What retailer do you think will go bust next?

[good96]

My money is on Poundstretcher. Went into my local one today. Shelves empty, looking old and dirty and prices aren’t really cheap for a discount retailer…

This is where I live. Rural Wales. We get a fair amount of tourism in Summer. You have to travel 18 miles for a different supermarket. So our shop is busy in summer.

So many of the women’s fashion chains seem to have relied on the fashion that worked in the last couple of decades - skinny jeans plus sequinned or detailed tops, party dresses, blouses, heels, fancy shoes, bags, and the colourful coats vibe that was popular before COVID. When we all went out a lot more, dressed up, liked things sparkly and ornamented and dressy!

The clothes vibe these days is much scruffier and less dressy (and less showy), so I reckon brands that traded on that dressy sequin party look (Monsoon, etc.) would find it a challenging market right now. (Do shops like Coast, Hobbes, Phase 8, LK Bennett, Kurt Geiger, French Connection, Warehouse, Dune etc. even exist any more? Strikes me that it’s been years since I even noticed, so probably not!)

What a vile thing to say. When companies go bust thousands of people lose their jobs. This impacts their mortgages, families and health.

@CeeJay81 TJ Hughes has only recently come back. I went in one and didn't really know what to make of it.

Really like both the coop , just be careful what you buy but ethical company , moved house recently and my goodness did we use argos for deliveries. Won't go past them now

🤣

Curtains for Sweaty Betty, too? 😆

??? I am a size 8 and shop there.

White Company online appears to be struggling - I think that's down to the never ending 'warehouse move' or whatever that was a front for which created complete chaos. Offering customers a perpetual 15% discount is never a good sign.

That isn't all that unusual for major retailers, especially supermarkets. It once took me nearly 6 months to get a large supermarket to pay up.

If you want them to stock your products (and lets face it, if the big supermarkets don't sell your produce your sales will go through the floor), then you have to suck it up and accept their payment terms.

Totally agree with this. It is hard to know where to shop now to be honest.

Would be a real shame if it was Boots. Only thing is if the lack of pharmacists continued.

White stuff just opened up a new store in my home city before Christmas

Reckons it might be something like L'Occitane or Rituals . Over priced skin care type places. I know there's a skin care trend happening but Body Shop has suffered over the years and £30 is expensive for some shower gel. And the shops are always empty

Shoe zone is also always empty when I walk past.

Boots really do look shabby and down at heel.
Poorly lit and dusty, very few staff as well.

ECP are great but don't stock everything and not always cheaper. Not sure if they open at weekends either.

Co-op are in Center Parcs Whinfell (not sure about others) selling at hugely inflated prices. Captive market of those that don’t take groceries with them.

Argos closed here in Ireland a.couple of years ago, and there have been so many times where I've wished it was still here. I really miss the habitat home stuff.
Terrifying how amazon can just swoop in and fill the gap left by so many businesses.

I have never heard of Euro Car Parts

When my windscreen wiper flew off one Sunday while driving up a snowy A1, a quick google search while in Durham services directed me to an open Halfords in Gateshead who were incredibly helpful and who fitted the car with new wipers quickly and easily.

They were bought by Tapi about a year ago who kept a few shops but closed a lot

I used Argos a lot. If it's something I am not 100% about I don't want to order from Amazon in case I have return issues. It's 5 minutes walk from my house though so for me it's very convenient. Must admit before it moved into its current home I didn't get as much - mainly because it was a 15/20 minutes drive to a branch.

Body Shop used to make a fantastic hand cream {Hemp} - it's the only cream that really suits my hands.
{Tried lots of others}
Body shop changed the formula, made it vegan {took out the beeswax} and it's nothing like the old formula.

Lots of people say the same.

Will they do the fitting though 🤔

Co-op is opening new stores near where I am. Plus Boots is still more like its old self here - shop is still nicely decorated, bright and the products are good.

Agree with this, I avoid Amazon when I can for most things, definitely prefer and shop at Argos more! Especially as I don’t drive so being able to collect same day is useful so not to waste a journey going into a shop that may not have what I need.

My son in law works for Asda. He said they're being crippled by shoplifting. Over the Christmas quarter, his store had eye watering losses.

I’m not surprised to hear this. We go monthly to the large branch in our city. During the summer I was standing at the entrance waiting for DH and watched as several young men swaggered out with boxes of beer that hadn’t been paid for. The security guard was literally watching them and doing nothing. I was v close and asked why (after they’d gone) and he said it’s not worth the hassle/his safety.

Hopefully??