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…

Nooooo!!! I get them to do my car light bulbs - one of which is a total pain (the brake light at the top of the boot lid) and if it takes them half an hour, some scratching of heads and calling additional staff out to do it, I dread to think how long it would take me or DH.

I agree that Poundstretcher is shit. Hasn't been cheap for 4-5 years. At least 30-40% more than B & M and Home Bargains. And yeah it always looks grubby. Not sure if it will go tits up anytime soon though.

I would have said WH Smiths, as it's a tedious, grimy, boring, overpriced shithole, but the fact that they are in many train stations and airports seems to keep saving them.

I preferred John Menzies myself...

Apart from this ^ I don't honestly know. I would never have guessed Wilkos would have gone tits up, but apparently there was some dodgy shit going on at the top that finished the company off. (Rather than a lack of customers.) So it's very hard to figure out who will go next. Maybe a retailer like Next. Overpriced and overrated, and not that may people were at their after-Christmas sale a few weeks ago... (Compared to usual.)

I would pick New Look. My DD works there and has hardly any shifts at the moment because it's so devoid of customers, and they're going to be closing more branches. They're overpriced and online fashion is the death knell for them.

Asda.

Absolute shitshow inside every Asda I've been in for the last couple of years.

Random gaps in the stock, terrible choice of products, dimly lit...just feels like total chaos and on the edge of folding.

10 years ago I used to go to "the big Asda" every few months when I wanted to stock up and get a few treats. Last few times I've been, they haven't had the most basic things (like tinned tomatoes once, FFS) and the treats have been non existent. Despite the store itself being enormous, it's sparsely stocked and barely lit well enough to see anything!

In certain rural parts of the country the Co-Op has a virtual monopoly as the nearest "supermarket", so I reckon they're doing just fine in their main market.

My local town has already closed Argos, Ryman, Halfords, Peacocks, New Look, H&M.. Tons of smaller independent shops have closed…

But they’ve been replaced and done up by the likes of The Range, Home Bargains, M&S.

Captive market in many of the small villages and towns around here. Far easier to shop there than get in the car and drive to a larger supermarket. Their food is actually quite nice too.

Seasalt must be struggling

I think Morrisons will downsize their number of stores

Fenwicks and John Lewis .

Fenwicks in Newcastle is almost always 90% empty and lost 35,000,000 by itself last year.

Boots, it's like 1950's in my suburb.

asda

Halfords is the only one within sensible driving distance when your brake light has packed up and you don't want to get pulled over. I got stopped by the police once for that very reason and I do not want it happening again.

My local branches of Halfords and Boots are fab. Boots got a new lease of life when House of Fraser closed and broadened its range of cosmetics and perfumes. The ladies on beauty are very helpful. The optician staff and pharmacy less so and the staff at the main tills don't know about please and thank you.

I wonder if Asda is in the frame? Also wonder about White Stuff. Pur local branch has closed and they don't seem to have moved on style wise in the last five years.

Hotter? Mint Velvet? Hobbs? Phase 8?

@CosySwan Woolies (and Wilkos) didn't sell "shite" - they sold perfectly ordinary household products.

I don't think it's fair to say the coop have a rural monopoly- it's more that they are the only store who is prepared to serve those markets

I'd hate to lose Seasalt as they reliably have clothes that fit me and that last well

They do have good sales though.
11yr old DD will be devastated if New Look goes bust, 75% of her wardrobe is from there 🤣

Peacock - we have one on our small high street and it's never busy and sells poor quality clothes for too high a price.

One has just opened in our town so can’t be doing too badly.

I've had my eye on M&S for a while.

A new White Company has just opened near me though.

Agree re White Stuff. Their prices have gone up without corresponding rise in quality and the patterns are awful. The shops are always empty.

Fat face has been taken over by Next

WHSmith stays afloat with the shops in hospitals and train stations. If they were going to go they'd have gone long ago as there's nothing you can't buy in there cheaper and better elsewhere. My guess would be Matalan. Every time I go into any of my local branches it's dead and those self service checkouts where you have to take the tag off yourself and sort the coat hangers out yourself whilst any other customers in there are waiting for the one manned till. Very poor service.

Monica vinader. It's such flimsy tat at extortionate prices. I ordered something once and it looked like something out of a cheap Christmas cracker. Sent it back.