Another one bites the dust!

[Guest DaveW]

Not long after Jessops HMV has gone into administration. The same causes, advances in technology and Internet sales. A commentator on the radio said he hoped some of it could be saved, but it was people downloading direct rather than buying CD's, or buying these off the Internet that had killed it. He said it was the usual problem, a chain that had grown too large for todays needs and had too many shops and often in the wrong places (as with Jessops) which could no longer be sustained when the bubble burst and people used the Internet instead. http://www.computera...administration/ Also see:- http://www.money.co.uk/article/1002521-your-rights-if-a-retailer-goes-into-administration.htm

Edited January 15, 2013 by DaveW

[Guest DaveW]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21023610

[Guest]

And both went under just after selling a lot of gift vouchers for Christmas. Some Christmas spirit eh! :realmad:

[Guest Lee]

What I don't understand is if a gift voucher has been purchased then the company has accepted the money so why can't the presenter of the voucher get stock to the value? I'm probably being dense here so please can a learned person enlighten me please?

[Guest]

What I don't understand is if a gift voucher has been purchased then the company has accepted the money so why can't the presenter of the voucher get stock to the value? I'm probably being dense here so please can a learned person enlighten me please?

A lot of the stock will have been bought from companies which reserve the right to take it back if not paid for. From the moment administrators are appointed the stores would commit a fraud against those suppliers if they exchanged goods without getting cash for them.

[Guest DaveW]

I think they have to get the Administrators permission first though:-

"Q - I have goods on site for which I have not been paid. I am coming to take them away as I retain title to all goods provided until I am paid.

A - You are not entitled to take away these goods until the Administrators have determined retention of title issues. This involves a process of identifying the stock and reviewing the supply terms. Please contact a representative of the Administrators detailed on the webpage for the company of whom you are a creditor." See:- http://www.pwc.co.uk/business-recovery/administrations/brs-admin-faq.jhtml

[Guest DaveW]

Also see:- http://www.money.co.uk/article/1002521-your-rights-if-a-retailer-goes-into-administration.htm

[NannyFerret]

A lot of the stock will have been bought from companies which reserve the right to take it back if not paid for. From the moment administrators are appointed the stores would commit a fraud against those suppliers if they exchanged goods without getting cash for them.

But they have already had the cash in advance for the goods. I think the vouchers should have been honoured before the admins took charge..

[Guest DaveW]

The vouchers would have been honoured before the Administrators took charge Nanny. They were only refused once they were in administration, and there are laws governing what you can do once an administrator is appointed as they are then running the company, not Jessops. The goods they would have given in exchange for the vouchers Jessops had probably not paid the supplier for, or borrowed from the bank (our savings) to pay for, so in effect they would have been giving away other peoples goods or money to settle their debts. It's probably a case that both voucher holders and goods suppliers will jointly loose at least part of their money as well as the banks, if not it all. The main fault is banks and suppliers continuing to extend credit to organisations obviously in trouble with little chance of making a profit in future rather than pulling the plug sooner and so lessening any debts incurred. They used to say if a bank had lent you £1000 and you went into the red they would call in the loan and wind you up. If they had lent you a £1,000,000 and you went into the red they would lend another £1,000,000 since they were frightened of loosing such a big sum, but in the end it's stupidity as they then loose £2,000,000. I am afraid those who lend to firms need to realise far sooner when these big high street household names are no longer a commercial entity and pull the plug to save them running up further debts.

Edited January 16, 2013 by DaveW

[Guest Lee]

Thanks for clearing that one up for me.

[NannyFerret]

When I was young, we had one record shop in Coventry which was Jill Hansons (sister of the singer John Hanson)

It was only a little shop but it was always packed and we could also listen to the record on headphones before we bought it.

Too many people jumped on the band wagon and stores shot up. Eventually the big chains have priced themselves out of business.

We still have one family run camera shop in the centre of Coventry. I wasn't too keen on using them in the past as I went in once to inquire about an SLR and the manager was quite rude and didn't want to spend the time explaining things.

He lost a sale though as I had the money in the bank ready to pay for it and ended up going to Dixons.

However I have been in for the odd filter since the manager left and the new staff seem very pleasant, even if you only want something small, but I will still miss Jessops where I ended up buying most of my stuff from when I got into digital as they were only too happy to help a mere housewife who was just enjoying photography as a hobby..

[fuzzyedges]

Blockbusters now in administration another high street store

In 16 days comet jessups hmv Blockbusters The austerity plan for growth is certainly working

Thousands of jobs on the dole (wont cost us that much as the wellfare benifits are being cut)

Dodging tumbelweed in town and city centers is going to be the new pass time before long

[annie]

i often wonder if a lot of this is also due to the big supermarkets selling all these things now. we can go into sainsburys and tesco and buy butter, televisions and everything in between. in these huge super stores, we find we have no need to go elsewhere for items such as camera's, printers and lots of other items? it's not so far in the distant past we would have gone to a specialist shop to purchase our expensive/luxury items. now we can pick them up casually with the groceries and get our 'rewards points'...but we do not get the advice and knowledge that we would get from dedicated stores...nor do you get that from internet shopping.

[Guest DaveW]

I think the supermarkets selling everything are an effect more than the cause in order to maximise floor space to pay expensive business rates and survive on the high street. Unless the goods you stock are now spread over a wide field new technology and Internet sales can soon put specialist retailers out of business.

Things go around in circles, because Woolworths were supposed to have gone out of business as they sold everything and did not specialise, therefore people went to a specialist store for a wider range of any one product. Now as technology moves on the specialist is the one at risk since they have no widely differing products to sell if technology or Internet buying kills off their main line. Maybe Woolworths could now make a comeback? Blockbuster's too was affected by the same two competitors, Internet sales and direct downloading of video's.

The Radio was predicting that book sellers could be next as technology affects them too, since online sellers like Amazon sell the books cheaper not having high street business rates or rents and people also now download to their Kindles rather than buy printed books. Technology moved on slower in my youth therefore a trade would last you for life. The pace of technology is now so much quicker, therefore you can expect firms and jobs to come and go much quicker in future, with workers possibly having to change industries and be retrained several times in their working career.

http://www.retailresearch.org/whosegonebust.php

Edited January 16, 2013 by DaveW

[Guest DaveW]

140 more at risk. See:- http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/15/140-uk-retailers-critical-condition

[fuzzyedges]

lifes simple if you have the means to buy something someone will make something for you to buy

Should you restrict the buying power of people, manufacturing will suffer

Austerity is cramping everybodys thinking (for the good of the country????) the ones at the bottom of the payladder that support everyone else get hammered and we turn to look for the cheapest product or do with out

The companies that are offering the cheapest products are the internet based (non tax paying) companies but even these will be in trouble as there profits will drop as people get further depressed

Unless someone comes up with a feel good factor soon downhill is the only way this country is going

Just like the eurozone crissis someone is just kicking the can further down the lane rather than picking it up

[Guest DaveW]

The advantage online retailers have is you only need one shop or warehouse to serve the whole of the UK, not a shop in every town. Therefore with most goods the high street multi-outlet retailers can never compete on price, plus need to pay rates and rents on and keep modernising so many premises. They also need to employ more staff to serve the same customer base than an online retailer, hence their overheads are far higher. The shops most likely to survive on the high street are the personal care ones like hairdressers and beauty parlours that cannot go online and women's clothing and jewellery shops since women like to (window?) shop in store, unlike many men who often prefer to shop online from the comfort of home.

Edited January 16, 2013 by DaveW

[Alan]

I was wondering if WH Smith would still be on the high street in six months time.

[fuzzyedges]

Never disscount people

There are a lot who wont, cant, dont want to shop on line

There will always be a hardcore that dont want to faff with postal arrangements, want to see before buying, impulse buy etc and dont like computers, passwords, user IDs and so forth

Probably why currys groups sales went up when comet dived

Slowly but surley the small man is appearing again, good service niche market etc Looking to make a living not a killing Its now up to the councils to help instead of using there expertise in hinderance and extortion

Woudnt it be nice to walk down a high street and see small diverse shops

[Guest DaveW]

The question is how many of those diehards are there Fuzzy and how many high street shops can they support? OK if they were all in the same town just supporting a single shop, but scattered throughout the UK there may not be enough of them for the shop in their town to keep going in competition with the Internet. Add to that we oldies keep dying off and the youngsters now want to do everything online with their new electrical gadgets. We can no longer assume the young want what we wanted at their age. Bloomberg (the American TV station) reported a survey carried out among youngsters in the US old enough to drive which asked "if you could only have the electronic gadgets like I-Phones I-Pads etc or a car which would you choose?" The majority chose the electronic gadgets over the car as it gave them more street cred these days. In our generation the first thing any youngster wanted (particularly the American ones) was their own car once they were old enough to drive. Now I am afraid they want everything online on their electronic gadgets and that includes buying goods.