Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[jfollows]

It was only a few years ago that HMV reacquired their flagship store on Oxford Street, after selling it off around the start of the Pandemic. It's not quite the same experience as in the past, but I much prefer it being back as an HMV in some form over the 'souvenir shop' that was in the premises in the intervening years.

HMV is closing the Oxford Street store, complaining about high cost of renting it plus the cost of ”renovations” if it stays.
Closing next March, after reopening in November 2023.

 

[styles]

HMV is closing the Oxford Street store, complaining about high cost of renting it plus the cost of ”renovations” if it stays.
Closing next March, after reopening in November 2023.

Seemed a bit of a bold move when they reopened I thought. I do think music stores could work if they focussed on the experience, but I went into an HMV not that long ago and it was a bit meh. Decorated mainly with some amateur-looking spray paint, mainly selling merch I can probably find online for much cheaper.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

HMV is closing the Oxford Street store, complaining about high cost of renting it plus the cost of ”renovations” if it stays.
Closing next March, after reopening in November 2023.

Are commercial property landlords likely to "shoot themselves in the foot" if they continue to overly increase store rents?

 

[jfollows]

Seemed a bit of a bold move when they reopened I thought. I do think music stores could work if they focussed on the experience, but I went into an HMV not that long ago and it was a bit meh. Decorated mainly with some amateur-looking spray paint, mainly selling merch I can probably find online for much cheaper.

Yes, long ago the HMV Oxford Street store was the only reason I ventured into the retail hell that Oxford Street was and presumably still is, especially because I wanted to go downstairs and there was a convenient side entrance avoiding the main store. But I guess I’m as responsible as anyone else nowadays by buying all my music online, perhaps in response to an interesting review in Gramophone, rather than having to wait until I could visit HMV in person.

 

[styles]

Yes, long ago the HMV Oxford Street store was the only reason I ventured into the retail hell that Oxford Street was and presumably still is

To answer just this bit - yes, it's still horrendous. It used to be on my cycling commute, and sometimes I'd intentionally make my commute longer by doglegging onto parallel roads. Cycling it was bad enough with people wandering into the road with their eyes glued to their phones, let alone trying to walk the length of it with people randomly stopping in front of you or exiting shops without looking where they're going.

It may improve with the pedestrianisation which has a phased implementation starting in about a fortnight's time. That may also in turn make it a more or less attractive retail proposition, I guess we'll have to wait and see. If it could be anything other than American candy stores and tat/luggage shops, that would be grand. There's some decent shops on there still, but it feels very hodge podge these days.

 

[jfollows]

It was ever thus, indeed. 1983-84 was when I cycled around London, primarily to Imperial College from Earlsfield, but I certainly remember avoiding Oxford Street if I went anywhere else, eg to Euston.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The Weston Family also own Associated British Foods who own Primark and they previosuly owned Selfridges, I think they are an OK owner, its not a pump and dump private equity firm.

I think it’s the other side of the Weston family who own Primark.

As much to the point, since Boots was bought out by Stefano Pessina, it has had a reputation for suffering from under-investment from the owners. The basic operation is strong, and with the demise of Lloyds Chemists, it has limited competition on the high street for at least the pharmacy side of the business.

The community pharmacy side of the business doesn’t generate huge revenues, hence why the local community shops have been left to get increasingly dated. The big city centre shops have had some investment in recent years and they are where the revenue is.

I would expect Boots to be ok as the higher-margin items they sell on the high street (perfumes and cosmetics) aren’t so easily bought online.

 

[Andyh82]

I think it’s the other side of the Weston family who own Primark.


The community pharmacy side of the business doesn’t generate huge revenues, hence why the local community shops have been left to get increasingly dated. The big city centre shops have had some investment in recent years and they are where the revenue is.

I would expect Boots to be ok as the higher-margin items they sell on the high street (perfumes and cosmetics) aren’t so easily bought online.

Since Debenhams closed down, the high end perfume counters are probably quite a money spinner now. Obviously I can’t imagine people here frequent that part of the store.

I wouldn’t say all Boots stores are scruffy, people do tend to make assumptions. For example the one in Leeds has just had a full refit. Also of note, in Huddersfield the dated shopping arcade has been emptied for demolition. WHSmith decided to close and not bother relocating so they left the town, whereas Boots moved into the main modern shopping centre with a brand new store. That’s a key difference.

 

[jfollows]

I hate Boots because I can never find anything I want in their stores. I can only presume my categorisation of “stuff” they sell does not map onto their in-store signage. When I feel I have to, I end up walking up and down just about every aisle.
I once went for work to their Notingham HQ. I ended up writing them a formal letter explaining why their 3746-900 was working correctly and was designed to run at near 100% CPU/utilisation. An interesting company and place at the time.

 

[jon81uk]

I think it’s the other side of the Weston family who own Primark.

According to Wikipedia, Wittington Investments owns 54% of Associated British Foods (who own Primark), the rest is publicly traded and Wittington also bought Boots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittington_Investments

I wouldn’t say all Boots stores are scruffy, people do tend to make assumptions. For example the one in Leeds has just had a full refit.

I think this is related to the below, many provincial stores do look a bit scruffy and most people only go there for the pharmacy, whereas the big city centre stores where they can make money on costmetics, perfume and high-end beauty have all had refits like you said Leeds has. There is certainly a difference between my local store and most of the central London stores, although the Holborn/Kingsway store is rundown compared to most others.

The community pharmacy side of the business doesn’t generate huge revenues, hence why the local community shops have been left to get increasingly dated. The big city centre shops have had some investment in recent years and they are where the revenue is.

 

[35B]

I think this is related to the below, many provincial stores do look a bit scruffy and most people only go there for the pharmacy, whereas the big city centre stores where they can make money on costmetics, perfume and high-end beauty have all had refits like you said Leeds has. There is certainly a difference between my local store and most of the central London stores, although the Holborn/Kingsway store is rundown compared to most others.

Try the small one on Farringdon Road...

 

[dgl]

There's even now a Boots dedicated to beauty stuff at Cabot Circus in Bristol, makeup and related stuff is bigger business than ever.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Beacon. Now the company selling their 15 x class 18s seems to have given up trying to sell them (Romic ?).

 

[Broucek]

Seemed a bit of a bold move when they reopened I thought. I do think music stores could work if they focussed on the experience, but I went into an HMV not that long ago and it was a bit meh. Decorated mainly with some amateur-looking spray paint, mainly selling merch I can probably find online for much cheaper.

I went into FNAC in Lisbon at the weekend. Excellent shop in many ways but the prices.... EUR21 for a single CD! I don't mind paying a little over the odds for a proper store but despite good stock, I only spent EUR6

 

[Sonic1234]

As for the price of meal deals, I regard a Boots meal deal as a cheap lunch compared to the same size meal at the branch of Pret nearest my office

Pret have launched a meal deal, obviously much more expensive that the supermarket offerings. But for years they were opposed to the concept. Could it be tougher times for Pret?

 

[Harpo]

HMV is closing the Oxford Street store, complaining about high cost of renting it plus the cost of ”renovations” if it stays.
Closing next March, after reopening in November 2023.

The 2023 Oxford Street HMV store is tiny and was a huge disappointment, having a smaller rock and pop music section than most city stores. It’s classic music section was laughable, consisting of a couple of rows of generic compilation tat, not even remotely comparable with the half a floor of the original ‘flagship’.

 

[35B]

The 2023 Oxford Street HMV store is tiny and was a huge disappointment, having a smaller rock and pop music section than most city stores. It’s classic music section was laughable, consisting of a couple of rows of generic compilation tat, not even remotely comparable with the half a floor of the original ‘flagship’.

I spent three months working in the classical department of that flagship after university. God knows how it made any money, because the stock was huge, it needed a chunky staff to run, and even then (late 90s) competition was fierce.

 

[Harpo]

I spent three months working in the classical department of that flagship after university. God knows how it made any money, because the stock was huge, it needed a chunky staff to run, and even then (late 90s) competition was fierce.

I always wondered at the classical department’s survival. It was a wonderful haven of peace and civility, but that ain’t necessarily a good business model!

 

[35B]

I always wondered at the classical department’s survival. It was a wonderful haven of peace and civility, but that ain’t necessarily a good business model!

Which is why I've barely bought a CD in store in ~20 years, and now mostly buy downloads.

But HMV aren't the only loser here - when I wasn't tied as staff, I used to prefer buying from MDC (stores next to ENO and opposite the Coliseum).

 

[Bishops]

Modella Capital seem to be behind the purchase of Dealz, the European arm of Poundland, and seem to be front runners to buy the UK bit of Poundland too.

Adding them to the list of companies we expect to disappear soon!

you were not far wrong

Union ‘deeply concerned Poundland is being pushed into administration’

Usdaw said it had persistently sought talks with Gordon Brothers to no avail and feared a decision could be made on Poundland's fate as soon as Tuesday

www.thegrocer.co.uk

It is feared Poundland could plunge into administration within days, with around 12,000 jobs at risk. The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), which is one of the largest trade unions in the UK, revealed that the discount chain's current owner, private equity firm Gordon Brothers, could force an administration process as early as Tuesday (October 13). Gordon Brother bought Poundland for just £1 in mid-2025 but are now reportedly demanding the full repayment of a £30 shareholder loan from any buyer.Although Poundland is subject to competing bids, Usdaw say they have "deep concerns" the company could collapse into administration. The retailer has shut around 150 stores following its takeover by Gordon Brothers, bringing its overall network down to 650 sites.
As reported by The Telegraph, Bally Auluk, a national officer at Usdaw, said: "Sources within the company are telling me that a decision about the future of Poundland could be made as early as [Tuesday], and there are deep concerns that the business could go into administration, which would be a disaster for our members.
"We are aware that a management buyout has been attempted and we are told that their offers are being turned down. We found it difficult to understand why Poundland was being described as struggling, after the company recently announced they had returned to like-for-like sales growth and staff were being thanked for their ‘amazing efforts’."

 

[johntea]

Talking of HMV one of their 'rivals' a.k.a Zavvi has just gone into administration...again...

They were a high street presence at one point but have been online only since the last administration in 2009 I believe

Zavvi goes into administration, preorders will not be fulfilled

Online retailer Zavvi has gone under, and customers are being urged to contact their payment providers to try and get their money back.

www.filmstories.co.uk

Online retailer Zavvi has gone under, and customers are being urged to contact their payment providers to try and get their money back.

After weeks of speculation over its future, the UK online retailer Zavvi has confirmed that it’s now in a formal insolvency process. In a post on the front page of its website, a statement confirms that administrators have been appointed.

Bottom line: the business has ceased trading, and I’d suggest that the chances of it coming back this time are on the very slim side.

 

[jon81uk]

Talking of HMV one of their 'rivals' a.k.a Zavvi has just gone into administration...again...

They were a high street presence at one point but have been online only since the last administration in 2009 I believe

Zavvi goes into administration, preorders will not be fulfilled

Online retailer Zavvi has gone under, and customers are being urged to contact their payment providers to try and get their money back.

www.filmstories.co.uk

Zavvi originally took over Virgin Megastore which Virgin off-loaded when they didn't see a future in physical media back in 2007. So a similar case to TG Jones that a store without much of a future is sold off and proves it wasn't working.

 

[jon0844]

Which is why I've barely bought a CD in store in ~20 years, and now mostly buy downloads.

Isn't that more renting or leasing these days?

 

[jon81uk]

Isn't that more renting or leasing these days?

If you actually bought a download and download it then, no you will own it for as long as you have the file. But don't expect to be able to redownload it forever.
For example from Apples iTunes Store terms https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/internet-services/itunes/uk/terms.html

Purchased Content will generally remain available for you to download, redownload, or otherwise access from Apple. Though it is unlikely, subsequent to your purchase, Content may be removed from the Services and become unavailable for further download or access from Apple (for instance, because Apple loses its right from the Content provider to make it available). To ensure your ability to continue enjoying Content, we encourage you to download all purchased Content to a device in your possession and to back it up.

 

[C J Snarzell]

TG Jones have been mentioned a few times. Their store on Fishergate in Preston is closing soon, November I think. I believe they are shutting multiple stores across the country.

The problems is that TGs have never done anything to steer their stores away from the WHSmiths days. Every time I’ve been in there it almost feels like it’s a business that doesn’t make any effort and their footfall of customers isn’t huge.

WHSmiths only seem to exist in train stations or motorway services these days. I called in Charnock Richard services a couple of weeks ago and they have a small shop that is very limited with what it sells.

CJ

 

[35B]

Isn't that more renting or leasing these days?

Fair point, well made

 

[Mojo]

A lot of the products in TGJones are still branded as WHSMith. I don’t know if it’s just stuff leftover from the sale or whether they still have an agreement to purchase products from WHSMith.

 

[BuhSnarf]

A lot of the products in TGJones are still branded as WHSMith. I don’t know if it’s just stuff leftover from the sale or whether they still have an agreement to purchase products from WHSMith.

They have an exemption to stock WHS branded items for a certain period.

 

[jon0844]

A lot of the products in TGJones are still branded as WHSMith. I don’t know if it’s just stuff leftover from the sale or whether they still have an agreement to purchase products from WHSMith.

I think they knew early on* which stores they wanted to close but they had an agreement not to close stores immediately, so they just did as little as possible to keep them ticking over until the closures were agreed.

* how could they not? They'd have all the figures for each store to see from day one or even before the takeover.

 

[Djgr]

If you actually bought a download and download it then, no you will own it for as long as you have the file. But don't expect to be able to redownload it forever.
For example from Apples iTunes Store terms https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/internet-services/itunes/uk/terms.html

Not sure I like weasel words such as "generally" and "unlikely"!