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…

I've used it and Dr Fox for creams, but never prescriptions. Our chemist has a seven day wait for repeats which I can order online but the surgery often cock up. Which means I have to see the receptionist at the surgery to sort it out. Now I check before I leave the chemists. Not the chemist fault but it's wasteful when I return drugs I've never heard o, or ordered.

The loyalty card scheme is very generous too, I hardly buy anything except own brand vitamins and minerals, always get 3 for 2 and extra points, have an Over 60s card which gives me even more and always seem to have £7 of points to use. It’s almost at the stage when I’m only paying for products every other shop.

You haven't seen my repeat prescriptions!

I don't use remote pharmacies because (a) my GP receptionists often !!!! up even the easiest things (b) I have an excellent independent pharmacy 10 minutes away (c) I don't want to be wondering if my prescriptions will arrive or get lost in transit or left on the doorstep or taken away if I'm not in so that I'll have to go somewhere to get them back which might as well have been the pharmacy anyway.

But that's just me & I'm sure it's great for lots of people.

Our local Morrisons moved to a brand new store just up the road and now Lidl are taking over their old premises. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot!

Surely it’s River Island.

I used to refer to this sort of thing as a 'Bootswhack' (named after a googlewhack). If I could combine offers & points redemption so that my large bag of shopping cost me less than half the normal price, that was a Bootswhack. Anything else & I felt cheated.😂

And if any of these are shops you value, choose them over Amazon and other online shops wherever you can. Use it or lose it.

I've no idea but I'm finding the note of glee about the summer toys etc distasteful.
When companies go under and shops shut, jobs are lost, families lose their homes.
On a different note, people lose shopping options too. Sometimes people who have limited options.

The WH Smiths in two of our local shopping centres have closed down, I always wondered how they kept going, minimal staff, unkempt feeling about the stores and the lighting was really low.

I agree, I don’t want to have to scour the whole shop looking for a white shirt or whatever. John Lewis have gone down this route and I just don’t bother to go into their stores to buy clothes now for this reason.

Pound stretcher, W H Smith and Pharmacy's will start closing.

If my local Asda is anything to go by they will be next. The shelves are empty, it's dimly lit and really grubby. You can walk round and find at least 3-4 discarded drinks bottles/cans/coffee cups on the shelves where lazy people have just left them and staff have not removed them. Of the two lifts up to the car park, only one is ever working. The last time I used it there was a puddle of pee in the corner of the lift. I told customer services, went back again 3 days later and the dried up stinking puddle was still there. I emailed head office and heard nothing back. They just don't care. I believe the two brothers that bought it are now at logger heads so it would not surprise me in the least if it folded soon.

Pharmacies have been closing at a frightening rate for the last two years.

Nespresso.

My mother in law is your age. She is independent and drives, but uses Pharmacy2U for the sheer convenience of having her meds delivered through the door.

She orders through her GP and they send the prescription to Pharmacy2u as that’s what she’s specified on the patient portal.

I agree re Poundstretcher....it sells cheap tat and yet the prices are more expensive than other discount retailers.

Boots. Way overpriced compared to rivals.

WH Smith is closing down the branch in my local shopping centre. It doesn't have a post office, but it has quite a big floor space. They just don't stuff that people want to buy.

I agree. Wasn’t sure initially as preferred the standalone stores, but if I’m popping to Argos to pick up a click and collect item I’ve ordered, I can grab a few bits of top up grocery or something nice for tea from Sainsbury’s whilst I’m there.

Which is good for Sainsbury’s as I usually shop at Asda, Iceland & Morrisons 😂

As someone who left the industry, this is was a bigger problem due to staffing and training.

In my department store years ago, you could say to the nearest person in womenswear - I need a white shirt. They’d find out what you needed, take you to the fitting room and bring you a selection or “there’s some that sound ideal in x concession, I’ll show you them.”

Enough staff that someone could leave their zone to help a customer find what they needed, enough training and knowledge that we all knew what we had in stock, where it was and the alternatives if an item had sold out.

No staff - no training - no service = crap experience.

JL I have noticed in my local one are absolutely ramming the space with different brands so it’s getting increasingly difficult to shop and find the brand you’re looking for, they’re all spilling into each other with no staff to look after them (15 years ago most brands would have their own member of staff working there to maintain standards).

Personally I think Matalan - used to be fab, but our local one has had floors half-empty the past few times I've been in.

I wonder how House of Fraser survives, know they are part of a bigger chain now but their shop in Glasgow is empty.

Used to be my go to place for lots of stuff but they even charge for click and collect when you are spending £££ and have very little in store.

I think W H Smith are already on the way out. The one in my nearest big town closed several months ago.

I agree

Kurt Geiger. I’ve never had some many emails for blue light discount 40% off and 50% sale.

Boots is the other. That would be a bloody shame. I love boots