How many more will go bust?

[Tradescanthia]

wouldnt you have thought that pay day loans should have been stopped and shut down by cameron , its what got us into this mess

 

Torys are 'Fast Buck' merchants. They are not fit to govern. 2000% payday loans are immoral, it used to be called 'usury' and was a punishable crime. Trading standards are telling people to report 'loan sharks' in their radio ads. Then start with WONGA.com !!!!!

[Rupert_Baehr]

Governments [including Labour] have bled us dry. The minimum wage will become tha maximum wage if Cameron has his way. Cheap and willing Eastern European workers have contributed to this, but who can blame them ?? Their home countries are permanently in recession so they come here...

 

Who told you that?

 

There have been plenty of complaints about the influx of Poles.

 

The Polish economy grew by 4.4% in the first quarter of 2011. They're hardly in recession.

 

Lots of the Poles have gone home. Who can blame them?

 

Growth in the Czech economy was about 0.9% during the same quarter. - Not sparkling, but hardly a recession.

 

The Romanian economy grew by only about 1%, but is predicted to grow by about 4% next year. Romania'a budget deficit is expected to be under 1.9%.

 

Companies tend to move to places where they can find highly-skilled, well trained, reliable - and cheap - workers. Who can blame them?

 

British consumers want high-quality and low prices. Who can blame them?

 

If they choose to buy imported goods because those made at home cost rather more, who is to blame?

[chem1st]

Around 70% of households in the UK are owner occupied. Mortgage interest rates have never been so low and large numbers of people are paying less for their mortgage than they did a few years ago. What other costs havegone down? IMO rising housing costs may be an issue for some, but they are not the main problem for the majority.

 

It's below 68% now and has been falling since 2002.

 

Many of the shops are going bust because they haven't enough to pay the rent on the units they occupy.

[Tradescanthia]

Who told you that?

 

There have been plenty of complaints about the influx of Poles.

 

The Polish economy grew by 4.4% in the first quarter of 2011. They're hardly in recession.

 

Lots of the Poles have gone home. Who can blame them?

 

Growth in the Czech economy was about 0.9% during the same quarter. - Not sparkling, but hardly a recession.

 

The Romanian economy grew by only about 1%, but is predicted to grow by about 4% next year. Romania'a budget deficit is expected to be under 1.9%.

 

Companies tend to move to places where they can find highly-skilled, well trained, reliable - and cheap - workers. Who can blame them?

 

British consumers want high-quality and low prices. Who can blame them?

 

If they choose to buy imported goods because those made at home cost rather more, who is to blame?

 

Who told me that ?? The Poles, Latvians and Slovakians I have the pleasure of seeing every day at work. They are great people, most would like to go home but presently they are better off here. If what you say is true then the problem will sort itself and they will all return home. Then Cameron will be trawling Africa for even cheaper labour......

[Tradescanthia]

It's below 68% now and has been falling since 2002.

 

Many of the shops are going bust because they haven't enough to pay the rent on the units they occupy.

 

I had a shop for 14 years, my sales never dropped but my overheads kept rising. Eventually i was working for HM Govt instead of myself. I finally said 'Sod it'.

[Harleyman]

Welcome to Thornton's Online.

 

Delivered to your door for less than the cost per mile of driving and parking, with lower selling costs (fewer shop staff, fewer expensive to rent shops.)

 

I suspect that the number of retailers with physical shops will continue to fall, but online sales will continue to rise.

 

K-Mart which IMO was always a crappy retailer compared to Target or even Walmart bought out Sears stores a couple of years back. Now it's announced that a hundred K-Mart and Sears stores will close this coming year due to poor sales figures due to losing customers to Wally Mart and Target.

 

I wont shed any tears over K-Mart but I will definitely miss my local Sears store if it's on the hit list

 

Where the hell am I going to buy my Craftsman tools from now on? I dont like buying things on line. Too many hackers around.

 

The only other decent tools are Snap-On but they're kind of pricey

[Tony]

Of course there is. They can have their own online shop, with the advantage of being able to pick up/look at/try out the products in a store. It works for a lot of retailers.

 

It's easier to set up a successful online shop if you already have established physical shops than if you're just starting out from nothing.

 

Alternatively they could just sell products that people want to buy at prices that they want to pay.

 

Retailers that can manage that are doing well. One of the main reasons most of the supermarkets are doing well is that they have online ordering & delivery.

Do you think the private retailer can buy the gents suit that Tesco sells for £45 for £45? Or that they can buy the two shirts that Tesco sell for £4.50 for £4.50?

[andyofborg]

Do you think the private retailer can buy the gents suit that Tesco sells for £45 for £45? Or that they can buy the two shirts that Tesco sell for £4.50 for £4.50?

 

the advantage of supermarkets are their massive buying powers which leaves them in a position where they can force supplier's prices down. the problem is that this undermines the supplier's profit margin which means they either go out of business or move production to jurisdictions where they can use slave labour.

 

a small retailer simply cannot compete, no matter how low their rent is.

 

while small retailers going out of business is killing the high street, it's also reducing alternative outlets for suppliers which gives the supermarkets even more control over their prices.

 

of course people don't care about this because supermarkets provide them with cheap booze and lard pasties.

[Rupert_Baehr]

K-Mart which IMO was always a crappy retailer compared to Target or even Walmart bought out Sears stores a couple of years back. Now it's announced that a hundred K-Mart and Sears stores will close this coming year due to poor sales figures due to losing customers to Wally Mart and Target.

 

I wont shed any tears over K-Mart but I will definitely miss my local Sears store if it's on the hit list

 

Where the hell am I going to buy my Craftsman tools from now on? I dont like buying things on line. Too many hackers around.

 

The only other decent tools are Snap-On but they're kind of pricey

 

Thanks for that, I knew that Sears and K-Mart worked together, but I wasn't aware that K-Mart was the lead partner. I worked for Sears for 6 months when I first came to the US (then we moved.)

 

As you will remember, Sears used to be a 'full-service' store. A bit more expensive than other stores, but when you walked in, there was no shortage of knowledgeable assistants to help you. The company changed its policy (to cut costs and to try to align themselves with other retailers) but that didn't work very well. They also stopped their excellent 'Mail Order' facility. - Another mistake, IMO.

 

There are often significant bargains to be had - particularly in the tools part of the hardware department - at Sears.

 

Sears operate a 'push' supply system. Re-supply is generated by the computers at regional level. - The stores can order specific merchandise, but in general, they get what they'e given. The company's computers monitor each item and if that item doesn't sell, it's assumed that the price is too high and after about 6 months, the computer starts to generate automatic price reductions until the item sells. That sounds logical, but if the staff in the store leave an item on the shelves in the warehouse, it doesn't stand much chance of selling and the computer will reduce the price. That applies to Craftsman tools, too.

 

I bought a number of Craftsman sockets for 5cents each! (They were 'old' stock.:hihi:)

 

Keep an eye open for bargains - particularly in the hardware department.

 

BTW: AAFES (If you have access to one) also sells Craftsman tools.

[JFKvsNixon]

Amazon seem to be doing well, online is the way to go.

 

Angel.

 

It will be interesting to see how Amazon, and Play for that matter, copes with the closing of the Jersey tax loop hole that they took advantage of. It was one of the reason why Amazon could sell new movies and music so cheaply.