Another Two - More To Come No Doubt

[Bazile]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43223175

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43225248

Maplin and Toys R Us - Gone Under ( Unless They can be rescued )

[Garaman]

W H Smith is profiting from increased travel. The stores in airports and service stations do very well.

[237SJ]

NJ - providing expert advice won't keep people in high street shops. People get the advice and then go home and buy what they want on the internet.

[Cloverjo]

I used to go into WHS to buy New Scientist and Private Eye, but can get both from the supermarket now. I don't buy books from there anymore as everything's in alphabetical order by author's name and if you can't remember that or the title you're stuck.

I'm sure Debenhams will go soon too.

[Bazile]

That reminds me, i've got a W H Smith voucher , given to me by my work colleagues some years ago , which i haven't used yet .
There is no time limit on it , but i really must use it soon .
I quite fancy a nice fountain pen

[weecalf]

I don’t know so Im sure people will know . Maybe the shops that are closing are just part of a bigger company and well selling lines in these closing down shops will appear in other shops owned by the bigger companies .

[Jackdaw33]

Fiction libraries work exactly the same way, Clover.

[ToraToraTora]

the internet is killing these off. I hardly ever go to an actual shop these days, I suspect millions are like me in that respect.

[EDDIE51]

Apart from food shopping and newsagents , I think everything will be online within a few years. Much cheaper and more choice, with next day delivery normally available.

[Garaman]

...but isn't shopping a favourite pastime among the younger generation?

[vulcan42]

One problem I've found with on line shopping is some retailers recuperate their cut price losses by adding a ridiculous amount to the postage.

[emmie]

if you don't mind waiting a while perhaps a week the postage can be quite reasonable. I bought some items on sunday and it was delivered yesterday, all for a few pounds postage.

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

It's a harsh reality of adapt or die. It used to be a case of 'if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.' Not any more. Do what you've always done and you'll go bust.

Kodak, BHS, Woolies, C&A, the first of many more. The boss of Amazon is now the world's richest man, outdoing Bill Gates. The death of the High Street hasn't only begun, it's nearly finished.

A lot of the companies that appear to be doing okay like Next, Debenhans etc are hiding behind cooked boommks, projections and hidden borrowing.
Keep your eyes on Argos, they'll be gone before long.

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

"Cooked books" that should read... Sorry, being unkeyboardinated

[andy-hughes]

The experiences on this thread all point to the major reason for the decline of retail stores - people can and do buy cheaper on line.

Market forces have dictated the survival and demise of businesses since trading began, the difference is the speed and size of the change in shopping habits over the last twenty years or so.

It is not possible for stores to adapt, so they must go to the wall, sad, but that's how economies work.

[New Judge]

"...but isn't shopping a favourite pastime among the younger generation?"

They don't go shopping as such. They aimlessly roam around shopping centres in groups, taking pictures of themselves, presumably because they've nothing better to do.

[Bazile]

When virtual shopping arrives ( whatever that is ) the high street will be like the badlands

[douglas9401]

I think one of the main problems is their proximity to various coffee shops and cupcake sellers.
Once you've paid for those aspirational neccesities you've no cash left for essentials/tat that come all the way from China.

[-Talbot-]

O' dear Krom ... what were you up to?


Off topic but ... https://news.sky.com/story/toyota-to-build-new-auris-model-in-the-uk-11270990

[Tuvok]

I've no reason to shop at Toys'r'us - even if I did it would have been online as the nearest branch is 60+ miles away.

I have shopped at Maplin - online, but I have been to the nearest branch 40+miles away.

Our town is ok for shops if you want charity, hairdressers, mobile phone repairs and now vaping. anything else - forget it.

[gulliver1]

All this bad news and we ain't even left the EU ,yet, OMG.