redundancies at the retail chain's UK headquarters, but that the remaining 264 stores will continue to trade as usual.

Around 200 of Blockbuster's 528 stores were closed after the original administration announcement, with around half of their 4,000 employees losing work.

A buyer for the chain is currently being sought.
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