Shops closing
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Posts
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I love a good debate but feel I must say that whenever I visit Maplins I have excellent service. I wander in clutching the piece of paper my husband has given me, find a sales assistant and show him the paper and just like magic the goods appear! Yes I do use my womanly wiles but it is not my area of expertise and I have absolutely no complaints about the staff there.
I have to say Jan that I agree about Maplin. They appear to staff their shop with people with the correct know how & interest. Perhaps Angryshopper, you were there before Christmas when the staff wouldn’t have as much time to spend per customer.
@JanW 3148 wrote:
I love a good debate but feel I must say that whenever I visit Maplins I have excellent service. I wander in clutching the piece of paper my husband has given me, find a sales assistant and show him the paper and just like magic the goods appear! Yes I do use my womanly wiles but it is not my area of expertise and I have absolutely no complaints about the staff there.
Oh yes, sorry I need to make my self more plain, ^ janW they are very good at that, most places are, but where maplin used to differ was if you were buying bits to make something, the more hobbyist techy side of there business the staff were normally helpful, knowledgable and it seems they employ anyone these days.
an example might be, if you remember B&Q years ago usually had a trained joiner and an electrician in store on the relevant departments, you could ask a quick question about what you were buying and they knew, now it’s “I don’t know” maplin were like that, there are a couple if guys in the wrexham store who are very good, but on the whole it’s gone down.
but I guess that side of the business is probs moving to the online sales more and more as it’s usually cheeper
Sadly yet another national chain Blockbuster have gone into administration and they are yet another company who trade in Wrexham. Life is becoming very difficult for many families in the town. Itis more important than ever to shop locally.
♪ ♫ This town, is coming like a ghost town
All the shops have been closed down ♪ ♫Same the whole country over, very sad…
The blockbuster one looks a bit different. Short term: More loyal customers than either hmv or jessops and a core bunch of them are more habitual. Long term: it’s behind netflix and lovefilm, but it does have a very good database of customers to counter them.
Going into admin is probably a help as they can get out of non-profitable or just profitable shop leases. Eventually, they’ll close all the shops, but it doesn’t have to be for a few years yet.
Was in a meeting a few weeks back and a guy said in a few years time people will look back at the 1900s and ask “why did they own so much stuff?” That’s one of the problems retail has; nearly all new consumer products reduce the need to buy other consumer items in shops… e.g. records, cds, books, dvds, etc.
@thewayneinspain 3167 wrote:
The blockbuster one looks a bit different. Short term: More loyal customers than either hmv or jessops and a core bunch of them are more habitual. Long term: it’s behind netflix and lovefilm, but it does have a very good database of customers to counter them.
Going into admin is probably a help as they can get out of non-profitable or just profitable shop leases. Eventually, they’ll close all the shops, but it doesn’t have to be for a few years yet.
Was in a meeting a few weeks back and a guy said in a few years time people will look back at the 1900s and ask “why did they own so much stuff?” That’s one of the problems retail has; nearly all new consumer products reduce the need to buy other consumer items in shops… e.g. records, cds, books, dvds, etc.
Absolutely true
I have to admit that my shopping habits have changed with the advances in technology. I no longer buy books as I have an e-reader and any music I want is now downloaded and stored on my ipod. The knock on effect is that the traditional shops are now a bit archaic and are suffering because of it. I have no answer to the problem but I do shop locally so my spare cash, which is not as much as it used to be, is plowed back into the local economy. The trouble is as more shops close my options for shopping are dwindling and I fear is that I will more or less forced into doing more shopping on line.
There was a piece on the BBC on how some consultants said to HMV back in the 90’s that the biggest threat was the internet. They were laughed out of town.
Not so funny now?
All of these chains in administration are those I would have expected to be hit by the internet. Jessops less so, but other stores (like Argos) have been pilfering their “casual” market for some time.
@Wrecsam_lad 3164 wrote:
♪ ♫ This town, is coming like a ghost town
All the shops have been closed down ♪ ♫Same the whole country over, very sad…
Wrexham ‘town centre’ will even more become a sight for sore eyes.
It’s the O.A.Ps who arrive at the King St Bus Station who can’t muster the energy to go to Eagles Meadow I feel sorry for. Even the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ leading to EM is a challenge for for the able-bodied on a windy day.
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