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…

Perhaps it's your area store. Ours never has half empty shelves.

It amazes me we used to have a choice of ASDA in one town, Safeway in another. Now we've added Tesco, Aldi, Lidl. They're all making a living. How does that work?

Shelves half empty. stock control terrible. It is not just my local store. The ASDA group for staff on reddit is full of people saying it is a wider issue

In the neighbouring towns, the only three post offices in those towns are all closing. In each case they've been run by one family for decades...one is on it's 5th generation and they are as important to those towns as the Dr, Dentist, Church etc. All three towns are places where people retire. There are no bank branches left, so a lot of the elderly people bank through the PO. Many still withdraw their pensions there in cash weekly.

Every branch is a huge loss...and the locals are bereft and don't know what to do.

The owners all wanted to retire or get out and it was impossible to find someone willing to take over.

It's very sad.

Why on earth are you so invested that your searching supermarket staff reddit pages surely if your local asda is shit you just shop somewhere else. All I'm saying is my local one is fine so I have zero interest in what it's doing on a wider level I shop there as its closest supermarket to my house. I assumed that's how most people chose there supermarket, it's not a fun day out its a chore that I like to make as quick and easy as possible. I didn't realise people put this much thought into it

@Differentstarts I am not at all invested. ASDA are struggling

And why you telling me all I said was I liked their rewards app 🤣

The Post Office have said since the Horizon scandal, they are struggling to get anyone to take on post offices. Worrying, as they are important.

Off the top of my head I cannot think of any retailers who will disappear this year - yet - but I reckon a good half will close some less profitable stores. Poundstretcher has already started, hence the OP's recent experience. New Look are going to close around 90 stores this year. Greggs are closing shops in response to lighter footfall on highstreets.

If I had to make a guess at the retailer most likely to disappear - although I don't think they will - it would be the Body Shop.

We have an edinburgh woollen mill in our town how that is still going is beyond me (though my mum likes it!).

whsmith is helped massively by post office within it

i miss GAP

That doesn't mean they're in trouble. It just means they're screwing their suppliers because they can because they're in the stronger position.

Each day that the money is in their bank account and not yours, they're making interest on it. Most big companies stretch out their payment terms as long as possible for this reason.

I think the sale of royal Mail goes through this month. Interesting times.

I miss GAP too. Their website is really visually unappealing.

We lost our EWM.

Then it reappeared after two years!

Don't they all now. Ours has too.

Well, yes and no. From next year, large companies will have to declare how long it takes them to pay suppliers on average, in their annual report and accounts.

Might make a difference once they know being shit to their suppliers will be easily obtainable information.

That makes me want to go there, I have much happier memories of shopping in 2005.

Sadly though, I haven't lived near a Matalan for years

Me too, I always try Argos before Amazon now. Easy to pick up from Sainsburys, which is preferable to it being left on my doorstep for anyone to nick. I also don't trust Amazon nearly as much as I used to and their customer service has also worsened.

M&S is doing really well at the moment. I think that Boots is fine too.

I think that New Look might be in trouble as it's competing with Primark, Shein and Boohoo for younger people,

Co-Op and WH Smith’s exist mostly in places where you have no other option and I’m pretty sure that’s the only way they stay afloat! I spend more than I’d care to admit in the Co-Op, purely because it’s the only mini-supermarket in walking distance of where I live. Prices are very extortionate and the staff are really not the most polite or helpful.

I do wonder how Claire’s Accessories survives when everything is so overpriced and people are getting better educated on piercings (I’m pretty sure they were propped up for a while solely by people taking their kids there for ear piercings). Their sales are ridiculous with buy 3 get 3 free etc. but when you look at it, that just brings the stuff down to a reasonable price rather than the massive markup before sales!

Lush too. I love Lush stuff but I feel like with the cost of living, lots of people who might go a few times a year to treat themselves just can’t afford to spend money on single-use bath products and the like. I can only really afford stuff in the sales now I’m not a teenager with pocket money to burn!

New Look also seems way more expensive than I remember it being when I was a teen. Got my stepdaughter a coat from there, it was lovely and she really liked it but £70 for fast fashion just makes me wince a bit. Shop was empty and depressing.

The Co-op serve many small communities and villages though - rural/semi-rural especially in the Lothians and Borders in Scotland. Our local is in a small market town in the Borders and is always well stocked and busy. Expensive yes, but when your nearest big retailer is more than 30 mins drive away and not at all interested in smaller rural areas, they’re a lifesaver.

Monsoon - who are they appealing too, perhaps could refocus on accessorize and childrenswear but I feel their ladies wear offering is being usurped by more interesting brands such as Oliver bonas and boden - they are what monsoon used to be

I'm sure I read somewhere that M&S are intending to close quite a large number of their clothes stores and will open up more food stores. I think this is a plan for over the next 2-3 years.

So they do. I like the Newcastle Blackwells, (especially for academic books) though I think it's lost some of its buzz since covid. There used to be a nice Costas at the back, which has gone now. On the other hand, the Haymarket end of Newcastle isn't exactly short of cafes!

I end up buying quite a bit from Oliver Bonas, but I don’t think it’s all great quality for the price.

I really lament the lack of quality clothing on the high street.

WHSmiths won’t go anywhere, they have a huge presence in airports, train stations, hospitals. It props up the business as does their news distribution arm.

Apologies if it has already been mentioned, but I’ve wondered for a while if Lakeland is in trouble. There have been so many lengthy periods of time where they have given free postage, and it raises my suspicions.

Personally, I used to love shopping in there, as they were quite niche. Nowhere else sold the things they did. However, I can buy much of what they sell in a supermarket, and at a much lower price than they charge.