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Original poster

House of Fraser - end of the high st?

46 replies

buddhasbelly · 02/05/2018 18:19

With house of fraser announcing store closures, do you reckon this is the beginning of the end for the high st?

There was a thread a while back about stores we could see closing and HoF and debenhams were mentioned quite a bit.

My money is on wh Smith closing high st branches but keeping train station shops open?

What do wise MNers think?

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 02/05/2018 18:23

John lewis still seems to be doing OK. I wonder why?
(I like it, not a criticism but I like hof too)

Original poster
buddhasbelly · 02/05/2018 18:24

Anyone? Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
buddhasbelly · 02/05/2018 18:25

Thanks Stealth i wonder how John Lewis has managed to keep its business going when Hof has struggled

OP posts:
Jozxyqk · 02/05/2018 18:29

HoF is the only department store we have in my (large-ish, northern) town. And consequently, the only place it's possible to buy many brands unless I want to buy online. And yet they haven't decorated in decades... It looks so late 70s / early 80s it's ridiculous. No wonder they're doing badly.

GlitterGlue · 02/05/2018 18:30

Our hof is tatty and the brands/range are no where near as good as jl. Or even some other hof stores. That’ll be why they’re not doing well.

bookmum08 · 02/05/2018 18:30

I don't think I have ever bought anything from House of Fraser ever. Other than clothes I don't even know what they sell!! The problem with retailers like these is their advertising doesn't usually tell us what they sell (especially those John Lewis Xmas ones).

StealthPolarBear · 02/05/2018 18:32

Actually the last hof I went to was pretty grim, went about a month ago. I assumed it was a one off (Middlesbrough)

CrackingEggs · 02/05/2018 18:33

John Lewis has made quite a lot of redundancies. I believe their customer services are now subcontracted? They are based in one area of the country in a call centre now and are nice but ineffectual.

StealthPolarBear · 02/05/2018 18:34

Oh :(

StealthPolarBear · 02/05/2018 18:35

Yes we're seeing the end of the high Street I think

userxx · 02/05/2018 18:37

@Jozxyqk the house of Fraser near you sounds very much like the one near me. It's so 1980's!

CrackingEggs · 02/05/2018 18:55

I get the impression JL understand the issues and are trying hard to keep going doing what they do best.

HofF don't seem to come from as strong a start. I know some HR people who have been headhunted to go there. That worried me, when a retail store needs HR rather than buyers it doesn't sound good?

The Oxford Street London store is nice enough but it's not needed. I only go to buy Polarn o p and that's on the top floor-pain in the ass. pOp made the mistake of taking their goods out of JL Oxford street as they would rather have the Hof F concession but not both. Mad.

Anyway, all very sad. There was talk about a year ago of HofF and Denenhams merging, but that seems to have gone quiet.

Mominatrix · 02/05/2018 19:01

Before people get too nostalgic about the demise of the traditional High Street, just remember that the retailers are not alone in the blame for this - many people turned away from the high street causing sales to plummet and shops to close. The local butcher and greengrocer are long gone (much cheaper at the supermarket). The little sports shop closed because it could not compete with Sports Direct.

The consumer is just as much to blame.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 02/05/2018 19:22

John Lewis have stayed in precision tight to their target market - and have the Waitrose link

Likewise primark are booming

None of the others have really - hardly a surprise

You don’t evolve you die

Timefortea99 · 02/05/2018 19:29

Both House of Fraser and Debenhams deserve to go under - most of their shops are careworn and dated. The staff don’t deserve to lose their jobs, it is the lack of vision from senior management that is too blame. I hate our high street now. The clothes in particular are dire.

SporkInTheToaster · 02/05/2018 19:55

My local Debenhams is poorly laid out and badly stocked. For example, the beauty dept is minuscule and repeats brands sold a few doors up. There’s rarely anyone in there. I can’t help but feel they’d be better off featuring the concessions Debenhams work with which would be unique to my local high street, such as Urban Decay. It would add a USP to the store and and bring a whole new set of customers in store.

On the other hand, my local HoF is ok. Decent range of brands, quite tidy, pleasant and helpful staff. Usually pretty busy. Though I was in the big one on Deansgate in Manchester a couple of weeks ago and it was a ghost town.

IHateToCashew · 02/05/2018 21:57

I've refused to shop in HOF since we got so hugely mucked around in the furniture department, we went three months before our sofa was delivered. We were passed from every department possible. We rang the store one day, to be told that the furniture department was closed, and they had 'no access to any information' as it had all been destroyed Hmm and we would just have to wait and see if it arrived.

Took months to resolve and have never gone back. Not even an apology from them for something entirely their fault. Their service is dire, not just based on that, but generally when I used to pop in to shop there it was pretty bad. I remember waiting ten minutes before giving up buying a dress because the cashier was on the phone and actually shushed me when I asked if I could try it on while she continued a clearly personal call.

I know they won't all be like that, but that's my experience of their stores.

foxessocks · 02/05/2018 22:01

We had a bad experience with their furniture department too. Customer services were no help at all, no proper responses and in the end they just ignored me completely! Really disappointed and I haven't really shopped there since. I do like the things in warehouse at the moment though and I can only get that in hof or online.

missyB1 · 03/05/2018 07:06

JL know who their customers are and what they want, they also keep their stores and products up to date. Our HOF is dire, very dated building (which is like a maze, everyone complains of getting lost in there), and no real idea of their target market and what they might like to buy.

We have a brand new JL opening on our high street in the Autumn, I fully expect HOF to close shortly after.

AvoidingDM · 03/05/2018 07:23

I rarely shop in it. However no issues with their furniture dept. Ordered a sofa it arrived great.

However I wish I could say the same for the 2 lamps I ordered. I got two brackets that hold the shade onto the base. No shades, no bases, just the two brackets arrived through the letter box in an A5 sized jiffy bag.
I took them into our nearest shop, they initially refused to refund them or swap for complete lamps as it would throw their stock out. Half an hour and a argument I eventually got 2 complete lamps.

AveEldon · 03/05/2018 07:24

The trouble for HOF is that I feel there is nothing I can buy there that I can't buy elsewhere

Do they still sell own brand labels or is it all concessions?

NotARegularPenguin · 03/05/2018 07:28

Our local HoF is stuck in a 1970s time warp decor wise. It looks old and tired and isn’t a pleasant place to shop. Which is a shame because the few times I’ve been in (maybe 3 in the last 8 years) they have some nice concessions.

Bubba1234 · 03/05/2018 07:36

Yes I agree there we are a lot to blame for these big departments that have no atmosphere.
I still love going into small shops where your known by name butchers bakery veg shop etc I hate all the packaging for things in supermarkets though you can’t avoid some.
With clothes I barely buy in shops now unfortunately. There is never anything nice and the choice online is too tempting. Missguided I absolutely love their stuff the quality is fine to me & they practically give the stuff away in their sales ( they do so much 60 percent off weekends) getting lovely little dresses for four pounds and coats for 18 pounds they beat primark for price and quality they are guna overtake primark in my wardrobe.
I got jeans in river island yesterday for the first time in years I was dreading going in knowing the terrible customer service that was awaiting me ( which happened) & I just didn’t enjoy the thoughts of going in which years ago was my fave thing to do go shopping. I managed to get a pair that in fairness were lovely but pricey at 42 pounds not worth the price but I was desperate. I so miss American apparel it was my favorite shop so sad. My mission is to find a good jeans brand. I’m guna try the Levi’s store.

Bubba1234 · 03/05/2018 07:39

Yes my local debenhams has urban decay it’s my only reason Togo in and it’s right at the front door. Though I’m toying with the idea of getting some clinique items I used them years ago n used to be obsessed.

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 03/05/2018 07:40

I live in London and it’s just not on my radar. There is one in Central London so they would have to be selling something special for me to go out of my way and go there. I have travelled into town from Zone 3 to pick up something from Selfridges though. HoF seems to me expensive and there’s nothing there I cannot buy elsewhere for less money.

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