And Now John Lewis are Blaming Brexit for their Poor Profits

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Absolutely unbelievable, it is simply the easy option to blame Brexit and the uncertainty.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/13/john-lewis-profits-dive-99-percent

Absolutely nothing to do with John Lewis's over staffed shops that wish to operate in the 20th Century!

The vast majority of their potential customers buy their goods online cheaper than at John Lewis shops, if the Management have failed to address the change in peoples shopping habits they will surely go the way of Jessops that people used to handle cameras and then bought them cheaper online.

[Rewulf]

9 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Absolutely unbelievable, it is simply the easy option to blame Brexit and the uncertainty.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/13/john-lewis-profits-dive-99-percent

Absolutely nothing to do with John Lewis's over staffed shops that wish to operate in the 20th Century!

The vast majority of their potential customers buy their goods online cheaper than at John Lewis shops, if the Management have failed to address the change in peoples shopping habits they will surely go the way of Jessops that people used to handle cameras and then bought them cheaper online.

Spot on.

[Scully]

30 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Absolutely unbelievable, it is simply the easy option to blame Brexit and the uncertainty.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/13/john-lewis-profits-dive-99-percent

Absolutely nothing to do with John Lewis's over staffed shops that wish to operate in the 20th Century!

The vast majority of their potential customers buy their goods online cheaper than at John Lewis shops, if the Management have failed to address the change in peoples shopping habits they will surely go the way of Jessops that people used to handle cameras and then bought them cheaper online.

Mmmm.....I’m no rocket scientist, but I doubt it would take one to realise that online shopping is going to reduce footfall sales. 🤨

[TIGHTCHOKE]

3 minutes ago, Scully said:

Mmmm.....I’m no rocket scientist, but I doubt it would take one to realise that online shopping is going to reduce footfall sales. 🤨

A big difference between realising and actually addressing the problem, how long till John Lewis enter receivership?

[blackbird]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

A big difference between realising and actually addressing the problem, how long till John Lewis enter receivership?

+1 It will be a great shame but their days are numbered the only way to shop soon will only be the net, only time you would go into town is if you fancy visiting a charity shop, get a tattoo or put on a bet.

Edited September 13, 2018 by blackbird

[ditchman]

58 minutes ago, Scully said:

Mmmm.....I’m no rocket scientist, but I doubt it would take one to realise that online shopping is going to reduce footfall sales. 🤨

and the expense and inability to park in town......aaannndd buisness rates going up an up an up...................

[walshie]

39 minutes ago, blackbird said:

+1 It will be a great shame but there days are numbered the only way to shop soon will only be the net, only time you would go into town is if you fancy visiting a charity shop, get a tattoo or put on a bet.

Or the pub. 

[blackbird]

And it breaks my heart but pubs are shutting in their droves 😪

Edited September 13, 2018 by blackbird

[Scully]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

and the expense and inability to park in town......aaannndd buisness rates going up an up an up...................

Good points. 

 

1 hour ago, blackbird said:

And it breaks my heart but pubs are shutting in their droves 😪

So they say, and despite one closing in town ( owner died and his widow has no interest ) there are more and more opening up around here; not new ones, just ones which closed for whatever reason, now bought and run by the locals. 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 hour ago, blackbird said:

+1 It will be a great shame but their days are numbered the only way to shop soon will only be the net, only time you would go into town is if you fancy visiting a charity shop, get a tattoo or put on a bet.

Or to go out for a meal, the High Street of days gone by has all but gone and it will never return.

[Vince Green]

For me to actually get to a John Lewis is a marathon

[blackbird]

I really do hope that John Lewis can turn it around as we have purchased big items from them on several occasions  & it’s customer service is second to none. 

Edited September 13, 2018 by blackbird

[Lord v]

I think department stores as a whole are doomed. The original model was brilliant - pull everything into one space and people only have to visit one place - they will also see other things they want and buy.

They were basically proto-Amazon. 

Then Amazon et al came along. They can do it faster, cheaper and from a faceless box on the outskirts of Swindon where rent is pennies. With automatic picking they can be run on skeleton crew. All of a sudden the department store model and raison d'etre is aped by something bigger, cheaper and arguably better. 

I last went into a department store 6 months ago because I spilt pasta down my shirt before a client meeting and needed a new one fast. Other than that they deliver no better service than Amazon at a price premium I don't want to pay and usualyhave to travel to achieve. Why would I do that? I also dont shop as a hobby - I have other things to do, as do most other people. 

Personally I think it's a great time for independents, or will be soon. The only things that get me to town are:

A) specialist shops where I need advice as well as a product and/or sell a selection of products not easily traced or stocked in one place online.

B) places that require my physical presence - eating out, haircuts etc.

A department store fulfills none of those. Independent shops often fulfill A) and I am willing to travel distance to visit a good one.

[Scully]

1 hour ago, Lord v said:

I think department stores as a whole are doomed. The original model was brilliant - pull everything into one space and people only have to visit one place - they will also see other things they want and buy.

They were basically proto-Amazon. 

Then Amazon et al came along. They can do it faster, cheaper and from a faceless box on the outskirts of Swindon where rent is pennies. With automatic picking they can be run on skeleton crew. All of a sudden the department store model and raison d'etre is aped by something bigger, cheaper and arguably better. 

I last went into a department store 6 months ago because I spilt pasta down my shirt before a client meeting and needed a new one fast. Other than that they deliver no better service than Amazon at a price premium I don't want to pay and usualyhave to travel to achieve. Why would I do that? I also dont shop as a hobby - I have other things to do, as do most other people. 

Personally I think it's a great time for independents, or will be soon. The only things that get me to town are:

A) specialist shops where I need advice as well as a product and/or sell a selection of products not easily traced or stocked in one place online.

B) places that require my physical presence - eating out, haircuts etc.

A department store fulfills none of those. Independent shops often fulfill A) and I am willing to travel distance to visit a good one.

Good points. The only drawback I have to shopping online ( which is as handy as anything for me as I live in the sticks ) is not being able to try anything on before buying, such as shoes, boots and clothes.

Apart from that I do think it’s a shame that other smaller shops will be dragged down as a by product of reduced footfall that the bigger stores attracted, I hate to think that our towns and cities will eventually consist of high streets dominated by charity shops and Greggs.

[The Mighty Prawn]

The business analysts seem to be blaming ‘never knowingly undersold’ as a failed mechanism as it means you have to sell every item at the lowest price from your competitors so toaster 1 is cheap at retailer 1 and JL have to match, then toaster 2 is cheap at retailer 2 so they have to match that, every item then become virtually profit free despite their massive overheads.

[Stonepark]

1 hour ago, Scully said:

Apart from that I do think it’s a shame that other smaller shops will be dragged down as a by product of reduced footfall that the bigger stores attracted, I hate to think that our towns and cities will eventually consist of high streets dominated by charity shops and Greggs.

I would surmise that small shops are getting dragged down due to failure to adapt to the market as the market has changed and ever has it been so.

Shooting shops (and fishing shops amongst others) which remain mired in the past and expect customers to accept what they have in stock and sitting on the shelf for 6 months or longer or wait 6 weeks until they put in an order or try to supply something not really what the customer is looking for will simply not survive and too many small shops have been guilty of this and good specialist shops have  their own trade/footfall .

A shop either has to be either exclusive, specialist or efficient to survive, JL did hold the former previously  but has lost its exclusivity but has not yet become efficent and has never been specialist.

Online shopping has changed the market, but the biggest market is still the retail bricks and mortar and arguebly losing JL would ensure that other compeating stores survive or vice versa.

With regards rents, high street rents are ridiculous  and few people are aware of how onerous they can be (Fully repairing and Insuring Leases with 10% turnover rental clauses which could be 20% of turnover in total) and as noted in the House of Fraser administration, cutting these often make the business viable.

[grrclark]

I’m not so sure that some of the above considerations are accurate in respect to JLP.

The high street is undoubtably taking a hit for many reasons, online shopping being prime amongst them, but there is still a place for premium product and the behavioural pleasure of browsing.

I don’t expect PW to be a particulary representative model of high street behavior, middle aged+ conservative white males is a shade polarised.

If i was to bet a pound or five of my own money on survival of a high street brand I would put it on JLP.

I have dealt with many of the major high street retailers in the course of my business and JLP are by some margin a cut above in so many ways.  Without exception they offer the best customer service experience in UK retail.  They also have some really smart cookies in key positions and they are accutely aware of what the challenges are.

Brexit is an issue and that is a reality we cannot avoid, it is not just a cheap copout for poor performance.

[old'un]

3 hours ago, Lord v said:

I think department stores as a whole are doomed. The original model was brilliant - pull everything into one space and people only have to visit one place - they will also see other things they want and buy.

They were basically proto-Amazon. 

Then Amazon et al came along. They can do it faster, cheaper and from a faceless box on the outskirts of Swindon where rent is pennies. With automatic picking they can be run on skeleton crew. All of a sudden the department store model and raison d'etre is aped by something bigger, cheaper and arguably better. 

I last went into a department store 6 months ago because I spilt pasta down my shirt before a client meeting and needed a new one fast. Other than that they deliver no better service than Amazon at a price premium I don't want to pay and usualyhave to travel to achieve. Why would I do that? I also dont shop as a hobby - I have other things to do, as do most other people. 

Personally I think it's a great time for independents, or will be soon. The only things that get me to town are:

A) specialist shops where I need advice as well as a product and/or sell a selection of products not easily traced or stocked in one place online.

B) places that require my physical presence - eating out, haircuts etc.

A department store fulfills none of those. Independent shops often fulfill A) and I am willing to travel distance to visit a good one.

Some department stores do provide all the above, the other thing is most if not all of the posts are from men, women still like meeting up, going shopping and a coffee or bite to eat, well my wife does.  

[Eyefor]

On 13/09/2018 at 14:48, Vince Green said:

For me to actually get to a John Lewis is a marathon

Same for me.

John Lewis Milton Keynes store is 26 miles 385 yards from my house.

[Lord v]

2 hours ago, Scully said:

Good points. The only drawback I have to shopping online ( which is as handy as anything for me as I live in the sticks ) is not being able to try anything on before buying, such as shoes, boots and clothes.

Apart from that I do think it’s a shame that other smaller shops will be dragged down as a by product of reduced footfall that the bigger stores attracted, I hate to think that our towns and cities will eventually consist of high streets dominated by charity shops and Greggs.

I agree with shoes - my feet are weird widths so not all makes fit well. If I'm going for a new make or style then I need to be able to try them first. 

With regards to rates - my local town (well village with aspirations) has had a lot of empty spaces for a while, 3 or 4 years in some cases. Banks have disappeared. We don't have the footfall to get the interest of Poundland and more than a couple of betting shops. 

Two things have helped. Weatherspoons taking over a massive old building and turning it into a huge pub (probably 200/250 seater) and cutting rates. 

We have had some cracking independent shops, delis and a butchers open in the last 8 months or so. Only a couple of empty places on the high street left. 

It's really turned the place around. Still a way to go, but it's been nice to see some movement. 

My wife isn't really a shopper, and although my knowledge of 20yr old womens shopping habbits is limited it really doesn't seem to be a big deal anymore. Or if they do, they are more keen to hit a boutique than a department store. 

 

[walshie]

Anything else that can be blamed on Brexit?

House prices maybe falling by a third? Where on earth did Carney pluck that figure from?

Won't be able to use our driving licences in the EU? Even though they are accepted in just about every country in the world.

Possibly no more free mobile roaming in the EU. Same is it has been for 44 of the 45 years we've been in the EEC or EU then.

JL are going down the pan because they are too expensive. 

 

[Gordon R]

walshie - correct.

[Scully]

31 minutes ago, Lord v said:

I agree with shoes - my feet are weird widths so not all makes fit well. If I'm going for a new make or style then I need to be able to try them first. 

With regards to rates - my local town (well village with aspirations) has had a lot of empty spaces for a while, 3 or 4 years in some cases. Banks have disappeared. We don't have the footfall to get the interest of Poundland and more than a couple of betting shops. 

Two things have helped. Weatherspoons taking over a massive old building and turning it into a huge pub (probably 200/250 seater) and cutting rates. 

We have had some cracking independent shops, delis and a butchers open in the last 8 months or so. Only a couple of empty places on the high street left. 

It's really turned the place around. Still a way to go, but it's been nice to see some movement. 

My wife isn't really a shopper, and although my knowledge of 20yr old womens shopping habbits is limited it really doesn't seem to be a big deal anymore. Or if they do, they are more keen to hit a boutique than a department store. 

 

Yep. My home town has been hit similarly but it was long before even a hint of a referendum. Both banks have shut in the space of six years ( one is now a butcher the other sitting empty ) and we’ve had several empty shops for some time; those which start up seem to be short lived, and in the last week or so one has reopened as a vaping cafe! We have a lot of cafes and charity shops. The one which seems to be doing better than anything is the newsagents, and a local businessman who bought the first bank to close, told me the most productive shops in the high streets are Greggs and bookies.

As a parent, shopping online became a more of parcelling up clothes shoes etc which had to be returned. For a while it was almost a full time job! 

 

[Vince Green]

If I had to say one reason for me avoiding shopping centres as much as I do its parking. Usually a nightmare journey to get into town on a Saturday is followed by "car park full" or driving round for ages inside some multi story monstrosity with a lot of other cars, trying to find the empty space before they do.

Not a relaxing experience for me

[SpringDon]

2 hours ago, Lord v said:

I agree with shoes - my feet are weird widths so not all makes fit well. If I'm going for a new make or style then I need to be able to try them first. 

With regards to rates - my local town (well village with aspirations) has had a lot of empty spaces for a while, 3 or 4 years in some cases. Banks have disappeared. We don't have the footfall to get the interest of Poundland and more than a couple of betting shops. 

Two things have helped. Weatherspoons taking over a massive old building and turning it into a huge pub (probably 200/250 seater) and cutting rates. 

We have had some cracking independent shops, delis and a butchers open in the last 8 months or so. Only a couple of empty places on the high street left. 

It's really turned the place around. Still a way to go, but it's been nice to see some movement. 

My wife isn't really a shopper, and although my knowledge of 20yr old womens shopping habbits is limited it really doesn't seem to be a big deal anymore. Or if they do, they are more keen to hit a boutique than a department store. 

 

I name that town wellington and claim my 5 pounds.