Is the High Street doomed

[Dogsauce]

Not strictly high street, but still bricks & mortar. Camping shop Go Outdoors going down the toilet by the sound of things:

Go Outdoors looks set to go into administration as parent company JD Sports updates City

Camping, cycling and outdoor retailer which trades from 67 stores lodges notice of intention to appoint administrators

road.cc

There is some element of the world continuing to change with things like this, Go outdoors will have killed off a lot of high street camping shops (Millets etc.) when they started opening their out-of-town sheds, in a similar way to Toys’R‘us slaughtering all the local toy shops, now both falling aside due to things moving to internet sales. And so it goes.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Not strictly high street, but still bricks & mortar. Camping shop Go Outdoors going down the toilet by the sound of things:

Go Outdoors looks set to go into administration as parent company JD Sports updates City

Camping, cycling and outdoor retailer which trades from 67 stores lodges notice of intention to appoint administrators

road.cc

There is some element of the world continuing to change with things like this, Go outdoors will have killed off a lot of high street camping shops (Millets etc.) when they started opening their out-of-town sheds, in a similar way to Toys’R‘us slaughtering all the local toy shops, now both falling aside due to things moving to internet sales. And so it goes.

I read a report at the weekend that JD Sport intended to put Go Outdoors into administration, so they could buy it back in one of those dodgy pre-package deals.

 

[mx wcfc]

This has been on the cards for a while - certainly not a surprise.

Shopping centre giant Intu enters administration

Shopping centres including Trafford and Lakeside will continue to trade under administrators KPMG.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Marty1]

This has been on the cards for a while - certainly not a surprise.

Shopping centre giant Intu enters administration

Shopping centres including Trafford and Lakeside will continue to trade under administrators KPMG.

www.bbc.co.uk

The significance of Intu's collapse "cannot be understated," said Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics.

The coronavirus lockdown is speeding up a trend towards buying more consumer goods online, he said. He estimates 50% of workers normally can't receive parcels at work.

But with many people spending most of their time at home, and car journeys to shopping centres discouraged, many of those people are now ordering via websites.

Looks like Covid has dramatically expedited many retailers demise. The question is - who’s next to fall?

 

[Artaxerxes]

Looks like Covid has dramatically expedited many retailers demise. The question is - who’s next to fall?

Westfield have got to be taking a hammering

 

[Marty1]

Not strictly high street, but still bricks & mortar. Camping shop Go Outdoors going down the toilet by the sound of things:

Go Outdoors looks set to go into administration as parent company JD Sports updates City

Camping, cycling and outdoor retailer which trades from 67 stores lodges notice of intention to appoint administrators

road.cc

There is some element of the world continuing to change with things like this, Go outdoors will have killed off a lot of high street camping shops (Millets etc.) when they started opening their out-of-town sheds, in a similar way to Toys’R‘us slaughtering all the local toy shops, now both falling aside due to things moving to internet sales. And so it goes.

The comparison between online and retail is a tale of boom and bust.

Since Covid kicked in every day for me and other teams of delivery drivers has been like Black Friday and Xmas season rolled into one - I estimate that the Amazon depot I pick up from is turning over 60 - 70k parcels per day.

 

[Marty1]

The gf went to intu Metrocentre today and said it was very busy - she took some snaps:

Queue for Primark and JD Sports:



Apparently there’s a one way system in place that a lot of shoppers strayed from but there’s loads of additional staff advising stragglers to stay in their lane.

 

[weepiper]

The gf went to intu Metrocentre today and said it was very busy - she took some snaps:

Queue for Primark and JD Sports:
View attachment 219905
View attachment 219906

Apparently there’s a one way system in place that a lot of shoppers strayed from but there’s loads of additional staff advising stragglers to stay in their lane.

Should that even be open yet? I thought it was only retail spaces that had an outside door that were open, not shopping malls.

Edit, never mind. England has different rules to us.

 

[ska invita]

Should that even be open yet? I thought it was only retail spaces that had an outside door that were open, not shopping malls.

Edit, never mind. England has different rules to us.

ingerlaaand.....ingerlaaaand

 

[Marty1]

Should that even be open yet? I thought it was only retail spaces that had an outside door that were open, not shopping malls.

Dunno but people don’t seem bothered.

She went there to go to a fitness store to order a exercise bike - that shop was only allowing 2 customers in at a time and had to wear a face mask. From what I gather that shop is more like a showroom for you to try equipment out then it’s delivered to your home - she’s got to wait 6 weeks before delivery as they are struggling with surge of demand.

She did say she went to go into HMV but guy on the door said she would have to wait until someone came out as they’d reached their quota - she said it looked quite packed so she didn’t bother.

Edit: just saw your edit.

 

[weepiper]

So wait, you can't meet more than 6 people from two different households and you have to do it outdoors, but you can queue with 40-odd other households in an indoor shopping centre? That's fucking wild.

 

[Badgers]

Café Rouge and Bella Italia owner falls into administration. Was on the cards for a while but another 1900 jobs gone, possibly more to follow.

Café Rouge and Bella Italia owner falls into administration

Ninety-one sites will close immediately with the loss of around 1,900 jobs.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Badgers]

John Lewis and Boots closing stores and laying off a load of staff

 

[cupid_stunt]

John Lewis and Boots closing stores and laying off a load of staff

5,300 jobs to go.

Both were looking at closing stores before covid hit, so it looks like that has just speeded up the inevitable.

Coronavirus: John Lewis and Boots to cut 5,300 jobs

A day after the chancellor unveiled a plan to save jobs, two of the UK's biggest retailers announce cuts.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Badgers]

Burger King closing approx 1 in 10 stores.

Burger King boss warns of UK job cuts

The UK boss of the fast food giant said the chain could cut between 5% and 10% of its staff.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[MickiQ]

5,300 jobs to go.

Both were looking at closing stores before covid hit, so it looks like that has just speeded up the inevitable.

Coronavirus: John Lewis and Boots to cut 5,300 jobs

A day after the chancellor unveiled a plan to save jobs, two of the UK's biggest retailers announce cuts.

www.bbc.co.uk

To be honest the tagline about the Chancellor unveiling a plan to save jobs is a bit disingenuous, it would be more accurate to say:
"Chancellor unveils plan for firms that weren't really going to sack anyone to claim a £1000 per head bung in Jan by pretending they might have done"

 

[Southlondon]

The comparison between online and retail is a tale of boom and bust.

Since Covid kicked in every day for me and other teams of delivery drivers has been like Black Friday and Xmas season rolled into one - I estimate that the Amazon depot I pick up from is turning over 60 - 70k parcels per day.

I can’t see how they can keep passing up the opportunity for a windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown.

The comparison between online and retail is a tale of boom and bust.

Since Covid kicked in every day for me and other teams of delivery drivers has been like Black Friday and Xmas season rolled into one - I estimate that the Amazon depot I pick up from is turning over 60 - 70k parcels per day.

This is why they should bring in a swift windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown. The supermarkets and convenience stores, takeaways that delivered throughout, courier firms, healthcare agencies, etc have all made a mint out of the world’s tragedy and I think it’s obscene for those lucky businesses to gorge themselves on profits they never expected, when the economy has taken the biggest hit ever and so many businesses are without income never mind profits. Follow that with a proper wealth tax and we would have the kind of money needed to really kickstart the economy and save jobs. But of course under our fucked up capitalism businesses expect to take out profits in the good times, and to put nothing back in the bad times.
as for the high streets and wet-led pubs, they were struggling beforehand and until they get the plague properly under control there’s no way the majority of Shops or pubs can survive with greatly reduced footfall and the additional costs of New health and safety Requirements Unless they’re heavily subsidised by the tax payer.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I can’t see how they can keep passing up the opportunity for a windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown.

This is why they should bring in a swift windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown. The supermarkets and convenience stores, takeaways that delivered throughout, courier firms, healthcare agencies, etc have all made a mint out of the world’s tragedy and I think it’s obscene for those lucky businesses to gorge themselves on profits they never expected, when the economy has taken the biggest hit ever and so many businesses are without income never mind profits. Follow that with a proper wealth tax and we would have the kind of money needed to really kickstart the economy and save jobs. But of course under our fucked up capitalism businesses expect to take out profits in the good times, and to put nothing back in the bad times.
as for the high streets and wet-led pubs, they were struggling beforehand and until they get the plague properly under control there’s no way the majority of Shops or pubs can survive with greatly reduced footfall and the additional costs of New health and safety Requirements Unless they’re heavily subsidised by the tax payer.

Well Amazon has boomed, but most of their profits from the UK disappear via Luxembourg, so no chance of a windfall tax hitting them.

Supermarkets haven't done very well, because of the extra costs in hiring extra staff to deal with online delivery orders, pickers & drivers, plus security staff too, as reflected by their share prices being well down.

And, I doubt any of the rest of your examples have done particularly well, just ticked over, and certainly not made a mint from it.

 

[Big Bertha]

I can’t see how they can keep passing up the opportunity for a windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown.

This is why they should bring in a swift windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown. The supermarkets and convenience stores, takeaways that delivered throughout, courier firms, healthcare agencies, etc have all made a mint out of the world’s tragedy and I think it’s obscene for those lucky businesses to gorge themselves on profits they never expected, when the economy has taken the biggest hit ever and so many businesses are without income never mind profits. Follow that with a proper wealth tax and we would have the kind of money needed to really kickstart the economy and save jobs. But of course under our fucked up capitalism businesses expect to take out profits in the good times, and to put nothing back in the bad times.
as for the high streets and wet-led pubs, they were struggling beforehand and until they get the plague properly under control there’s no way the majority of Shops or pubs can survive with greatly reduced footfall and the additional costs of New health and safety Requirements Unless they’re heavily subsidised by the tax payer.

Hmm

 

[Doodler]

Not strictly high street, but still bricks & mortar. Camping shop Go Outdoors going down the toilet by the sound of things:

Go Outdoors looks set to go into administration as parent company JD Sports updates City

Camping, cycling and outdoor retailer which trades from 67 stores lodges notice of intention to appoint administrators

road.cc

There is some element of the world continuing to change with things like this, Go outdoors will have killed off a lot of high street camping shops (Millets etc.) when they started opening their out-of-town sheds, in a similar way to Toys’R‘us slaughtering all the local toy shops, now both falling aside due to things moving to internet sales. And so it goes.

Not really surprising. As well as online sales competition, Go Outdoors' price display system is unpopular (you need a store card to get the discount price, which is always in eyecatching big numerals) and their delivery and ordering system is unreliable.

 

[Southlondon]

Well Amazon has boomed, but most of their profits from the UK disappear via Luxembourg, so no chance of a windfall tax hitting them.

Supermarkets haven't done very well, because of the extra costs in hiring extra staff to deal with online delivery orders, pickers & drivers, plus security staff too, as reflected by their share prices being well down.

And, I doubt any of the rest of your examples have done particularly well, just ticked over, and certainly not made a mint from it.

I know Asda are reporting a dip in profits, but considering the increased footfall, 100% capacity deliveries, absence of promotions etc And share prices are affected by more than profits anyway. As for the additional cost of providing a low waged security guard on the door of those shops that didn’t already have one is negligible. My point is that before any shareholder dividends are paid out for this financial year u believe they should hit any business that has made profits above those made in the comparable period last year with a heavy windfall tax. It’s money they weren’t expecting. As for the tax-avoiding multinationals and their billionaire owners, maybe this is as good a time as any for a campaign to pressure governments to as far as possible act in unison and Close down The loopholes And tax and tax their obscene profits in the countries they operate in. And deliveries weren’t load leaders by the way, so scaling up Staffing levels to Allow for increased demand means more profits not less

 

[Marty1]

I can’t see how they can keep passing up the opportunity for a windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown.

This is why they should bring in a swift windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown. The supermarkets and convenience stores, takeaways that delivered throughout, courier firms, healthcare agencies, etc have all made a mint out of the world’s tragedy and I think it’s obscene for those lucky businesses to gorge themselves on profits they never expected, when the economy has taken the biggest hit ever and so many businesses are without income never mind profits. Follow that with a proper wealth tax and we would have the kind of money needed to really kickstart the economy and save jobs. But of course under our fucked up capitalism businesses expect to take out profits in the good times, and to put nothing back in the bad times.
as for the high streets and wet-led pubs, they were struggling beforehand and until they get the plague properly under control there’s no way the majority of Shops or pubs can survive with greatly reduced footfall and the additional costs of New health and safety Requirements Unless they’re heavily subsidised by the tax payer.

On the face of it a windfall tax sounds like a good idea - or just tax Amazon as Bezos has had a turbo boost of billions with new customers to boot.

Bezos has probably grown in the space of months what would normally have taken 5yrs or so.

Its absolutely vile to see a cunt like him and his Amazon shamelessly gorging themselves whilst paying workers a pittance, turning a blind eye on Covid outbreaks at Amazon warehouses and sacking whistleblowers with racist undertones in the process

 

[Saul Goodman]

I can’t see how they can keep passing up the opportunity for a windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown.

This is why they should bring in a swift windfall tax on all the businesses that have boomed during lockdown. The supermarkets and convenience stores, takeaways that delivered throughout, courier firms, healthcare agencies, etc have all made a mint out of the world’s tragedy and I think it’s obscene for those lucky businesses to gorge themselves on profits they never expected, when the economy has taken the biggest hit ever and so many businesses are without income never mind profits. Follow that with a proper wealth tax and we would have the kind of money needed to really kickstart the economy and save jobs. But of course under our fucked up capitalism businesses expect to take out profits in the good times, and to put nothing back in the bad times.

But these businesses are putting something back, they're paying taxes. The more profit they make, the more tax they pay. Why go after a small courier company when Bezos is taking billions in taxes from the country?

 

[SpookyFrank]

Cheap High Street properties might be attractive to large retail names for a showrooms plus distribution hub setup. Argos have something like this where a main county/regional store supplies stock to satellite stores. You can imagine in a few years time largely automated warehouses supplying high street showrooms with samples and 'essentials' product ranges doubling as click and collect points. One retail park chain is already exploring this.

City centres are the worst possible place for distribution hubs though.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

But these businesses are putting something back, they're paying taxes. The more profit they make, the more tax they pay. Why go after a small courier company when Bezos is taking billions in taxes from the country?

We should kidnap Bezos, nick his money and stick his shiny head on a pike and tour it around the country. Fucker’s worth nearly a trillion dollars, that will help kickstart the economy nicely.

 

[TopCat]

Westfield have got to be taking a hammering

I find myself really hoping these temples to consumerism fail. Then I think of the jobs.

 

[Southlondon]

But these businesses are putting something back, they're paying taxes. The more profit they make, the more tax they pay. Why go after a small courier company when Bezos is taking billions in taxes from the country?

I didn’t mention small, I was talking the big 5 supermarkets and there are plenty of massive courier firms and nursing staff agencies etc, and Wete tsk I gotta profits they weren’t expecting. Rest money could be used to beef up relief for those that Couldn’t even operate or still can’t. This is the biggest hit to the worlds economies and there’s no signs of the virus fizzling out anytime soon meaning suppressed consumer demand for a lot longer yet. Of course I’d like to see the billionaires and their companies properly taxed and to me that means wherever they operate. However, that would require some solid international cooperation between the big economies and that seems unlikely at the moment but who knows, anything is possible these days with enough grassroots cooperation and organising International consumer boycotts on a scale never before seen. Excess shareholder dividends should, in my mind, be taken and used to subsidise businesses that are likely to go bust and give us levels of unemployment never seen before. I think the high street shopping experience along with wet-led pubs have been on their way out for a long time and Maybe their a lost cause but plenty of businesses that will still be viable if they ever get the plague under control to return consumer confidence

 

[Doodler]

City centres are the worst possible place for distribution hubs though.

It's the showrooms that will be in the high streets, not the distribution hubs.

 

[stavros]

Why go after a small courier company when Bezos is taking billions in taxes from the country?

Why not rewrite the UK's labyrinthine tax legislation so that the moral rules and the legal rules are the same for everyone?

Well Amazon has boomed, but most of their profits from the UK disappear via Luxembourg, so no chance of a windfall tax hitting them.

The UK, Luxembourg and all the other European countries could form some kind of cooperative, big enough to regulate such abuses and share. We'd have a lot more power than on our own... Oh...

 

[Saul Goodman]

Why not rewrite the UK's labyrinthine tax legislation so that the moral rules and the legal rules are the same for everyone?

The UK, Luxembourg and all the other European countries could form some kind of cooperative, big enough to regulate such abuses and share. We'd have a lot more power than on our own... Oh...

Why not just tell Amazon "Fuck off. If you don't want to pay taxes here you can't sell here"?