To ask which shops are on the verge of failure

[curiousbeak]

I'm so depressed with the uk high street. Specifically British companies. The likes of Arcadia group, new look (already on its way out), next, oasis , Debenhams etc etc

The clothes are just terrible quality and most stores and staff and just tired, uninspiring and lacking any kind of chicness.

The wave of European brands seem to be killing our home grown business with their beautiful stores and chic offerings.

Who do you think is on the way out?

One thing I wonder is if eg mothercare closes but many people go in there to try a big product before sourcing it online cheaper, will the shops just blame the shoppers for bargain hunting, rather than trying to up their game?

But with unit rent rates and wages to pay, they can't compete on price. It'll need to be one hell of a good customer service to make people want to pay more for the same product.

The thing that stops me shopping online is returning items if they don't fit/look a lot different to the glossy online photo.

Am I the only one wishing hard that Sephora would open here?

I wonder about accesorize

Ours is always empty

The first thing I do when I go to a new city is ask where the independent shops are.

And yet, we still couldn't get a grapefruit knife from 3 independent cookshops near us (with one saying "never heard of one of those").

But @crunchymint if I'm buying a card last minute, I'm usually also buying a present (candle/flowers/cards) last minute too so i prefer m&s for a nicer card.

Who knew I had this much preference about cards?!

Anyone remember tie rack and sock shop.

I loved Laura Ashley 35 years ago.
DD who is 19 likes Oliver Bonas.
I had my Boden phase.
There is definitely a gap in the market.

DG, that’s bonkers. I thought I had imagined grapefruit knives! It’s so nice to know someone else has heard of them. I have also tried to get one without success. Apparently they are not a thing anymore.

I buy cards from M&S too, but they have a small selection where I live. I thought the same about Clinton cards until a year ago and went in, and found some nice cards there.

Hobbycraft, very over priced. Great for very specialist stuff, but wonder how it keeps going.

We have 3 grapefruit knives for some reason.

Used to gets loads in Monsoon, over the last couple of years have noticed the designs are much more old fashioned and covered in overbearing prints and I rarely see anything I like (I'm mid 30's).
I love Boots, I clean up on 3 for 2 at Xmas time!

I’d be surprised if Superdrug went under, they are numerous and always heaving in my area with a massive range of products and are the go to for vegans (who are growing in numbers) as so much of their stuff is vegan.

I think the death of a lot of clothing stores will be crap plus size ranges. People can wring their hands over obesity etc as much as they like but the fact is that people are taller and wider on average now than they were when most of these shops were established,(and plus-size young women don’t want to wear frumpy clothes), whilst exclusively online places like ASOS make their Curve ranges pretty much as nice as the smaller sized ones.

I agree that hobbycraft is really overpriced. I've gone into the pound shop before and found cookie cutters at Christmas where hobbycraft and sold out/empty shelf. When I asked when they would get more in it was 10 days. Why such a long wait?

In my local town, HMV closed last year, Thorntons closed just after Christmas and Monsoon closed last week. We had an EWM too which closed a couple of years ago.

There are three Boots and one Superdrug nearby and I'll go to Superdrug over Boots every time. They're miles cheaper and the staff are much nicer. However basic toiletries, toothpaste, shower gels etc, I'll either buy whatever is on offer in Tesco or else buy in Poundland. I can't figure out what people would spend a fortune on basics in Boots.

Local New Look is tiny and dirty. I can't see it staying open for much longer.

Sports Direct have recently taken over two store near me

I'm 38 and would never buy anything in Next. I find it way too 'Mumsy'.

There's a lot of Primark snobbery on here, but I buy lots from there quite happily.

I hope River Island never closes because it's the only place I can find decent jeans (Amelie & Molly)

H&M is okay pricewise, but the sizing is shit (I'm generally a 6-8 but can be anything from xs to 10 there) which means I can't buy anything online.

Wouldn't be surprised if W H Smith goes down the plug hole any day soon.

Next’s clothes are awful. They are always just brimming with static electricity and have a weird plasticy feel. They also seem to be stuck in some weird time warp around 2001.

The stuff available clotheswise is truly awful on the whole and shocking quality

i nearly bought a grapefruit knife from the clearence section in Downtown a couple of weeks ago, I think it was 89p or something daft. It I had realised there was national shortage I would have bought them all up and flogged them on ebay!

There are quite a few shops I used to love but just haven't changed at all...I had a serious Laura Ashley phase, and also Monsoon but fashions change and these shops don't seem to. Boden too....and I know these are brands with very specific, recognisable styles but even so.

Boots is pricey compared to Superdrug, and very much so compared to Savers and other bargain shops, and it hasn't really modernised either. Superrdrug has a much more modern feel in their new stores and they have huge ranges of makeup which is displayed in visually appealing ways.

Re Boots maybe going under: what happened to the government's plan to have some sort of 'hub' to collect prescriptions?
I can't remember the details but I was asked to sign a petition in two independent chemists as they feared the plan would shut them down.
I haven't heard any more about it so maybe the plan has been dropped, but I wasn't sure if such a scheme would be an advantage or disadvantage to Boots.

I used to like Gap for jeans and hoodies but they're really bad now, the quality is just atrocious. Same for Next.
I love Superdry and then Diesel for jeans. River Island is good too and H&M for sporty stuff and hoodies.
The likes of Vero Moda seem to be struggling, permanent sale going on. Monsoon and Cath Kiddston, naice stuff and way too overpriced.

Anyone remember Tie Rack and Sock Shop

They're both still around. Tie Rack have a lot of stores in airports. Sock Shop are purely online now.

“Please, please, please can Boots go under?”

How would you feel if I wished it if your employer went under?

Eltonjohnssyrup I don’t find Meadowhall a ball ache. If I need to go to Debenhams and Next it can be a bit of a trek, but if you think Meadowhall is a pain you should visit the Metrocentre.

“Really can’t see much of a point of physical shops anymore”

I can. I hate buying clothes online. I won’t settle for ill-fitting clothes with arms that are too short. I want clothes that fit properly and spending a morning in Meadowhall saves me far more time than faffing about ordering and returning clothes over several weeks. Just “popping” to the supermarket to return clothes isn’t convenient for me.

New Look, Dorothy Perkins, Next. All made in the same sweatshops as Primark, but with a ridiculous overinflated margin.

If I'm going to buy cheap stuff, I want it to actually be cheap.

I haven't bought clothes brand new in about 2 years - charity shops all the way. There are 15 in my town!

The charity shops near me never have anything I want to buy.

I'm always amazed Lakeland is still going...
Lovely stuff but the prices are MAD

Charity shops defo depend on the area. In student towns they are full of cheap clubbing gear, in posh towns they are full of £25 Karen Millen dresses and posh cardis. My town is sort of a ....yummy mummy coffeeshop commuter town..... and I've found a lot of nice things in the charity shops.