Wetherspoons Profits to soar ?

After a disastrous couple of weeks for high street companies there may be some relief when Wetherspoons announces a trading update on Wednesday (13th July). The previous day the company opens it's latest pub The London Hatter in Park Street, Luton.

There are now two Wetherspoons outlets in Bedford and two in Luton. Cheap beer, meals and coffee, plus an extensive breakfast menu seem to be behind the success of the chain.

WH Smiths Results buck the trend...

Smiths results are not as bad as some others recently. The company issued a trading statement yesterday which showed profits rising by three per cent, although predictably sales were down.

Franchises at airports, railway stations and motorway services will help the company.

A future stategy is to abandon dvd and cd sales ( HMV has already decided to do this ). Personally I never really associated Smiths with dvds, and it is many, many years since I bought a CD there.

In Luton WH Smiths is now the only remaining bookshop (unless you count The Works ). I wonder if University of Beds students will buy or order their text books from the store ?

Or will Amazon get even more trade ?

Thornton's Chocolates .... more details

Still no clue in the Luton Mall about the fate of the Thorntons shop there. Apparently details are to be announced when staff have been informed, within the next fortnight.

Thorntons operate 337 UK stores and are closing at least 120 of them. Where stores close they are hoping to open franchises nearby ( maybe in Debenhams or similar I imagine ?)

Strategy for the future ?

More products for less than £5, and in-store tasting sessions !

Christmas, Valentines Day & Easter are seasonal peaks for chocolate sales, but Thorntons additionally stressed that hot weather in May affected business.

I wonder if headlines like the one above didn't help. Maybe we are eating too much fruit these days ?

High Street Meltdown

Lots of stories in the papers this weekend about the crisis affecting the UK High Street. This one seems a particularly good summary of the situation....

Walsh,K & Shah, O (2011) High noon on the High Street, Sunday Times, 3rd July Focus Section p.5

It has been a disastrous few days for the following companies :

T.J Hughes - discount department chain, has gone out of business. 57 stores and 4,000 staff face a bleak future.

Jane Norman, the youth fashion chain went under on Monday night. 200 shops and 1,600 staff lost.

HMV finally gave up with the CD market and will now concentrate on live music and gadgets. Sales sank by 11% this year, and the company only survived, many think, by selling off Waterstones.

Thorntons, the chocolatier, is closing many high street shops. We are not sure whether the Luton and Bedford branches have survived the chop.

What are the reasons for these poor results ?

1. Internet shopping
2. The financial crisis means that consumers are changing from a 'want' culture to a 'need' culture
3. Giant supermarkets are now selling everything, including Thorntons chocolates and CD's.
4. Lack of consumer confidence ( consumers may have the cash to spend but they are worried about their future )
5. Conspicuous consumption is no longer fashionable. People feel guilty about spending ( despite this some luxury brands are still manageing to prosper )
6. Customer service is no longer valued as much as it was formerly. This may be partly because people have so much information about the products they are buying available online.
7. Discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl are doing well.