Is the High Street doomed

[skyscraper101]

Amazon Fresh, the supermarket with no tills and you just walk in, get stuff and walk out again - has closed three stores in London.

Three Amazon Fresh stores have closed in London

Is till-free shopping going out of style?

www.timeout.com

TBH I've used them like 4 or 5 times and its the most underwhelming supermarket with only the pure basics and no particular price incentives or other specialty products. The novelty of feeling like a shoplifter wore off very quickly too. Especially because whatever faff you save by not having to check out at a till, is probably made up for with the faff of getting the barcode on the Amazon app to display and 'scan in'. Give me a well stocked Nisa Local or Happy Shopper anyday.

ETA - they were actually quite useful for returning Amazon stuff, so I'll give them that much.

 

[BigMoaner]

big shout out to this bad bastard. probably do 40% of my shopping here because teh prices are so good. home stuff, health stuff, bath and grooming etc, it's brilliant. yards from my flat.

 

[skyscraper101]

Now Wilko

Budget retailer Wilko on brink of collapse with 12,000 jobs at risk

Household goods chain with 400 stores prepares to appoint administrators

www.theguardian.com

 

[LDC]

Now Wilko

Budget retailer Wilko on brink of collapse with 12,000 jobs at risk

Household goods chain with 400 stores prepares to appoint administrators

www.theguardian.com

They closed the one in the town centre near me a few months ago which was used by so many people in this very small town. Left a hole physically that hasn't been filled, and also was a dead useful shop to loads of people, and was always busy it seemed. The town could go into decline if a few more places like that close, it hangs on OK considering its proximity to a few big cities.

 

[Bingoman]

They close the one in the town centre near me which was used by so many people in this very small town. Left a hole physically that hasn't been filled, and also was a dead useful shop of loads of people. The town could go into decline if a few places like this closed, it hangs on OK considering it's proximity to a few big cities/

Dont think I saw this coming tbh?

 

[LDC]

Dont think I saw this coming tbh?

What? Wilko in my town closing, Wilko going bust, or my post?

 

[skyscraper101]

I was in the one in Putney all the time when I lived there. Dead useful for homewares. I just hope 'The Range' doesn't suffer the same fate as I shop there all the time.

 

[pinkmonkey]

Their sales have increased since the new management team took over in February, This looks like a cash flow/lack of sufficient investment problem. I predict a pre-pack administration to shave off some of the stores (they're focussing more on digital and it's growing surprise, surprise).

 

[Bingoman]

What? Wilko in my town closing, Wilko going bust, or my post?

I didn't see wilko one being in trouble

 

[muscovyduck]

I had heard rumours about Wilko. Not usually fussed by this sort of thing but it's going to cause more knock on effects than you'd think. Wilko is often the only DIY place in a town centre or high street as opposed to B&Q etc who are usually further out. So if you're running an event in town and you need to run and grab an extra extension chord or screwdriver or whatever your turnaround on that has gone from 2-10mins up to half an hour or more. Hopefully someone with the wherewithal spots the gaps in the market and we see either new independent shops popping up, or the ones that are already there tucked away becoming more prominent

 

[stavros]

I'd always equated the fall of Woolworths with, at least partially, the rise of Wilkos. Almost 15 years later...

 

[Elpenor]

Wilko must be the anchor store of a lot of slightly downmarket, jaded town centre shopping centres eg Reading in the butts centre when they would never be in the oracle or Exeter in the Guildhall when they wouldn’t be in Princesshay

 

[skyscraper101]

I'd always equated the fall of Woolworths with, at least partially, the rise of Wilkos. Almost 15 years later...

Yep they are very much almost the same thing, save for the books, kiddy clothes and records/videos. I think poundland took up a lot of the missing trade too in that area. It'll be a shame to lose Wilko. Genuinely one of the more useful shops out there. All we'll be left with is vape shops and Flying Tiger soon

 

[stavros]

Yep they are very much almost the same thing, save for the books, kiddy clothes and records/videos. I think poundland took up a lot of the missing trade too in that area. It'll be a shame to lose Wilko. Genuinely one of the more useful shops out there. All we'll be left with is vape shops and Flying Tiger soon

As I said, it was partial. The supermarkets expanding well beyond food and drink also did for Woolies.

 

[Brainaddict]

Yeah I guess Wilkos competed with supermarkets too, but with high street locations that gave them an advantage in some situations. I assumed they were doing well in their budget niche, though now I think about it they may have made some errors - I was surprised to see one open on Kensington High Street. It's not that it doesn't get custom, but it's never crowded and the rent there must be a killer - its hard to imagine it makes a profit.

 

[Plumdaff]

I think they'd be fine if they closed some stores, as you say they seem to have expanded a lot and it's the newer stores that are quieter. The one in my home town has been there years and is always busy, it'd be another nail in the coffin there if it were to shut.

 

[Elpenor]

Ironically I have rarely been to a Wilko as I am not often in a town centre. Agree about their DIY offering, also stuff like kilner jars too. Not sure who else on a typical high street sells them, certainly not in my small very typical town

Perhaps everything is on Amazon is the counter argument but at £25 for a free delivery - unless you pay for prime - either way there’s a clear barrier for those who might only want to be able to buy a few items at a time

 

[kebabking]

Wilko do (did?) antastic Lego rip-off sets - you can (could?) get a farmhouse or whatever for about £20. Buying the Lego equivalent would set you back £60-80, and the Wilko and Lego stuff fits together perfectly...

Probably the last place in Kidderminster - population 60,000 - you could get basic DIY stuff like paint or filler without driving to B&Q or whatever on the outskirts of the arse end of nowhere.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Yep they are very much almost the same thing, save for the books, kiddy clothes and records/videos. I think poundland took up a lot of the missing trade too in that area. It'll be a shame to lose Wilko. Genuinely one of the more useful shops out there. All we'll be left with is vape shops and Flying Tiger soon

Miles and miles of hairdresser and chicken shops

 

[BristolEcho]

Don't Wilkinson's use prison labour? Pretty sure that's what I read on here and I pretty much avoid them for that reason.

 

[ska invita]

Don't Wilkinson's use prison labour? Pretty sure that's what I read on here and I pretty much avoid them for that reason.

Pretty incredible that a company selling budget goods during a time of economic hardship with no competitors and exploiting prisoner labour still can go bust.

Meanwhile luxury brands are booming.

 

[marty21]

I'd always equated the fall of Woolworths with, at least partially, the rise of Wilkos. Almost 15 years later...

Me too, I'd never heard of Wilkos until the demise of Woolies - mind you, i was a regular Woolies customer, but I don't think I've ever been to a Wilkos.

 

[brogdale]

Beginning to worry that the last plastic flower pot that I paid for, that turned out to be 2 stuck together when I got home, might have been the last straw for the company.

 

[pbsmooth]

It's incredible the changes that are happening. Not just individual shops and chains that are closing but the death of high streets and shopping centres, and in turn town centres. I wonder how much could be blamed solely on Amazon (and our collective desire to shop there), never mind online shopping in general. Mad really.

 

[skyscraper101]

It's incredible the changes that are happening. Not just individual shops and chains that are closing but the death of high streets and shopping centres, and in turn town centres. I wonder how much could be blamed solely on Amazon (and our collective desire to shop there), never mind online shopping in general. Mad really.

I think its not just shopping moving online but entertainment in general. People just don't go into town to do record shopping, rent videos or buy magazines anymore. Nobody goes to travel agents anymore. Shopping gets delivered, takeaways get delivered. The notion especially for younger folk that you'd go to the butcher, the greengrocer and the baker for separate food items is laughable. People need bank branches less and less. Pubs are too expensive. People can increasingly do things from home and when something big like Debenhams or Wilko goes, there's even less reason to make the journey.

Add to that, the saving grace for the last 20 years has been old people who don't 'do' internet shopping - but they're now getting increasingly immobile and dying off. It's basically over save for the poundlands, nail bars and vape shops.

 

[moochedit]

I think its not just shopping moving online but entertainment in general. People just don't go into town to do record shopping, rent videos or buy magazines anymore. Nobody goes to travel agents anymore. Shopping gets delivered, takeaways get delivered. The notion especially for younger folk that you'd go to the butcher, the greengrocer and the baker for separate food items is laughable. People need bank branches less and less. Pubs are too expensive. People can increasingly do things from home and when something big like Debenhams or Wilko goes, there's even less reason to make the journey.

Add to that, the saving grace for the last 20 years has been old people who don't 'do' internet shopping - but they're now getting increasingly immobile and dying off. It's basically over save for the poundlands, nail bars and vape shops.

Yep most towns in the future will be giant housing estates with an amazon warehouse and a few takeaways (mostly serving just eat drivers).

 

[Dogsauce]

When Wilko opened up in Leeds city centre in the early noughties it was a godsend, as the centre had just become clothes and mobile phone shops. After Halfords had gone to an out-of-town site a couple of years before, there was nowhere in the city centre of the third largest city in the UK where you could buy something as basic as a bike inner tube. Not such a problem now as due to changing trends there are now numerous bike shops in the centre, but it was always handy being able to get DIY stuff there. Not everybody lives in the suburbs with a car.

 

[BristolEcho]

Pretty incredible that a company selling budget goods during a time of economic hardship with no competitors and exploiting prisoner labour still can go bust.

Meanwhile luxury brands are booming.

I'm sure that the bosses made lots of money.

As the article I read last night said lots of people have been using BM and Home Bargains. Both of those shops also seem to have moved into small local retail areas. Why go into town when you can go to BM locally and also do your other shopping?

Yep most towns in the future will be giant housing estates with an amazon warehouse and a few takeaways (mostly serving just eat drivers).

Maybe town centres. Most of the local high streets in Bristol and South Glos I pass through seem to be doing okay at the moment. It's always touch and go though I guess?

So many town centres, and particularly shopping centres are absolutely dull. They are unattractive, soulless and don't make you want to spend time sitting in them. When I go to Cabot Circus I could be in any shopping centre in the whole of the UK. Same shops, same food places, same cinema.

There are ways to design places so they don't feel like that, and it doesn't all have to be based around shopping either. Not sure there is much will here for that.

On designing of local spaces I liked this video:

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Don't Wilkinson's use prison labour? Pretty sure that's what I read on here and I pretty much avoid them for that reason.

They clam that they do not.

They definitely do employ 12,000 people though.

 

[skyscraper101]

They claim they have a few suppliers who contract prison labour but don't contract directly.