Posted on 01/01/2012 10:37:45 PM PST by bruinbirdman
More shops will collapse into administration or announce store closures in the next couple of weeks, afters suffering from "profits squeezed to extinction" as well as a fall in sales over Christmas, according to the head of Britain's retail trade body.
As many as 40,000 are expected to lose their jobs, with more forced to work on reduced hours, as the full force of the consumer slowdown starts to makes its effects felt on the high street.
After the collapse of Barratts Priceless, the shoe chain, Hawkin's Bazaar, the toy shop and D2 Jeans last week, a clutch of other names are expected to go to the wall, said Stephen Robertson, the director general of the British Retail Consortium.
He said that conditions were worse than at the end of 2008, a period acknowledged to be the worst in a generation for the high street and which saw the collapse of Woolworths, Zavvi and MFI:
"This feels, talking to retailers, that there is more pressure than there was back in 2008. Back then there had been a relatively good run up until that point, and sales were certainly down, but margins were holding up.
"This time, it's not just about the poor sales performance it's about the underlying profitability. We have seen a blizzard of deals and promotions, so gross profit margins will have been punished."
This week is the start of the retailers' reporting season, when chains reveal how well or poorly they have fared over Christmas.
John Lewis will be the first to report on Tuesday, with sales expected to be up a healthy 12pc in December, however this figure masks a likely drop in profits, because the department store chain's "Never Knowingly Undersold" promise means it was forced to drop prices to match competitors.
Later in the
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
That is the trouble with offering too many deep discounts, if volume in response does not pick up then you are really in trouble. Why is Britain having these problems, is it the decreasing lack of meaning in Christmas, the EU, the riots, or what?
In Australia retailers are blaming the internet. Customers come in, look at a product and then go home to order it on the internet at cheaper prices, as the internet seller doesn’t have to cover wages, rent etc.
Maybe cities will have space freed up a little, as more stores close and are replaced by chains of internet warehouses with the occasional showroom.
Sounds kinda like the old Sears catalog showrooms from back in the day, updated for 2012. Might not be a bad business model actually, but those much more retail-knowledgeable than I can respond to that.
My feeling is that if you need to see merchandise in person before buying, you need to by from from a retailer not a web site.
My feeling is that if you need to see merchandise in person before buying, you need to buy from from a retailer not a web site.
Salesmanship might correct some of that problem. If a good salesperson explains that here you can get service and inspect the merchandise it blunts the internet appeal. Everybody has some horror story of something they purchased by computer. A really good salesperson can also make the experience of buying enjoyable and convince the consumer that this local business is worth supporting. A great sales approach will have them feel like they are doing a fabulous thing supporting their community and country while making their life easier. Maybe they need more sales training in the UK.
The fact that garbage such as that can get 4.5m views is part of the problem.
The sheeple get the government they vote for, and the sheeple's brain is riddled with prions.
The dismal Obama economy has repercussions globally. Until America recovers its rightful place of dominance in the world, the UK will continue to founder. Change is coming in a year when Conservatives led by Newt Gingrich restore free-market capitalism here.
Ummm. I doubt that I account for many more than 0.01m of these . Bwa ha ha ha ha!
As many as 40,000 are expected to lose their jobs,
Woo Hoo!
with more forced to work on reduced hours,
Woo Hoo!
as the full force of the consumer slowdown starts to makes its effects felt on the high street.
Woo Hoo!
(( ping ))
Just for the record, I first heard this song in the Nissan ads for its Sentra model, circa 2000 AD. I bought one ... my wife always says because I liked the song, which is hard for me to deny.
We went to a well-known outlet center in the Twin Cities metro to shop the after Christmas sales today. Hadn’t been there since last March. Prices have tripled, even on sale, and a fourth of the mall was shuttered having gone out of business.
That was just plain scary. I made sure to thank 0bama.
America had dominance in the world. Then greedy corporations thought they can make even more by teaching China and India how to do the jobs Americans used to do and blunt enforcement of immigration laws to bring in cheaper labor to do jobs Americans used to do. Our technology advantage was given away, our manufacturing was given away, and the US who once was the only place to buy the most advance and best is now off shored to every nation in the world. The only thing the US kept is the knowledge how to pump and dump and sell toxic assets to unsuspecting investors, over and over and over. Greed and lack of patriotism is killing America. The one percent scheme and screw the 99 percent. Makes me laugh when the one percent claim they help produce jobs, but in the last several years their schemes killed 11 million jobs. In Shakespeares time it was “kill all lawyers”, in the 21st Century it will be “kill all bankers and politicians”. That is how the 21st Century will begin, don’t know how it would end. That is for my son and grandson’s generation to deal with.
Change will come when Newt Gingrich begins to represent the Conservatives who elected him.
yitbos
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation. - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
“....you need to by from from a retailer not a web site. “
I would generally agree with that. Plus I’m impatient so if I went somewhere to look at something I’d probably just buy it.
But I am also not the biggest bargain hunter either.
This year I had ZERO Christmas spirit and so started my shopping very late. I did almost all my shopping in actual stores.
So who’re you going to call?
I’ve looked over all the Republican candidates carefully, and only one seems to have the knowledge of government and leadership capabilites to change the way Washington works.
Newt Gingrich had an epiphany. He had to, or he would have self-destructed.
As a small child he witnessed his father beating and abusing Newt’s mother. She divorced him, remarried, and Newt was adopted by his step dad. Later he was sexually molested by a high school teacher. Yeah, the first wife he married.
This man was carrying a troubled emotional burden while serving in Congress but he sought counseling, joined AA and eventually turned his life around after a religious conversion.
What I’ve found shocking is the enormous number of so-called Christians here at Free Republic who are nothing of the sort. Christians are not better than other people. They forgive others, ask forgiveness for themselves, and try to lead a better life by not sinning further. I’m not disgusted with Newt Gingrich, who I believe has honestly changed his life.
“...After only four years with his Party still in power, his own members forced him out...”
Oh yeah, and many of those Republicans are still in Congress. They are part of the ongoing problem of business as usual in Washignton, D.C. Under a Republican president, they added over $3 trillion to the federal deficit, shunned conservative policy in favor of Beltway influence-peddling, and so damaged the GOP brand that we lost the majority Gingrich had worked years to forge.
Do you really think I give a damn that Newt’s fabulous colleagues think his reemergence would be a disaster for Republicans? No. The elections of 2010 were NOT a merit promotion; the Republicans were the only alternative in town!
Newt Gingrich is pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment and loves America and understands its citizens. As a historian, he thoroughly knows the U.S. Constitution and our nation’s history.
He allied himself with Ronald Reagan to build the Reagan Coalition, the Religious Right, and the Republican majority (together the Reagan Revolution) which directly led the downfall of the Soviet Union, the Contract with America, government reforms, less government, tax cuts, a balanced budget, and the great, long-standing Reagan economy.
Washington is broken, it doesn’t work the way it is supposed to and Newt said, if elected, he will work to change the way Washington does business. You better believe the elitists who suck money off of government contracts are terrified he will be elected.
He knows where the bodies are buried.
He knows where the skeletons are hidden.
He knows about the secret ways and byways by which influence peddling moves in Washington.
When a middle-class citizen is elected to Congress and returns home 20 years later a multi-millionaire, it is due to corruption in government. And that influence pedaling corruption may even be legal!
We have to change Washington in order to get our nation back on the right track.
I believe that Newt Gingrich is the only candidate with true leadership ability who can and will change Washington, D.C. God knows, he isn’t perfect. Who is? But I believe at this time, at this juncture in in nation’s existence, he can lead this country away from the abyss of socialism and will right the ship of state.
I think of myself as a great Christmas guy, and I love the Holiday, but over the last few years I've indulged a tendency, abetted by my station in life, to let it all happen around me, as much as I might "help out". What I'm saying is that I don't buy anybody any presents anymore. I used to get my wife some little thing, but last year I didn't even do that. Well, this year I had a huge resurgence of Christmas spirit and I bought my wife a scented candle that I saw at the grocery store. Whew.
Please believe me when I say that I do in fact cheerfully devote significant time and effort to the familial celebration of Christmas ... and Happy New Year!
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