OT:RIP Jessops

on the basis of the tax collected from business in that area

no

so they aren't contributing to the pot that gets distributed

tim

I suspect I am not alone in thinking that none of those shops have any appeal whatsoever. That's a large part of the problem. High streets and town centres stuffed full of shops trying to sell stuff that no one wants or needs.

MBQ

Glad to see the back of the endless "bike sale". More tat.

What did they sell exactly?

MBQ

I've found it's the more useful shops that have closed and the shops that sell tat are still there.

Me too.

Never had a problem.

MBQ

SWMBO bought a lightweight coat from M&S in June last year. By end of July, one of the buttons had cracked in half. Took it back for a replacement, and was astonished to have the *manager* (not assistant) looking all over till she found the little bag with supplied spare buttons. She said "it's got a spare". It took me a second to realise she was suggesting I should replace it myself. Keeping my temper I asked for a replacement, which she actioned with bad grace. We ended up having an argument over quality - she said that the button cracking wasn't a manufacturing or design fault. When I replied that she was effectively saying it was a user fault, she tried to say SWMBO must have used "excessive fault". I got my revenge when she got on "the system" and announced that the particular style in question was no longer on the shelves, and she'd have to source one from another story - I told her (and the queue behind me) that it was probably because the buttons kept breaking. Quite apart from their pisspoor range of cloths (according to SWMBO - not a fussy shopper) attitudes like that aren't going to help them.

My current bugbear is the coat hanging loops. Every coat SWMBO and I have bought in the last 10 years has had the loop pull away from the coat. We've given up complaining now, and I just sew a little metal chain in before we use the coats.

And don't get me started on plastic zips ....

In message , at 17:09:31 on Mon, 14 Jan 2013, Jethro_uk remarked:

You are supposed to take the coat off, before you hang the person on the hook.

On Monday 14 January 2013 13:31 Mark wrote in uk.d-i-y:

On Wednesday 09 January 2013 17:36 Jethro_uk wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Doesn't sound like there's much left...

On an aside, according to Wonkypedia, it was John Allder who was instrumental in establishing Wednesday early closing for shops 9at least in Croydon).

:)

Certainly shops like Millets had specialist appeal, but they used to be in secondary locations that people who needed the stuff that they sold would seek out

It was perhaps a mistake to move to the high street and "dumb down" their product to compete with fashion stores.

tim

In message , tim..... writes

Exactly. Local authority may consider this a mistake and take steps to adjust the situation.

Not currently an issue here as all my barns are small enough to attract full relief. However, the relief is reviewed each year.

The one I remember from my teenage days was Frith's in Fife Road, Kingston, Surrey. Used stock items that had been around for a while were displayed with a price that decreased by a set amount each day until sold, a sort of shop window reverse auction.

--snip--

This seems to be a common tactic. Blame the customer for the s*it quality of the product. The trouble is that it probably works with the majority of customers.

I can't see how moving to the high street would stop people seeking out the stores. BTW Our millets was always on the high street.

Their product range has changed but I still found myself visiting the store.

I can't remember the name of the shop where I bought my first SLR. Unfortunately the price did not drop and I regularly walked past the window hoping that it would still be there when I had saved enough cash. It was & I kept that camera for so long and have only recently sold it.

The problem is, M&S *used* to mean quality - the garment equivalent of buying IBM. If they lose that, they're just another clothes shop - and their range ain't that great, and their prices are a touch high.

In the same mall on Sunday, Primark had a queue almost out the door - I had to stand in line 5 minutes to be served. And they had 5 people serving.

On Tuesday 15 January 2013 09:47 Mark wrote in uk.d-i-y:

RIP HMV now...

But crap music on expensive CDs is very much a dinosaurs' game so I'm not remotely sad. I wish the RIAA would drop dead with them along with every record label that continues to peddle overpriced crap.

Yes. It's a shame they have 'modernized',

Their range is limited but sometimes I have got some bargains.

I've only been to Primark once and that was once too many ;-)