House of Fraser

[Anordinarymum]

I went into town yesterday with my daughter. We were on a mission to buy boots and we looked in various shops before we finally bought something.

I was shocked and saddened by what we experienced in House of Fraser. The place was dead. The staff were standing about with nothing to do as there were hardly any customers to serve and of the ones who were in there, they were not buying.
They seemed to have such little stock, the place looked bare.
A shame for the high street.

Glasgow?

@ssd

Glasgow?

Leeds

Ours is called Frasers now and consists mainly of Sports Direct and there is a part that sells very expensive designer stuff which I have never been in, I used to like to go and look at the homeware and some of the clothes and used to buy a lot using the free click and collect. The homeware section is very sparse now and there are hardly any nice clothes and the online offering gets dreadful reviews. Very sad

The one in Glasgow is nice but never busy like it used to be

The high street- any high street- is now lost to us, at least, as it once was. The HoF locally was completely refurbished in 2017 and closed in January 2019.

If you want a charity shop, a restaurant, coffee shop, TK Maxx or Poundland, fine. The chance of actually buying clothes and shoes is pretty low.

Our Frasers is not on the high street is on a shopping mall, it was only opened in 2017 and was a really nice one when it opened but people don't go in there much now, we do have lots of other clothes shops though, mall type places seem more popular than high streets, ours has lakeside walks and is very pleasant but to be avoided at peak shopping times.

Ours (Guildford) used to be lovely, I whiled away many an hour browsing and shopping in there in my 20s.

It was really quite upmarket but not snobby and plenty to be bought that wasn't designer but mid-high street.

Since what's his face (Mike Ashley?) took it over it just looks drab...store isn't maintained as well, lost its sparkle and not a great shopping experience anymore.

Most of the mid priced stuff you can get elsewhere as many of them have their own stores in the same town, so without the nice shopping experience and with a run down feel I now just don't go in and use the individual stores instead.

I just went to look at reviews to see how others were finding it and this sums it up really

"So sad to see the demise of a once respected department store.
Customer service is non existent, staffed by teenagers more interested in chatting to their friends and colleagues than actually providing assistance.
This used to be the destination for quality merchandise and reputable brands, unfortunately no longer.
This will be another company blaming their downfall on the rise of internet shopping and change of shopping habits without looking inwards at the standard of service and the retail experience they supply!!!!"

I can't understand it all
I seem to be in the minority but I only shop for clothes online cos I'm forced to now
Never would before
Where is the enjoyment in getting them online and sending loads back

The one in Cardiff ( Howells) used to be great. Really funky and made you feel like you were somewhere quite exclusive. Now it’s so shabby and dreary. Such a shame

In Wolverhampton, they abandoned a revered shop, sold it to a developer and took over the now bankrupt Debenhams site.

It's a series of concessions, Sports Direct, Evans Cycles, some games place and fashion and beauty.

The bit which used to be a Costa is now Flannels, which is a designer lounge - high end labels with very high end prices.

We only have the one Premiership football team and the WAGs are more interested in being anywhere else but Wolvo.

The one nearest to me ( Kent) is a really dreary place.

The clothes seem overpriced, badly displayed and not very nice , tbh.

I agree with PPs who've said that the staff seem disinterested with serving customers, that's if you can find one to ask about something.
The staff ion the beauty section are always chatting to someone or are absent from their section so you ask someone from a different brand and they can't seem to help.

Homewares is shockingly overpriced, dated and difficult to wander round; randomly displayed with no logic to it.

It used to be a fantastic shop but I fear it's days are numbered.