Who Do They Think They Are.

[teacake44]

I've just been reading in the Mail on Sunday, that the chief of Debenhams says unless the government slash their taxes, some of their flag ship stores may close, along with other smaller ones. Firstly who will really miss their inflated prices, may be some of these big knobs within this company should be thinned out, and certainly their massive salary reduced before any such tax hand out,. Most if not all shop floor staff are park time/ zero contract hours, certainly not over paid.
Its not the present pandemic that's put Debenhams in the position it is in today, although its what they want the government to believe, its just bad management, no smaller business would get support for sheer neglect and poor performance.

I walked through Debenhams yesterday, and do most weeks, and by what I see there is no attempt whatsoever to move with the times. The shop is bursting at the seams with expensive sock, and very high prices, and empty of customers, the perfume counters, like always are deserted, again due to expensive products that can be bought in the same centre for almost half the price of Debenhams. So why should they be demanding a tax handout?

[Bobbisox1]

Im with you on that BS, ours has closed and it wasn't the stock but the extortionate rents charged by INTU that saw them shut for good

[teacake44]

17.14 I agree with you on certain points without doubt, cheaper shops are thriving because that's what a lot of people can afford. Regarding the quality of the garments sold in Debenhams, again I would agree, but the same garments can be bought else were for a lot less, or just as good. But quality in both Debenhams and M&S has been sliding, to increase profit margin, I use to buy a lot from M&S but don't anymore, the high price is still there but not the quality. Some of the cheaper garments you can buy elsewhere, you would be hard pressed to know the difference, between the price difference.

[burlyshirley]

The one in my town was in danger of closing as well Bobbs, but it has been saved, for now.

[andy-hughes]

I am always mystified by the way in which councils and landowners increase rents and changes to a point where businesses close down.

Sure fifty per cent of something is better than one hundred per cent of nothing?

[Maydup]

I can't honestly remember the last time I went into Debenhams; I thought they went bust last year. Obviously not.

[Bobbisox1]

That's true Andy , very strange behaviour ...and greed

[puzzled54]

For me, the decline started when they introduced all the ‘shop in shops’. It used to be that if you wanted, for example, an evening dress, you went to the evening dress department. Now you have to go to all the Little shops in there instead of looking in one place. And why look on their little shops when you can go to their own stores.

[teacake44]

17.37, like I said at 16.29, a lot of greed seems to have set in, a slice of the cake for a prolonged period is no longer good enough, they want all of the cake now, without any consideration for a steady future income. Should those premises become vacant now, future tenants are getting thinner on the ground, and that's what their missing, or not considering.

[Deskdiary]

50% of something rather than 100% of nothing is very laudable, but if that 50% of something is such that the property owner cannot cover their costs, then its tantamount to 100% of nothing because they won’t have a viable business.

[Maydup]

Empty shops and empty offices are going to be a huge issue over the next year or so. Department stores are a thing of the past, as is trailing around a town when you can park at the supermarket or better still stay home and shop online.

Neither the government nor the local councils have a strategy to deal with it.

[teacake44]

17.46, the shop in shops were incorporated to try a offset rising rents and rates, sub letting, this gave Debenhams the opportunity to cover their costs of the buildings as a whole, and make a profit from the tenants, but this was short lived.