Whos next?

[Raven]

Bit of a shame really. But again, refusing to move with the times. Hardly surprising.

 

[Moriath]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20958659

link to bbc article about it

 

[Zarjazz]

With that many cameras, they should have seen it coming.

 

[BloodOmen]

bye bye www.play.com aswell

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/ne...irect-retail-business-become-marketplace.html

 

[Embattle]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20958659

link to bbc article about it

Can't really survive while only really specializing in one category.

bye bye www.play.com aswell

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/ne...irect-retail-business-become-marketplace.html

I think everyone knew that it was going to be problematic when the loophole was closed, tight margins became no margins

 

[BloodOmen]

Can't really survive while only really specializing in one category.



I think everyone knew that it was going to be problematic when the loophole was closed, tight margins became no margins

Its a shame really, Play used to be my go to place for Xbox/Ps3 games and the odd dvd title/box set - I won't touch it with a barge pole now as I simply don't trust 2nd hand online trading after some events in the past.

 

[Tom]

I'm actually glad Jessops is struggling. £20 for an SD card that you can buy for a fiver on Amazon. I once saw CF cards being sold for £50, cards that I could buy at Scan for less than a tenner.

Their prices are ridiculous and I'm sure people only buy there through desperation or ignorance.

Having said that I fancy a cheap telescope and will be keeping my eye on their prices...

 

[MYstIC G]

Play won't be far behind them based on this imho. Not being quite as greedy as eBay for fees isn't what I'd call a sustainable business model.

 

[Job]

When they first opened the aldi by us it was empty for three years..bit too posh around here..now its ramed 7 days a week..you can never get the car park and its open till 9.30 every night..someone must be taking a hit.

 

[Moriath]

tesco up .. m&s food up will wait to see the food results from the other supermarkets i guess.

I guess people who used to buy little at xmas buy more from aldi and the big store put their prices up so the takings even out ..

donno tho

 

[Calaen]

People have realised that Aldi and Lidl sell some very nice food! the one next to me is 1 minute away from an ASDA hypermarket, yet it's always packed and based on the people inside and the cars they drive, it's not just people with little net disposable shopping there!

 

[MYstIC G]

People have realised that Aldi and Lidl sell some very nice food! the one next to me is 1 minute away from an ASDA hypermarket, yet it's always packed and based on the people inside and the cars they drive, it's not just people with little net disposable shopping there!

Mate who works in Waitrose basically told me they all same the sell shit its just that the UK supermarkets voluntarily adhere to standards codes that Aldi and Lidl don't currently bother with, things like what shape your bananas are, etc.

 

[Raven]

Stuff nobody really cares about

I go to Aldi now and again, though it's a bit out of the way really. The Lidl became an Asda unfortunately.

 

[Tom]

Mate who works in Waitrose basically told me they all same the sell shit its just that the UK supermarkets voluntarily adhere to standards codes that Aldi and Lidl don't currently bother with, things like what shape your bananas are, etc.

Anyone who's tried grapes from both Waitrose and Asda knows that isn't true.

 

[Embattle]

All Jessops stores will be closed on Friday.

 

[Zenith.UK]

Bloody hell about Jessops closing outright that quickly after announcing the administration.
I guess the major camera manufacturers had ownership of unsold stock clauses in their agreements with Jessops. They must have claimed all unsold stock back.

 

[Deebs]

Bloody hell about Jessops closing outright that quickly after announcing the administration.
I guess the major camera manufacturers had ownership of unsold stock clauses in their agreements with Jessops. They must have claimed all unsold stock back.

They have, all stock is being returned to a central warehouse and then distributed back to suppliers.

 

[Fweddy]

HMV's gone into administration.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-01-14/4-000-jobs-at-risk-as-hmv-goes-into-administration/

 

[Zenith.UK]

And more about HMV...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c4096aee-5e82-11e2-a771-00144feab49a.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hmv-set-to-go-into-administration-8451438.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...d-to-call-in-administrators-within-hours.html

 

[Lamp]

WH Smiths

Who buys magazines anymore? Fair enough if you need your fortnightly fix of "Chair Watching - An Indepth Guide to the Art of Regarding Chairs"...but you can even get that online, Teedles
Books? You go to a proper bookshop or Amazon
Stationery - yeah ok, back to school etc, but again, you can order it all cheaper online. Hell, can probably get it all at a big Sainsburys.
Games / DVDs - forget it. Digital downloads / torrents / Amazon etc will kill / are killing the physical market.

 

[Tom]

Company dealing in physical versions of products that no longer require a physical medium in fail shocker.

 

[Bodhi]

I'm a bit gutted about HMV if I'm honest, most of my CDs and Blurays came from there. It never bothers me that I can get the same thing a couple of quid cheaper off Amazon, id much rather just walk into a store and pick it up. I'm also a physical media kinda guy, I like sleevenotes and proper artwork with my music, and a copy to put in the CD rack.

 

[Zenith.UK]

The thing about stationery is that you could buy in advance, but there are times when you need something done NOW.
For example, if you get your 6 yr old home and they have to produce a coloured piece of art for school by the next day, and if you've run out of paper/colours... do you order online? No, you go to WHS/Staples/Tesco/wherever to get what you need there and then.

 

[Embattle]

I'm a bit gutted about HMV if I'm honest, most of my CDs and Blurays came from there. It never bothers me that I can get the same thing a couple of quid cheaper off Amazon, id much rather just walk into a store and pick it up. I'm also a physical media kinda guy, I like sleevenotes and proper artwork with my music, and a copy to put in the CD rack.

You are one of the few and certainly not enough to sustain HMV, again it has suffered from strong competition (with questionable tax ethics) and living in a specialist market.

 

[MYstIC G]

You are one of the few and certainly not enough to sustain HMV, again it has suffered from strong competition (with questionable tax ethics) and living in a specialist market.

I'm surprised that HMV have failed so hard to be honest. They did after all take out a huge chunk in 7Digital did they not?

 

[Embattle]

They've managed to survive longer than most people thought they would. Personally I used to go to HMV every so often to buy DVD/Blu-rays, my current collection is around 600 with the largest chunk coming from Play.com(286) and HMV/HMV.co.uk (85) but in recent years my visits have dropped to nothing.

They do have subsidiaries in 7Digital(50%), MAMA Group and Fopp but none of these is enough to cover the high costs, low margins and competition of running HMV stores. In 2011 they offloaded Waterstones for £53m which was an attempt to reduce debt and then towards the end of last year they had to warn about possibly breaking loan agreements followed by what has probably been a crap Christmas, the results mean that suppliers are probably unwilling to help them in a climate that is some what shit for nearly everyone.

 

[Billargh]

I feel fucking rotten agreeing with Bodhi, but it's just not the same waiting for something to be delivered. Plus I still don't like buying stuff and not having anything physical to show for it

 

[Lamp]

Plus I still don't like buying stuff and not having anything physical to show for it

Huh. Bummer. Well, guess I won't be dating Penelope_Wants_Your_Cock2Nite01947982 anymore . She was one in 10 million.

 

[DaGaffer]

I'm surprised that HMV have failed so hard to be honest. They did after all take out a huge chunk in 7Digital did they not?

Like most retailers, they dabbled with digital distribution but it was too half-arsed, too...defensive. Problem with the likes of 7Digital is there was no particular reason to buy from them rather than iTunes (other than anti-Apple sentiment), Amazon or Spotify, and HMV weren't prepared to make the investment (or risk) to realign themselves as a platform rather than a retailer.

Its the kind of thing that will be used as an example in Corporate Strategy classes for years to come; failure to accept that the way you currently do something doesn't actually define the business you're in (when I was in Business School they always used the example of American train companies, who identified themselves as "train companies", not "transportation companies" and so failed to understand and compete with the threat from airlines).

HMV (and GAME and many others) should have grasped the nettle years ago and accepted they were "media distribution companies" and adapted accordingly (mainly by culling stores starting seven-eight years ago while they concentrated all future investment in online). Problem was, in their gut, the boards of these companies never accepted they were anything other than "shops".

I'll be sad to see them go (and I'm going to be really depressed when the bookstores go), I actually buy quite a lot of DVDs from them these days (although I haven't bought any music in there in years) via the multibuys, even though all I do is rip them and throw the DVD in the attic. They're pretty much always cheaper than buying a download and I simply don't believe in movie piracy. Now all that will be left is Tesco (OK for chart), a local Irish one called GoldenDiscs (which is expensive and shite and can't be long for this world), and the local Blockbuster equivalent XtraVision, which is also (inevitably) in trouble. I'm not really looking forward to complete end of physical media even though I actually consume almost everything digitally (I haven't read a physical book in months).

 

[Vae]

The current top ten shorted shares by hedge funds are (by % of shares out on loan):
1. Home Retail Group - 21.4%
2. W H Smith - 15.6%
3. Weir Group - 15.2%
4. Ocado - 13.9%
5. Carpetright - 12.2%
6. JKX Oil & Gas - 11.1%
7. Dixons - 10.2%
8. Thomas Cook - 7.9%
9. Premier Foods - 6.1%
10. Admiral - 6.0%

So clearly taking a bet against several other retailers at the moment pending quarterly results due soon.