shermanator Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Argos owner Home Retail Group suffers weak TV sales Page last updated at 10:53 GMT, Thursday, 10 June 2010 11:53 UK E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Video gaming and TV sales accounted for two-thirds of Argos's sales drop Argos owner Home Retail Group has reported a bigger-than-expected drop in sales after seeing weaker demand for video games and televisions. Like-for-like sales at Argos fell 8.1% in the three months to 29 May, compared with the same period a year ago. Home Retail Group also said that Homebase, its DIY store chain, saw sales dip 1.4%. Shares in Home Retail Group were down 3.9% at 228.7p by mid-morning following the announcement. "Economic conditions remain both challenging and uncertain, with this quarter proving difficult in terms of consumers' willingness to spend," said Home Retail Group chief executive Terry Duddy. "The comparable period last year also contained some strong sales growth and share gains in certain product categories, particularly in consumer electronics at Argos. "For Homebase, this quarter represented a good outcome to its peak trading period." Looks like the "recovery" is petering out amongst the lower-middle/working class consumers. Remember these compare against figures for spring 2009. I don't think Argos is a badly run company at all, rather the consumer is totally maxed out. How are things looking on your local high street/mall? Anecdotally in South London things are looking pretty grim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headrow Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Argos owner Home Retail Group suffers weak TV sales Page last updated at 10:53 GMT, Thursday, 10 June 2010 11:53 UK E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Video gaming and TV sales accounted for two-thirds of Argos's sales drop Argos owner Home Retail Group has reported a bigger-than-expected drop in sales after seeing weaker demand for video games and televisions. Like-for-like sales at Argos fell 8.1% in the three months to 29 May, compared with the same period a year ago. Home Retail Group also said that Homebase, its DIY store chain, saw sales dip 1.4%. Shares in Home Retail Group were down 3.9% at 228.7p by mid-morning following the announcement. "Economic conditions remain both challenging and uncertain, with this quarter proving difficult in terms of consumers' willingness to spend," said Home Retail Group chief executive Terry Duddy. "The comparable period last year also contained some strong sales growth and share gains in certain product categories, particularly in consumer electronics at Argos. "For Homebase, this quarter represented a good outcome to its peak trading period." Looks like the "recovery" is petering out amongst the lower-middle/working class consumers. Remember these compare against figures for spring 2009. I don't think Argos is a badly run company at all, rather the consumer is totally maxed out. How are things looking on your local high street/mall? Anecdotally in South London things are looking pretty grim. And Amazon , Play.com will have record sales. Look at the fgures that came out for ASOS this week , a superb set of figures. People don't need the High St anymore , the best shopping experience is available in your front room on broadband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Sign of the times surely is the offers on school uniform ... Is this the earliest it's ever been pushed for September? So many offers available - if you have money you can search out some bargains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 And Amazon , Play.com will have record sales. Look at the fgures that came out for ASOS this week , a superb set of figures. People don't need the High St anymore , the best shopping experience is available in your front room on broadband. Not that I wouldn't deny it's a trend and the high st is in significant long term decline it's not all that it seems. ASOS's sales are not like for like as the 'internet booming' narrative suggests in fact the return on investment to achieve the sales is not fantastically inspiriring. Don't forget it's a business model that relies on media coverage fro self-promotion. If anything online is generally not as buoyant as 12-18 months ago and seems to have lagged the high st decline. Non-high st, city centre and out of town locations are relatively stable sales wise at the moment and, if anything, may have strengthened slightly since the change of govt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchbux Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Argos owner Home Retail Group suffers weak TV sales Page last updated at 10:53 GMT, Thursday, 10 June 2010 11:53 UK E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Video gaming and TV sales accounted for two-thirds of Argos's sales drop Argos owner Home Retail Group has reported a bigger-than-expected drop in sales after seeing weaker demand for video games and televisions. Like-for-like sales at Argos fell 8.1% in the three months to 29 May, compared with the same period a year ago. Home Retail Group also said that Homebase, its DIY store chain, saw sales dip 1.4%. Shares in Home Retail Group were down 3.9% at 228.7p by mid-morning following the announcement. "Economic conditions remain both challenging and uncertain, with this quarter proving difficult in terms of consumers' willingness to spend," said Home Retail Group chief executive Terry Duddy. "The comparable period last year also contained some strong sales growth and share gains in certain product categories, particularly in consumer electronics at Argos. "For Homebase, this quarter represented a good outcome to its peak trading period." Looks like the "recovery" is petering out amongst the lower-middle/working class consumers. Remember these compare against figures for spring 2009. I don't think Argos is a badly run company at all, rather the consumer is totally maxed out. How are things looking on your local high street/mall? Anecdotally in South London things are looking pretty grim. At the price they want to charge for their kitchen units, I'm not surprised. We did a bit of shopping around before we settled on using a local company to refit our kitchen last month. Homebase units came in at only slightly less than much better made units. The local company also supplied a couple of bespoke units, which made for a much better finish. As for the fitting charge Homebase were nearly two and a half times more expensive than the fitters recommended by the company we used. Anecdotally, the DIY market has picked up a lot too. Skips galore locally at the moment, most of them showing signs of a new bathroom or kitchen. A lack of 'consumer willingness' isn't the problem, it's their wanting the best deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 And Amazon , Play.com will have record sales. Look at the fgures that came out for ASOS this week , a superb set of figures. People don't need the High St anymore , the best shopping experience is available in your front room on broadband. The only problem with the internet is sending stuff back, usually they'll only pick up on week days, if you work FT this is a bit of a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headrow Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Not that I wouldn't deny it's a trend and the high st is in significant long term decline it's not all that it seems. ASOS's sales are not like for like as the 'internet booming' narrative suggests in fact the return on investment to achieve the sales is not fantastically inspiriring. Don't forget it's a business model that relies on media coverage fro self-promotion. If anything online is generally not as buoyant as 12-18 months ago and seems to have lagged the high st decline. Non-high st, city centre and out of town locations are relatively stable sales wise at the moment and, if anything, may have strengthened slightly since the change of govt. I've held shares in ASOS for nearly 3 years now , they are now worth 7 times what i paid for them. The amount of coverage they get in 'celebrity' magazines is staggering , somebody somewhere in the company is doing a damned fine job. The News Of The World glossy supplement is virtually an advert for gear available at ASOS and my daughter informs me that most of her friends see ASOS as the first port of call when firing up the internet. How long they will continue growing is open to debate but i bet they hit 1000p a share before they see 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headrow Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 The only problem with the internet is sending stuff back, usually they'll only pick up on week days, if you work FT this is a bit of a problem. Drop off the parcel at your Paypoint retailer. That's what i do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I've held shares in ASOS for nearly 3 years now , they are now worth 7 times what i paid for them. The amount of coverage they get in 'celebrity' magazines is staggering , somebody somewhere in the company is doing a damned fine job. The News Of The World glossy supplement is virtually an advert for gear available at ASOS and my daughter informs me that most of her friends see ASOS as the first port of call when firing up the internet. How long they will continue growing is open to debate but i bet they hit 1000p a share before they see 100. Up to 1000 jobs being created in Barnsley at their new distribution centre: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/businessnews/ASOS-goes-for-growth-with.6353778.jp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headrow Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Up to 1000 jobs being created in Barnsley at their new distribution centre: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/businessnews/ASOS-goes-for-growth-with.6353778.jp Posting good news on here will get you banned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Up to 1000 jobs being created in Barnsley at their new distribution centre: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/businessnews/ASOS-goes-for-growth-with.6353778.jp They're definitely still a growth story but, I suspect, overexpansion is a real danger. A 500,000 sqft (leasehold) NDC is a big liability but an inevitable part of almost any sizeable retail operation these days. Other red flags, for me, will be their demographic which is the yoof market. Which means they're dependent on student loan availability and older kids being paid to go to school, as the only real ongoing story with the yoof market is one of unemployment. The other big issue with online, over bricks and mortar, is closeout of rendundant stock as online 'sales' struggle if the total inventory is very large like ASOS (contrast with Fat Face who have limited ranges that are always easy to clear at 'sale' prices that still yield a comfortable margin). Their business model has definitely, thus far, been sound but I have doubts of whether their future sales aspirations (£1bn??) are achievable unless a very substantial chunk comes form overseas. Once they're lumbered with repaying the cost of investment to generate the sales increase they're then vulnerbale to some leaner, younger upstart competing against them and pinching all the media coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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