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…

HMV have diversified - I was in there buying DD a present before Christmas. More than 70% of their stock is merchandise linked to gaming/pop culture/anime etc, rather than music. Or at least that's what it looked like from the shelves!
A bit like the surviving independent comic stores locally have diversified into board games and running tournaments.

Crew boden and white stuff I think. All seems so frumpy and sooo expensive since for what it is. I used to live them but now I like sosander and a bit of phase eight

My local HB is also always busy. It's a fairly new branch and I was delighted when it opened. Useful for lots of things, and often genuine bargains.

Next are looking to fill the place of Debenhams. They’ve bought loads over and have the UK distribution rights to so many brands.

They now own Fat Face, JoJo Maman Bebe, Joules, Reiss and Made.com. They’re also an agreed distributor of Polarn O Pyret, Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Rituals and loads more.

Theyll be taking over the old Debenhams store spaces and setting up as a department store, mark my words they’re going nowhere!

No! I once needed a baby car seat supplied and fitted for me super-speedily- it was an emergency. I don’t know what I’d have done without Halfords.

Next are fine and will be - they just recorded pre tax profits of over £1bn.

I'm amazed. The two near us are always almost empty.

Coops aren't all one and the same. I live between two cities and my membership card only works in the shops of one of them. Bank was separate as well which has been taken over. There's a political party too.

They were formed to prevent the Lord of the Manor having the monopoly on selling food to his workers and buying his ale.

Now they are Lord of the Manor. Selling us the food and they even own the pub! Owning a great swathe of our village and charging sky high prices they now have the monopoly. There's socialism for you.

@CrushingOnRubies my husband was very pleased with the mug I got him for Christmas from Dunelm.
I was very tempted by the matching quilt cover.

Oh they can be weird like that.

What an awful way to die throwing yourself in front of a train.

I remember reading quite a few people jump off bridges to commit suicide.

It happens quite regularly.

You just never know what is going on with other people. Very depressed/lonely people often are good at putting on a good front.

Must be very distressing for the train driver to have that happen.

I'm sure there was a thread on mumsnet not that long ago about someone who stopped and talked someone off a bridge where they looked like they were about to commit suicide. I'm sure it was titled 'i saved someone's life today' or something similar.

It's ridiculously expensive across the board. DH and I were looking for new wine glasses- Fenwicks had glasses at £150+ each and nothing cheaper than £40 ish each.

Cheap, unlined, cotton jackets for DH were around £250 .

It isn't that we couldn't pay it but we wouldn't. I can't imagine there is a huge audience in the NE who could/would- not to make up more than £35,000,000 deficit.

But they're open when local garages aren't- like after work and on Saturdays, such is handy when you can't wait. And even then, our nearest Halford's is 10 or so miles away. And we're not rural.

Google
Pizza Express debt

There's well over £1bn of debt against the business, and a large chunk falls due next year. It's been skating on thin ice for many years now, relying on debt restructuring to stay afloat. Fundamentally it's mostly profitable when you remove the debt financing costs, the problem is that speculators keep buying and selling the company and adding the purchase cost to the existing debt.

I'd say vinyl is getting more popular again.

My teen has a record player and loves buying vinyl.

Digital downloads don't give you that album in your hands.

Most of the ones she buys always come
In limited colours etc to target the collectible side of it.

There is a place for both.

@CosySwan actually Halfords were very helpful when we needed a car seat for my Dad's car (we don't have our own car).
When I was a baby car seats didn't exist so this was all new to him.
He had no clue what Iso-fix etc is and as a non driver I know nothing about cars and how easy it is to put a car seat in or are all cars universal etc.
So for a car seat - I would choose Halfords over Argos.

The wanking creepy man ☝️

I used to like Fenwicks food hall so much but it’s now just trendy bits that all cost a fortune. Last few years have stopped even bothering to look there for Christmas gifts.

Places that should go due to being very overpriced:

Boots
WHSmith
Dunelm

I’d rather see more branches of Tesco Express than overpriced Co-ops.

M&S occupy some big premises still and have diversified to sell other brands. I think that within 10 years they will be largely gone from the high street apart from the Food Halls.

Noooo!! My friends and I love the Works

About 63% of car seats when inspected were found to be incorrectly installed which could be lethal to the child and other car occupants in the event of a collision.

My son took all my old second hand Vinyl. He says actual records sound warmer and much better than digital recordings.

Plus the lovely album cover design as well.

Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti had a great cover, as did Bob Marley's 'Catch a fire' that was like an actual Zippo Lighter.

Worth hundreds now!