Talk Elections

Woolworths (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7751064.stm)
MFI (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7750250.stm)

Both were suffering from competitors, but the recession has pretty much finished both of them off.

Shame, I liked Woolies.

Just to clarify: The British arm of Woolworths only.

All the Woolies branches are doing closing down sales. There's been reports of people fighting in the queues...

At least nobody has been trampled to death.

Running Casualty List:

MFI (2,000)
Woolworths (27,000)
The Pier Group (?)
Whittards (1,000)
Officers Club (1,000)
Zaavi (3,400)
Adams (2,000)

The prediction of 10-15 retailers going into administration was somewhat conservative in my opinion.

A lot of big retailers have been overstretching themselves (not exactly the right phrase, but the meaning is clear I think) for years. The list could easily be a lot longer than 15, though that's not clear just yet.

It'll become clear next month- the rents are due on most of the stores. These big sales are mostly to make rent money.

Two things of note: Many of the Woolies stores are selling their fittings (i.e. the shelves) as well in what one paper termed "a very British form of looting" and people are buying their presents for next Christmas.

I asked about buying the W from the signs (either one), but apparently that wasn't available at this time. I may try again tomorrow.

Genius :D

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7851331.stm

Barratts and Priceless are now in administration (about 6000 jobs total)

Its the rent due dates again I guess.

Woolworths bit the dust here, God what 10-15 years ago...earlier?

Sad to see them having trouble abroad too.

12 years ago, though the company itself still survives.  They had several different chains, of which Foot Locker is the most prominent and the one the company is named for now.  It didn't go bankrupt per se, it just closed all the Woolworth's and either disposed of the leases or converted them into other stores.

The end of boom and bust?

No, more like the end of Thatcherism...

Primark is shutting down the stores here in Manchester, and they might be gone altogether soon.

Recession is to hit UK hardest in the developmed world. How fun. Ta very much Gordon.

More like thanks to RBS etc.

Yes, we should have seen this coming. Probably should have taxed the rich more.

Yes it's all down to the bankers and Thatcher and all that isn't it. Nothing to do with the government. No siree. Nothing to do with anything the Government has done in the past 11 and a half years. It's all the Tories fault. Cos that Thatcher see, she invented banks and capitalism. Before that we kept our money in an open box outside our front door. Safe as houses it was.

I for one blame Thatcher, Thatcher and the bankers, Thatcher and the bankers and the Americans, Thatcher and the bankers and the Americans and people with houses and cars. You didn't need cars back before Thatcher's day!

We need to tax the rich yeah? We need to raise taxes on the poorest cos that's taxing...the...rich and we need more single mothers in work but we'll secure someones £250,000 mortgage....and...Thatcher....and...that.

No more boom and bust!

We should have seen it coming, but that would have been talking down the economy. When we said no more boom and bust, it was no more Tory boom and bust. We're allowed to do it, we do it for the working class. We are the f-ucking Labour Party.

Nothing personal :)

Unemployment has officially hit over 2 million.

Actually, you can blame government intervention for this crisis. We should have cut taxes.