Companies you can't see ever going under.

[PollyPepper]

Yesterday DH and I got a McDonald's. What an absolute treat.

And I started wondering if McDonald's will ever go bust.

It seems so unlikely, though of course it is possible as with any other business.

Mcdonalsa are in 120 countries around the world and serve 68 million customers each day!!

I honestly think it could be exposed that they use human meat and people would still go there.

I suppose Amazon as well?

All it takes though is a better and bigger competitor to take them down, but at this stage I just don't see it ever happening.

AIBU?

Yes I second Starbucks. never got the attraction of paying £5 for a drive through coffee but there's always a queue any time of day I go by.

@PegPeople

WH Smiths!! I'm not conspiracy nut but they must have good dirt on someone because by all accounts they should have died a death decades ago. I know they have a good airport and train station presence and they are common in hospitals but I simply don't comprehend how they are still operating on the high street.

When the apocalypse comes I predict all that will be left is a McDonald's hamburger, roaches and bloody WH Smiths.

In laughed so much reading this, but it's so very true. 😆😆

In laughed so much reading this, but it's so very true. 😆😆

I'm so pleased it made you laugh. I'm also heartily reassured so many people seem to think along a similar train of thought to me regarding their continued existence.

Primark
Nando’s

Greggs? Not that I go there very much but I don't think it has any serious competition.

I can't see Amazon going anywhere but I'm a bit suspicious about all these brands, for example is you search for socks you get "brands" such as XBXGMT, ABSFYR, are these just random companies/sellers that put no effort into their names?!
Lots of branded products also get called out as fake so they need to eliminate this element of the site or people will get fed up. Having said all that Amazon has been a godsend during covid!

DFS. Their sale will live beyond the day of reckoning.

WHSmith used to survive because they had some sort of monopoly for newspaper distribution didn't they?

These days I imagine they're more than propped up all of their Post Office branches.

There's literally nothing on sale there that can't be bought cheaper elsewhere.

IKEA
B&Q
Halfords
Wetherspoons
Kwik Fit
H Samuel
Claire's
Lego
Lakeland
Boots
Superdrug
Savers
B&M

@CoffeRunner I thought that too so I looked it up. Apparently the two companies split (demerged) in 2006

@Caneloalvarez

I can't see Amazon going anywhere but I'm a bit suspicious about all these brands, for example is you search for socks you get "brands" such as XBXGMT, ABSFYR, are these just random companies/sellers that put no effort into their names?! Lots of branded products also get called out as fake so they need to eliminate this element of the site or people will get fed up. Having said all that Amazon has been a godsend during covid!

They are normally Chinese importers.

They do not trade on brand recognition, their aim is to be the cheapest product that comes up when you search so that somebody who thinks "I just want a pair of black socks, any will do" will click on their product and order it because it is the cheapest.

They generally have extremely poor quality control. So you might get your packet of socks but half of them are the wrong size. Or they shrink after 1-2 washes. Or they're extremely thin and get holes in after a short amount of time. If they get too many complaints or start to build up too many negative reviews they just trash the company and start again so that they are a brand new clean slate but again the cheapest product that comes up in the store. One trader may have several nonsense "companies". Although there are also a lot of traders to begin with, so it's really impossible to tell if something is one person or several people flogging the same low quality product.

This might be harmless for something like socks (although it's quite terrible environmentally!) but for anything that is supposed to be safety checked, like children's toys, it's a potential nightmare. It means that the failsafes that we expect automatically do not apply because if anybody makes an application to check the safety certification or check a claim against something like trading standards, they just disappear and resurface under a new name. And actually many more things than we would think of have safety guidelines - pens for example have to be designed so that parts do not easily break off them and form a choking hazard, but your cheap "Hysnee" or "Xteroc" pen from Amazon probably isn't designed that way.

But that's why so many brand names are gobbledygook and also why the delivery times are sometimes several weeks rather than the few days that you'd expect for something being sent from within the UK.

You should be incredibly suspicious of any product you buy on amazon that you don't already know the brand of or can't verify elsewhere.

WH Smith's have been around since 1792

DH quips

"Still selling some of the same stock"

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@RandomMess

WH Smith's have been around since 1792

DH quips

"Still selling some of the same stock"

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

He's probably not far wrong.

Volkswagen (which also owns Audi & Porsche, among others) & Daimler (parent company of Mercedes Benz).

Both are fundamental pillars of the German economy and German exports. They are too big, too important & too politically influential to be allowed to fail.

Airbus. All of the above but for France rather than Germany.

Hard to imagine McDonald’s going, not just as people like it but because of their business model with owning land!

Those saying IKEA - Coventry IKEA closed last year.

I bet there was a time when people thought Blockbuster would last forever.

Any business that doesn't change with the times is at risk.

WH Smith is about the only chain left in my town center, amongst boarded up shops and independents. I wonder why they bother.

@TANOWAY

DFS. Their sale will live beyond the day of reckoning.

Wasn't there a meme last year just after the first lockdown started with Boris Johnson's face saying ' the man who stopped the DFS sale' !

Boots always seems smugly to be going strong even though it's much more expensive than savers or Superdrug and everything can be bought elsewhere , apart from the number 7 products. Our one is always busy.

I left it way too late to get the kids’ advent calendars last year. WH Smith was the only place I could find them still in stock - half price too

@Pheebs2021

Marks and Spencer really need to up their game to survive their loyal clientele are starting to shop online and die we are tomorrows target market and I don't know many people my age who buy anything but food and underwear.

Shop online and die

Zukie I agree I like being in wh s for the nostalgia

Don’t WHSMITH have a monopoly in newspaper and magazine distribution?
I think the actual shops are just a tiny part of a much bigger company.

Our M and S food hall is really going strong, but the clothes need a shake up.
I can see it just being food one day.

McDonalds
Coca Cola
Boots
Microsoft
Apple
Amazon
Waitrose
Adidas

Agree about Starbucks. They have convinced the world that spending £3 / €4 /$5 on a cup of coffee is a completely normal daily activity. They are going nowhere.