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Jessops gone. Who's next?
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Inter - WHSmiths is a newsagent/bookstore/stationers that also sells board games a bit of crafty stuff and the Kobo range of ereaders. The bigger shops in town centres are anyway - the smaller ones at stations etc are just newsagents that do a few books and snack food I think ?
I tried to do all my xmas shopping locally last year and smiths didn't seem too bad - compared the HMV which was a real dogs dinner of a shop - felt almost like a temporary clearance outfit.
I'm actually buying less online and more in shops simply because you can see what you are getting, it's often easier to return if you need to and prices aren't very different.
Who has a Kobo though? Everyone I know with an e-reader has a Kindle. No point in being late with that sort of technology and, as one analyst said, everyone else who sells the stuff they also sell does it better.
I still think WHS is on a slippery slope.
BTW if the Daily Fail thinks that's a backlash regarding Waitrose, it clearly doesn't know what a backlash is.
Well my other half has one ! Obviously books are a challenging market to be in but apart from Amazon has anyone in that line of business done any better ?
"I still think WHS is on a slippery slope."
I would disagree. WHS have re-invented themselves from being primarily a bookseller into being a general convenience shop where you buy all the things of daily life
what do they sell?? newspapers, magazines, sandwiches and chocs, discounted books, stationary, birthday etc cards, packaging material etc. these are all things that are instant buys and usually stuff that is used immediately - not the sort of stuff you buy from the internet.
their t/o for 2012 is c£1.2billion - although sales are slightly down, GP is up 10% to oevr £100M with over £30M cash in the bank.
they sound more like a takeover target than a failing company in my eyes
WHS also have the distribution arm which I presume is still very viable?
whenever i buy something there I'm usually given a handful of time-restricted vouchers (£10 off kids books etc, 10% off my next spend etc) which suggests they're trying to build brand loyalty and increase repeat visits
They have.. Jessops have gone bust so thats less competition
WHS have just opened up a new shop near me. They must make money on magazines and impulse buying sweets I guess.
Hang on that makes it sound like its all my purchases thats keeping them going !
The loophole that some online traders were using to avoid VAT has been closed. It only applied to goods worth less than £18, so probably wouldn't make any difference to Jessops. Might help HMV though.
I've just heard that HMV have called in the administrators.
After a two-month long unofficial fire sale who is shocked?
The winner for predicting HMV.
🙂
who is going to succeed?
Succeed!
Industrial scavengers.
🙂
You're going to tell me my prize is some HMV vouchers now aren't you!
Very sad news for those who's jobs are now under threat.
We were talking about this at home the other day- unfortunately I think anyone would have predicted HMV. WHSmiths is another that I don't understand- I keep expecting them to close their high street stores and focus on stations/ airports as they are always empty in town and they can't compete with the supermarkets and cheaper places such as Wilkinsons for convenience things.
I also think that one of the clothes shops will go (following in the steps of Peacocks), but I don't know enough about who owns what/ which ones are linked to each to call it- but maybe somewhere like New Look. Also the stationary shops such as Rymans are surely on borrowed time?
New Look have closed some stores and restructured debt. personally i think they have an issue in that they are caught between the cheaper operators like Primark, and the more quality driven outlets like M&S
NL are also outsourcing back office elements of their business in an attempt to control costs
Ethel Austin has gone yet again
they've opened a WHS in the town I work in - directly opposite Waitrose - the entrances are perhaps 20m apart. it's more complementary to Waitrose than competitive and does good business - since it opened another newsagent has closed but that was a pretty shabby place. WHS main competitor in the town for similar items has the Post Office inside so will continue to keep doing business.
I tend to think WHS are fairly safe... interestingly, the one in our town is directly opposite Waitrose as well, and it always seems to be quite busy. Plus, the fact they've diversified into airports, stations and motorway services must be a very good thing.
As for HMV, it's very sad for their employees, but it might actually pave the way for more independent record stores to spring up again. Even with online shopping and downloads, I think theres still a reasonable market for actual CDs and DVDs, especially in more specialist genres... HMV became far too generic, and I really only go in there if I'm buying gifts for people like my parents. Plus, our local store is appalling!
I think WHS are very clever with their estate management. sticking the shops by supermarkets, in rail stations, airports etc is always going to mean a high footfall and attract people in to buy newspapers, that forgotten birthday card etc. smart thinking on their part. I guess the downside for them is that these places attract premium rents (location location etc) but with the name they have I guess they can bargain hard on this.
the same goes for coffee shops like Starbucks etc - they will always be in areas of high footfall as that way they will attract customers
It's a real pity for anyone who got vouchers for Christmas
Any shop that sells things that you don't need to test or try-on will struggle. HMV's demise won't pave the way for may independents - who buys CDs these days? Downloads are where music is heading.
gingerfurball - vouchers are such stupid idea. You take money that you can spend anywhere and exchange it for the same amount of money that you can spend in one place.
Me!
I always buy CDs and never download.... and I buy quite a lot of music.
I just don't see the point of CDs any more. I can get a CD-quality album for less than the price of a CD and download it from Play or Amazon in under two minutes. If I want superb audio quality, then I buy vinyl.
Apart from my computer and the car, I don't have a CD player. At home I use Bose to play through iPod, and the car has a 32GB USB drive stuck in it.
CD is a ill pensioner on it's way to the grave. DVD/Blu-Ray will follow suit in the future. The future of media is digital.
Hell I'd even say Sky and Virgin better watch out, as the coming generation are used to instant access to shows and no advert breaks and they watch when they want. The only thing Sky have to fight that is the sports licenses, but give it time until that becomes a stream legal service. Some of the USA sports are already going down that route like the NFL, where you can subscribe to a season pass and pick what live game you want to watch out of any of the games on at that time. That is the future of sports broadcasting.
Not much more than a decade after the music industry thought it had killed music download by attacking Napster high street music retail is all but dead. Recently the film industry attacks The Pirate Bay. Are we giving Hollywood ten years before it sees the flaw in sticking to old ways and not embracing the future?
The World Wide Web has made the world a much smaller place. Adapt or die.
Last year Richard Branson was looking to buy back Virgin Records. The blurb being that he could once again see potential in vinyl plus new(?) developments with audio. What does he know? He may even now be eyeing up HMV.