Orbital sander at Aldi

[Doctor Drivel]

Matalan still saw them off though.

M&S are more clued up and are a high profile company.

[Andy Hall]

No because they sell items that are related to DIY only - at least the more successful ones do. Have a think about which are the most successful and which are the least.

B&Q is the most successful by pretty much all the measures. Homebase is in between and Focus is the least.

One of the major factors in that is dilution. Homebase has sub-franchises of various store-in-store outfits. These rarely have people in them and they are using floor space. Focus is even worse with pet sections and until recently crafts. As a result, they don't have the space to have the range of goods for the primary market. The formula demonstrably doesn't work.

[Stuart Noble]

I rather like shopping there. Less stressful than the big supermarkets. Same (or better) food, half the price, and half the staff. They don't do truffles though, so I still have to send the chauffeur up to Fortnum's.

[:Jerry:]

You mean you don't get them to deliver?...

[:Jerry:]

Best you own your own farm and live the "Good Life" - that's the only way you are going to know the origin and content of anything you might buy in a shop...

[:Jerry:]

In the UK, true, but then again they have only been playing, establishing a presence, much like Tesco did (abroad) for many years.

Yes, on the price of straw! :~)

[Stuart Noble]

Normal people. You know, the ones that probably fuel your retail portfolio.

and what basic shop? I don't really buy "basic shop"

Oysters and champagne for you is it?

If you can verify that, you must either have too much time on your hands or be slightly gullible.

>

[:Jerry:]

B&Q have done more to damage to those DIY (and some trade) core business who do want to do it properly than anyone else, try finding a member of staff in B&Q who really knows the product they are attempting to sell.

Homebase is

But they all buy in on price and then sell on price, which is what companies like Aldi do - if Aldi were to buy in a production run of (say) Makita and brand them as 'Tool-Time' as a loss-leader I bet you would still use the same arguments about market position and price point...

Many people actually prefer(ed) Homebase due to that.

Focus is even worse

Indeed, has Focus never really got their act together, ISTM that they tried to be a cross between the (worst aspects of) 'Do it All' and 'Fads' - OK for the casual shopper who just wants to tart up a room with a couple of rolls of wall paper or a pot of paint, and then remembers that they also need some brushes or what ever whilst in-store.

[Tony Bryer]

One day, when discussing such things, my brother said to me "why do you buy your food at Farmfoods [Lidl-style food shop] when you are so rich*". Then he paused and said "you're rich because you buy your food at Farmfoods".

I guess I could be considered to be tight, but that's a legacy of having lived on the brink of going broke in the early 90s.

*relative term, M'lud.

[Stuart Noble]

I'd use my local Focus more if they stocked the shelves more than once a year and put price tickets on things. Not a lot to ask, but they persist in doing neither. You can easily go bust with a good business plan if you don't attend to the nitty gritty. That reminds me, they also manage to stab every bag of sand or cement with their fork-lift, but all the sheds do that, and one wonders how you deal with a product that weighs 25kgs and on which you probably make tuppence profit.

[The Medway Handyman]

Wickes do that & I like it! You can blag money off & you get a free rubble sack thrown in!

[Stuart Noble]

No, it only encourages poor people to congregate outside hoping for a few scraps.

[Stuart Noble]

Things must be tight in the handyman business :-)

[Andy Hall]

Everybody with investments such as ISAs, pension schemes, unit trusts etc. probably has some level in retail.

I don't buy champagne. If I want oysters, I buy them in France where they are better and less expensive than in the UK.

Neither. I am just very picky about what I eat and what I buy to eat.

[Andy Hall]

People who play at business usually don't succeed.

Except that Tesco did it properly.

[Andy Hall]

Actually you can. The time to go for that is Sunday mornings when students from eastern Europe are working there. They tend to be very knowledgable, polite and helpful.

Which is probably why they are also unsuccessful.

The issue is about service and support.

The results suggest otherwise. If they did prefer it, they didn't prefer it enough to spend good money there.

[:Jerry:]

I was using the word 'playing' rather sarcastically.

So that would be why Lidl is still expanding in the UK, doing in incorrectly and not making any money out of their UK operations?...

Also, talking of Tesco, the 0.50 ukp drop in Tesco's share price in the last couple of days and a general downward slide since they gave a UK profits warning, slashing it's product range in the last month or so, whilst reducing many prices might suggest that more and more people are seeing the benefits of a more 'cash and carry' approach to product display...

[Adam Aglionby]

Certainly Aldi air tools are supplied by Wolf Omega with a 3 year warranty and UK support phone line. Computer stuff always has a UK support line no as well. Returns within warranty are absolutely no problem to your nearest Aldi store. Believe the 3 year warranty is what German consumers expect and Aldi dont worry about it, they get their suppliers to back it.

Adam

[Andy Hall]

That doesn't answer the question. Is there spares and service or is this another case of playing the numbers game with products that fail going to the tip?

[:Jerry:]

Yes, about the own brand power tools that are made in the former eastern block countries... Their knowledge is only as good as either their training or practical experience with the product.

B&Q, Wickes unsuccessful, if you say so!...

More straw Andy?

Rubbish, Homebase was (at the time of it's sell off from the JS group) making more money than the food sector - that is why the JS group sold it off, to raise money to save the core business.