British High Street Death List 2020

[Sebastian Cobb]

Someone made the point that the cinemas should start showing classic films, give. The lack of new material.  Sounds like a reasonable idea to keep them ticking over.

I believe Disney started shoring them up so it could aggressively put on old films to take up space in multiplexes that competitors may want to use.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Someone made the point that the cinemas should start showing classic films, give. The lack of new material.  Sounds like a reasonable idea to keep them ticking over.

My local one just had a La Haine restoration I'd have jumped at the chance to see if there wasn't a plague on.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Someone made the point that the cinemas should start showing classic films, give. The lack of new material.  Sounds like a reasonable idea to keep them ticking over.

Quite a few have in the US, depending on your definition of classic at least, and Empire Strikes Back and Hocus Pocus are part of the US Top 10 right now, and I know some UK cinemas have shown other older films. It's not something that interests me but the Prince Charles cinema in London makes a fair amount of cash from doing that, so there must be some money in it.

[Blue Jam]

Someone made the point that the cinemas should start showing classic films, give. The lack of new material. Sounds like a reasonable idea to keep them ticking over.

This is what small independent cinemas have been doing for years. When I went to a 20th anniversary screening of The Big Lebowski at The Cameo Picturehouse the cinema was packed, completely sold out. Fuck knows why the big chains don't do it more often.

Here in Embra the Odeon at the Fort Kinnaird shopping centre is now being used to host trials with socially-distanced juries watching the court action on the screens Might be a good idea to extend this scheme rather than Boris just urging people to go to the cinema more. Makes more sense than Eat Out To Get Covid too:

https://news.stv.tv/scotland/cinema-to-host-remote-jury-for-high-court-trial-this-month

[Blue Jam]

Greene King to close one third of their pubs:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54451739

Yes, I know they're not the nicest pubco but with 800 job losses this isn't great.

[Fambo Number Mive]

There is a lovely Greene King pub in Witney called Ye Old Cross Keys, lovely staff, lots of regulars, a nice place to sit and have a drink. Haven't been since early March so not sure how well they are doing.

[Fr.Bigley]

There is a lovely Greene King pub in Witney called Ye Old Cross Keys, lovely staff, lots of regulars, a nice place to sit and have a drink. Haven't been since early March so not sure how well they are doing.

By virtue of it being a Greene King pub it'll be ok surely. The ones I got to in my neck of the woods do alright, was at one only yesterday. they are leagues above spoons in terms of Covid policy.

[Dex Sawash]

Quite a few have in the US,

My preferred one has a few smallish screens you can book private and log in to your streaming service (I assume you can bring a disc if you are a grandpa. Wait, I'm one of those.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Greene King to close one third of their pubs:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54451739

Yes, I know they're not the nicest pubco but with 800 job losses this isn't great.

I hope they actually sell off and divest their property too. I think the greater concern, awful though the job losses are is whether GK continue being landgrab parasites.

[Cuellar]

All these pubs closing down and trying to sell off their premises at rock bottom prices, whatever will become of them

[BlodwynPig]

By virtue of it being a Greene King pub it'll be ok surely. The ones I got to in my neck of the woods do alright, was at one only yesterday. they are leagues above spoons in terms of Covid policy.

did you read the pub above the post you are replying to?

[Blue Jam]

Was in Doctors in Embra the other day and they seemed to be doing alright, lots of families in for food and we were lucky to get a table. Not the greatest pub we have but very handy from time to time and they do have some nice creepy stuff from the old medical school on display, I hope they survive Greene King's cull.

Didn't know Greene King owned Loch Fyne, add that to the list. 11 restaurants closing.

[Blue Jam]

did you read the pub above the post you are replying to?

"I'm not as think as you drunk I am"

[Fr.Bigley]

did you read the pub above the post you are replying to?

Yes I did.

[Fr.Bigley]

And yes, i'm very very drunk.

[Captain Crunch]

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which owns Peacocks and Jaeger, is on the brink of collapse after it filed a notice to appoint administrators, affecting around 24,000 workers:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/edinburgh-woollen-mill-collapse-peacocks-jaeger-jobs-b908535.html?fbclid=IwAR23xhwOKHhIqkW2p8wrN3kF50juCICANO0aKTFNtBwjesgmu076B8M354k

24,000!

[Tony Tony Tony]

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which owns Peacocks and Jaeger, is on the brink of collapse after it filed a notice to appoint administrators, affecting around 24,000 workers:

24,000!

I too was struck by this figure so I checked out the web site to see the store locations. They have a fair number inside garden centres and I recall last time I bought some garden goodies at my local centre I walked past an EWM concession. They do seem to cater for the more mature punters being somewhat tweedy and county casual heavy. I would say those folks wielding the grey pound are likely to be the most upset at the potential demise.

[dissolute ocelot]

Edinburgh Woolen Mill have been buying up collapsing brands for a few years: Jaeger, Austin Reed, Jane Norman, Peacocks, etc, as well as former Scottish football hooligan fave Pringle. (They're commonly described as aimed at the over-40s but that's at least 25 years too young.)

Apparently they've been shit to suppliers since COVID, and they're owned in Dubai (and headquartered in Carlisle).

So on the one hand, fuck off cunts, on the other hand, not good news.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Moves (to call in the administrators) like Jaeger.

[Blue Jam]

Yeah, EWM are massive, they're like Mike Ashley but dealing in tweed rather than Lonsdale tracksuits.

[boki]

former Scottish football hooligan fave Pringle. (They're commonly described as aimed at the over-40s but that's at least 25 years too young.)

Oh, bloody hell, the golf sock guys!  I remember that being a thing a few years ago.  By which I mean a thing in TK Maxx.

[Blue Jam]

How does this "buying up struggling brands" business strategy work? Is the answer "It doesn't"?

[Better Midlands]

former Scottish football hooligan fave Pringle. (They're commonly described as aimed at the over-40s but that's at least 25 years too young

Pringle's just on the brink of coming back into fashion, that Clueless era 90's argyle look is popular with gen-z girls especially.

https://amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/oct/24/from-royalty-to-rebellion-the-fashion-renaissance-of-argyle

[Tony Tony Tony]

How does this "buying up struggling brands" business strategy work? Is the answer "It doesn't"?

Extracted the below from a site about buying up a falling small business. I suppose much of it applies to bigger businesses, also for big companies it can be a bonus in that they already have support functions like HR, Legal and payroll etc in place so they can get rid of the same at the company they take over so cutting running costs.

1. Price. Some people who are trying to unload their failing small businesses are willing to give it up for a price that would cost less to you to buy than to start up completely. You can then take the money you saved buy purchasing it instead of starting it up yourself and put it towards marketing efforts or ways to improve the existing products or services.
2. You already know what doesn't work. When observing a small business from as an outside party, it is sometimes easier to figure out what is working than it is when it is your own business that you have started and invested so much into. The owner of the failing business should be completely upfront about what is going wrong, so you have a good idea already of what needs to be fixed.
3. There is a built-in customer base. Even if a business is failing, it will more than likely still have a following, however small, of customers or in the very least, leads. This is beneficial because you don't have to start from scratch in finding customers, which many will agree is the most difficult part of starting a business.
4. You can bring new ideas to the business. A brand new owner can breathe life into a failing business and have people excited about it. After you buy a failing business, you can then advertise it as having new owners and hold a "grand re-opening" of sorts, or have "new owner specials" for services. These new ideas and revamping of the company will bring renewed interest and help to get the business back up off the ground.
5. You can skip the start-up. Starting a business from the ground up is hard work. Just starting a business can deplete savings and take a great deal of time. Buying an already-existing business (even if it is failing) will still save the new owners the hassle of the legalities and other complicated and expensive issues associated with small business start up.

If you decide to buy a business that is failing, it is a good idea to already have an idea of how a small business is run, or at least have ideas of how to make it better. This can be through eliminating unsuccessful products or services, moving to a new location, or carving out a niche market. Either way, it is still important to research the company's potential and understand why it is failing before you purchase it.   

[Blue Jam]

Cheers for that. I guess if you know why a business is failing you can be like the administrators and start streamlining sacking everyone running it more efficiently.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Cheers for that. I guess if you know why a business is failing you can be like the administrators and start streamlining sacking everyone running it more efficiently.

Either that or you can buy a struggling company out of administration for pennies, load it up with debt that you provide, and make a fortune off the interest payments whilst it withers and dies, ala Zavvi, Maplin, Toys R Us, etc. As a bonus, you can leverage or sell the brand name on later.

[thr0b]

And they will probably go pre-pack, and just have the same people buy them out of administration.

Peacocks et al are usually profitable and usually busy. As they say, their customers tend to be older and have been told to stay home; less online presence to fall back on, and quiet shops. Buy the brands and the profitable shops back, grow again in order to sell up or pre-pack again a few years down the line. I suspect most of those brands will survive.

Re the cinemas - Cineworld were showing classic films. But showing old films you already own to watch at home is a difficult sell at the best of times - I can only imagine it's much more difficult in a pandemic.

I suspect the film companies have shot themselves in the foot here. There's a big audience for new films; by holding them back until next year, they're dooming the chain cinemas, so will surely have less income from those films they've held back, as there'll be no place to show them. (And yes, I know they've stuck some releases on streaming. But given that immediately leads to a 2160p rip available online within hours, I doubt they make much from those "rental" fees. Certainly not as much as they would from a big film release)

[Small Man Big Horse]

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which owns Peacocks and Jaeger, is on the brink of collapse after it filed a notice to appoint administrators, affecting around 24,000 workers:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/edinburgh-woollen-mill-collapse-peacocks-jaeger-jobs-b908535.html?fbclid=IwAR23xhwOKHhIqkW2p8wrN3kF50juCICANO0aKTFNtBwjesgmu076B8M354k

24,000!

My Mum will go in to shock if it happens, she buys a ridiculous amount of clothes from there (the woman is oddly fleece obsessed in her old age) and won't know what to do if it no longer exists, indeed she may just stop wearing clothes altogether.

[imitationleather]

My aunt's a regional manager for Peacocks. I must admit, when she told me she'd got that job I was surprised because I don't feel like I've seen a branch of Peacocks for about 25 years.

[BlodwynPig]

My aunt's a regional manager for Peacocks. I must admit, when she told me she'd got that job I was surprised because I don't feel like I've seen a branch of Peacocks for about 25 years.

Do they have annual award galas?