To think Debenhams and WHSmith are the worst shops on the High St

[Shekinah1]

Read an article this week saying that the owner of JD is negotiating to buy the chain.

The article is paywalled (FT) but it’s speculates whether this is an attempt to revitalise or slim down the group or move it to an online store.
However I’m shocked that it has been able to keep going as a business.

Beyond the Standard department store makeup section it has nothing worthwhile to buy. The brands are usually dated and unfashionable. The shoe section is chaotic.

The bra section is ok but not as good as M&S and other places and then there is just the weird sweet stuff that seems to be randomly doted around the store. The cafe section always seems a bit dead of life. It’s sad because these stores have potential but it just seems like whoever has run Debenhams is stuck in 1991.

WHSmith is overpriced on stationary. It has morphed into this shop that excels in nothing. It’s book section is not as good as Waterstones with less range, it’s food and drinks (meal deal) is overpriced and not as good as the supermarkets and boots for that matter. The only thing it seems to excel in is huge bars of Galaxy and huge 1l bottles of water.

I’m sad staff in these chains might lose their jobs but really what are these two shops offering to the High st?

People keep saying the High St is dead but I disagree I think that once shops like these either reform and improve or disappear it will become a lot better.

The only time I go into Debenhams is when buying perfume as gifts. Fortunately for me in Bath, Debenhams, boots, superdrug and the perfume shop are near each other, so can pop in to all compare all.
Very rarely do I make a purchase in Debenhams, they are always more expensive.
Otherwise I find they sell overpriced tat

Who is ‘management’? Certainly not the poor sods running the stores!

The seeds of Debenhams’ downfall were sown a long time ago, in 2003 I think, when it was acquired by a consortium of private equity investors. Who wasted no time flogging off Debenhams’ property portfolio in sale and leaseback deals, stripping out all of the inherent value in the business. They then returned Debenhams to the stock market, but the business was left with the massive burden of paying rents every quarter for the stores it used to own. Faced with that, and the rise in e-commerce, it stood no chance. Not in 2019, and actually not since 2003. Changing the stores around a bit would have made zero difference to the outcome.

I think the Debenhams website is decent, and I find good stuff on it. Kids coats are good and their bras are good for a curvy lady like me.

I quite like our Debenhams, but over the past couple of years it is harder to find anything decent in there. It has a Phase eight which is handy.

It is a shame. John Lewis seem to have nailed department stores better. But they have also invested heavily in their online offering, so you really only need to go in if you want to look at something in person before you buy.

When I say Management I mean: Who ever is responsible for the decor, atmosphere and unfashionable and dated clothes. Someone in that business is stuck in 1992.

When I say Management I mean: Who ever is responsible for the decor, atmosphere and unfashionable and dated clothes. Someone in that business is stuck in 1992.

It’s not really fair to blame the team running the stores, because nothing they could have done would have saved that business. I bet that there was no money for decor upgrades, either.

@Iamthewombat some stores are very poorly managed though.

In terms of empty tills and poor store layouts. Some stores are fantastic.

The Oxford St store is an example of a good run store but for every nice Debenhams I can think of 5 poorly run ones.

In every John Lewis I’ve been in the stores are well laid out the clothes are actually fashionable and describable and the store has a pleasant atmosphere. I have not found a John Lewis which is bad. Ditto Fenwick.

There is a lot more to blame for this than just Amazon.

*desirable

WHSmith stores are overpriced and messy

Do you get that irrespective of (in your opinion) poor management of stores, empty tills, etc., that Debenhams had no chance because its assets were sold off in 2003 and it was loaded with rent obligations and debt?

No decisions made in 2019 (which you singled out in your first post) would have changed the outcome.

Why do you think that the tills were empty? Because there wasn’t enough money to staff the stores properly. Because it was all going on rent payments and servicing debt.

@Iamthewombat

The asset strippers certainly played a role. But it’s mostly because the stores are not doing well because of what they sell. Lots of stores pay rent but Debenhams stores are empty because the products with the exception of a few things like Bras and makeup are just not popular.

Unfortunately this is a spiral and causes the lack of staff and then makes the store appear like a jumble sale. But fundamentally the stores are selling low quality brands and unfashionable polyester clothes.

Had they of changed up their model years ago they wouldn’t be in this fate.

Had they of changed up their model years ago they wouldn’t be in this fate.

They would, but it’s clear that there’s no persuading you. Even John Lewis are posting massive losses.

Sorry, disagree.

WH Smith is the absolute pits. Only handy to pop in for an overpriced chocolate bar when I'm at a train station. Even then I'd choose Boots over it if available.