Walker570 Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) .......... gone into administration. 50% closing down sale. Apparently Mole Valley Farmers had made an offer to take over the business but some Government 'quango' Competition & Markets Authority, have put a stop to it. The LPG arm has been sold off and now a separate company, Countrywide LPG Ltd. I am not a bit surprised because the management of the company has been abysmal. They never have stock in but then spent thousands trying to sell summer bedding plants when there is a major Nursery only a mile as the crow flies. Then never cared for said plants so they always looked about to die. Mole Valley taking over would have been a breath of fresh air. They have a subsiduary company now over in Lincolnshire, Mole which gives the same quality service. Edited March 30, 2018 by Walker570 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 I would surmise that no one will want to take on a failed management team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnfromUK Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 I think Countrywide grew from the old "Midland Shires Farmers' based in Evesham. They were always a strange business to me. They had a big showroom in Evesham, well stocked and some nice things, and did agricultural machinery and spare parts, fertiliser and seeds etc. It was never 'busy' and seemed to have more staff than customers a lot of the time. If you wanted a spare part, it was always a major exercise, finding the part number from microfilm, then the stock location from vast fanfold printouts, then a different one to get the price, and eventually an invoice of about 3 pages of fanfold was printed ....... and all for one 'O' ring! Tools and other stuff were good quality and heavy duty well made item, but expensive. They seemed to rather loose their way, changing the name to Countrywide stores, opening more branches and moving more to the leisure markets then the farmers and market gardeners - bit like a garden centre, but not a well stocked one, and stocking more cheap stuff, and dropping most of the quality stuff. The cheap was never as cheap as you could get elsewhere (e.g. B&Q or Screwfix), and the good was never as good as you would get at a proper specialist shop (e.g. a garden machinery place or tool factors). That was my view anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 I used to love going in Mole Valley and down here Cornwall Farmers I could spend hours looking at the farm stuff and buying stuff I don't need. But when I now go to Mole Valley now its like a garden center, its exactly what Cornwall Farmers done a year or so before they went bust. When I go now its just another job on my list to do and not anything I look forward too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 Usual 'come and get me' con.......not 50% off........... but Up to 50% off! Most things 10/20 maybe 30% reduction on already overpriced items!.... Save the fuel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryman Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 5 hours ago, panoma1 said: Usual 'come and get me' con.......not 50% off........... but Up to 50% off! Most things 10/20 maybe 30% reduction on already overpriced items!.... Save the fuel! Agree, the store just up the road from me mainly 10% off anything worth having but still over priced. It was convenient for picking up the odd bits though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenholland Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 we have one in stoke prior in Bromsgrove , anytime I went in it was always empty , the shooting section , if you can call it that , the prices must have been plucked out of the sky , definitely sky high just picked up the FREE MAGAZINE and leave,. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 11 minutes ago, kenholland said: we have one in stoke prior in Bromsgrove , anytime I went in it was always empty , the shooting section , if you can call it that , the prices must have been plucked out of the sky , definitely sky high just picked up the FREE MAGAZINE and leave,. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Prawn Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 3 hours ago, kenholland said: we have one in stoke prior in Bromsgrove , anytime I went in it was always empty , the shooting section , if you can call it that , the prices must have been plucked out of the sky , definitely sky high just picked up the FREE MAGAZINE and leave,. That's my local, the clothing section grew to be a major part of the store and I think that just about summed it up - joules wellies and sailing gear tells you their desired market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
del.gue Posted April 1, 2018 Report Share Posted April 1, 2018 I popped into the whitchurch shop yesterday. Like everyone else it is mostly 10 and 20 pc off but not much in there. Bought a cheap golf umbrella and a box of dog snacks. Still sad to see it go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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