Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

jon81uk · Thursday at 09:34

SuspectUsual said:
There are reasons supermarkets don’t stock many magazines - it’s a poor use of space, doesn’t make a lot of money for them as the margin is low, and there’s a lot of admin involved. On the plus side they’re generally sale or return

Although I imagine for the larger supermarkets that do have space, particularly as they have cut back on other non-food like electricals, having a range of magazines that people deliberately choose that store for will bring in secondary spending. Some people if they know they can get their magazines in Tesco or Morrisons may then do a food shop there instead of going to Lidl/Aldi.

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Broucek · Thursday at 11:20

3rd rail land said:
Sadly the unit has now become a coffee shop but at least its a Black Sheep Coffee which is one of the better coffee chains.

Even a less good coffee shop is by no means the worst thing that can happen to an empty unit....

MP33 · Thursday at 11:51

There was a news item on the BBC. Interviewing people about the cost of takeaway apps. In the background, there was an open T G Jones. Looking at that again in years to come. Will be same as looking at something with a Liptons or C & A.

Bletchleyite · Thursday at 12:04

MP33 said:
There was a news item on the BBC. Interviewing people about the cost of takeaway apps. In the background, there was an open T G Jones. Looking at that again in years to come. Will be same as looking at something with a Liptons or C & A.

I think so.

I was really quite optimistic about Hobbycraft's owners taking over Smiths. I thought there was potential to bring it back up to some of what it was by adding stuff like quality craft materials into the larger stores and creating a bit of specialism. However it seems what we actually got was just bare-minimum and classic private equity asset stripping, which will kill the whole thing in due course, no doubt under mountains of debt.

If anyone knows Ormskirk and remembers the old Taylors store (that didn't survive, to be fair) I was kind of envisaging a chain similar to that. It was a bit like Smiths but more premium and with a greater emphasis on art and craft materials to replace the fact that the printed news media is dying off as a thing. And maybe also a greater emphasis on books and good knowledge about them Waterstones style, as the paper book is still very much in vogue, the transition to e-readers hasn't really happened to that great an extent.

In short there's lots that could have been tried but they tried none of it. Even the branding was rubbish bare minimum rather than trying to grow a new brand maybe again based on the Hobbycraft look.

Peter Sarf · Thursday at 16:11

Bletchleyite said:
I think so.

I was really quite optimistic about Hobbycraft's owners taking over Smiths. I thought there was potential to bring it back up to some of what it was by adding stuff like quality craft materials into the larger stores and creating a bit of specialism. However it seems what we actually got was just bare-minimum and classic private equity asset stripping, which will kill the whole thing in due course, no doubt under mountains of debt.

If anyone knows Ormskirk and remembers the old Taylors store (that didn't survive, to be fair) I was kind of envisaging a chain similar to that. It was a bit like Smiths but more premium and with a greater emphasis on art and craft materials to replace the fact that the printed news media is dying off as a thing. And maybe also a greater emphasis on books and good knowledge about them Waterstones style, as the paper book is still very much in vogue, the transition to e-readers hasn't really happened to that great an extent.

In short there's lots that could have been tried but they tried none of it. Even the branding was rubbish bare minimum rather than trying to grow a new brand maybe again based on the Hobbycraft look.

Talking of Branding. I made a detour to see if the Croydon TG Jones is still there, it is. A lot of £5 off if you spend £20 deals but a glance said most stuff was overpriced by more than the 25% off would reverse. I also noticed the shop front upstairs has been re-branded TG Jones above the windows even though closed !. In the windows it still has the WH Smiths "Clearance Outlet" banners - all now inaccessible. Quality and attention to detail clearly not there.

jon0844 · Thursday at 17:01

styles said:
I do wonder if actually when TG Jones branches close, the publishers may contact supermarkets and corner shops etc to see about stocking their mags elsewhere, so while the local Asda might not currently stock the railway mags, they may be persuaded to start. I don't really know how this all happens behind the scenes though!

Tesco and others charge quite a lot to have magazines ranged. Unless the publisher is making a lot of money from advertising inside and can charge more to advertisers for a potentially higher circulation, it's likely not worth it.

Some magazines are willingly sold at a loss, the same as giving away copies at airports and so on - because advertisers will pay more to be inside them. Think more lifestyle, fashion and gossip style mags.

Backroom_boy · Thursday at 17:16

Latest 'Modern Railways' refers to the TG Jones closures as *A new Beeching hits the high street* ; slightly over egging it but it's going to directly affect them.

STINT47 · Thursday at 17:55

Trackside have.operation mag save. A subscription deal that offers a decent saving and is designed to cover shop closures

Mcr Warrior · Thursday at 18:04

STINT47 said:
Trackside have.operation mag save. A subscription deal that offers a decent saving and is designed to cover shop closures

Interesting! 'Trackside' = Railway Preservation monthly magazine?

So, how does their Operation 'Mag Save' work? Potential savings?

jon0844 · Thursday at 18:40

Backroom_boy said:
Latest 'Modern Railways' refers to the TG Jones closures as *A new Beeching hits the high street* ; slightly over egging it but it's going to directly affect them.

Being too lazy to search, how many years back have people predicted the demise of WH Smith high street shops? Not the travel ones, but high streets (the ones TG Jones took over)?

Back in my day of print, we offered very good discounts for subscriptions so the best way to save your favourite magazines is to subscribe, not just pick and choose. I appreciate not everyone has money to burn, but publishers are struggling for a multitude of reasons.

The exile · Friday at 14:24

jon0844 said:
I appreciate not everyone has money to burn, but publishers are struggling for a multitude of reasons.

I wonder if any of the monthlies have considered subscription by Direct Debit on a “running basis” - ie you pay up front for (say) 3 issues and the on a monthly basis. The consumer doesn’t have to stump up a huge sum for a year / 6 months and the publisher knows that they get 2 months’ warning of a cancellation.

jon0844 · Friday at 18:41

The exile said:
I wonder if any of the monthlies have considered subscription by Direct Debit on a “running basis” - ie you pay up front for (say) 3 issues and the on a monthly basis. The consumer doesn’t have to stump up a huge sum for a year / 6 months and the publisher knows that they get 2 months’ warning of a cancellation.

We used to do subscriptions on an auto renewal system. Sometimes we did special promos for the first few magazines free or heavily discounted, but you had to contact the company that managed the subscriptions to cancel.

Jimini · Saturday at 10:41

jon0844 said:
We used to do subscriptions on an auto renewal system. Sometimes we did special promos for the first few magazines free or heavily discounted, but you had to contact the company that managed the subscriptions to cancel.

Aye, that's pretty much commonplace these days.

londonbridge · Saturday at 17:09

Have they published a list of which TG Jones stores are closing? Worcester Park and Wimbledon are going and apparently the closing down signs went up in Kingston, but have now been taken down again as that store is now continuing to trade until at least the end of the year.

Peter Mugridge · Saturday at 23:08

The sole member of staff who was around in the Epsom branch the other day denied they are closing - but I note that the store now only contains half as much stock as before ( although the store has at least been re-arranged into a clear, uncluttered, layout ).

jon0844 · 2026-08-30T01:26:04+0100

Peter Mugridge said:
The sole member of staff who was around in the Epsom branch the other day denied they are closing - but I note that the store now only contains half as much stock as before ( although the store has at least been re-arranged into a clear, uncluttered, layout ).

Half empty shelves, dirty carpets, point of sale stands falling to bits, missing price labels and so on aren't necessarily signs of a store closing - that seems to have been a normal WH Smith high street tradition for decades!!

Peter Sarf · 2026-08-30T09:13:16+0100

jon0844 said:
Half empty shelves, dirty carpets, point of sale stands falling to bits, missing price labels and so on aren't necessarily signs of a store closing - that seems to have been a normal WH Smith high street tradition for decades!!

Reminds me of Woolworths towards the end. More likely an indication of slow decline of the chain rather than an individual store closure.

I really notice the out of date signs in the Croydon WH Smith / TG Jones. Principally the closure of the 1st floor and all the signs still enticing people up there !. There is even a lift with signs directing customers to it - but I do not even know if the lift works. Stairs blocked off for years and still the signs at the foot of the stairs. Oozes runaway decline.

Backroom_boy · 2026-08-30T11:45:15+0100

Was in Fenwicks in York this weekend; never seen such expensive goods in such a dull surrounding. Surely they cant be doing well?

Peter Mugridge · 2026-08-30T12:01:38+0100

jon0844 said:
Half empty shelves, dirty carpets, point of sale stands falling to bits, missing price labels and so on aren't necessarily signs of a store closing - that seems to have been a normal WH Smith high street tradition for decades!!

They've removed half the shelves in this case, so it doesn't look half empty at all.

jon0844 · 2026-08-30T13:00:56+0100

Peter Mugridge said:
They've removed half the shelves in this case, so it doesn't look half empty at all.

Clever!

gswindale · 2026-08-30T14:15:14+0100

Backroom_boy said:
Was in Fenwicks in York this weekend; never seen such expensive goods in such a dull surrounding. Surely they cant be doing well?

They started going downhill when they closed Bentalls in Bracknell and reopened as Fenwicks.

We used to buy a fair bit of kitchen goods from Bentalls, as they were decent quality and reasonably priced, but Fenwicks don't have the range they used to and what they do sell is substantially more expensive.

Think the only thing we've benefited from since the new store opened is their customer toilets!

Meole · 2026-08-30T15:56:33+0100

The marginal foreign magazines in terms of interest such as Trains and Model Railroad will surely disappear from retail sale in the UK.

michaelh · 2026-08-30T23:23:43+0100

Meole said:
The marginal foreign magazines in terms of interest such as Trains and Model Railroad will surely disappear from retail sale in the UK.

There are lots of really fringe magazines in TGJ - the numbers returned for pulping under sale or return must be enormous.

Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

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