interestrateripoff Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/29/dixons-comet-pixmania-profit Currys and PC World owner, Dixons Retail, said it expects to benefit from the demise of Comet as its UK operations returned a profit for the first time in five years.However, poor sales in its southern Europe branches due to the eurozone crisis and a £42.5m writedown of its online gadget business, Pixmania, saw the company slump to a £79.5m pre-tax loss in the six months to October, compared with a £2.4m profit a year earlier. Chief executive Sebastian James said: "We were particularly busy during the sporting and cultural events during the summer. While August and September were, as expected, a bit quieter, we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook. "We are outpacing our competitors, and have seen Comet enter administration in the UK and Expert exiting the market in Sweden." Clearly your going to benefit with less competition as purchasers will look elsewhere, trouble is how many who'd have bought from comet will now just buy online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Based on my experience this week I'm not so sure. I needed a peripheral urgently that I knew was stocked by my local PC World so drove across town in busy traffic only to find that the PC World shop had closed down and been merged into the Currys next door. It didn't have what I needed in stock so I had a wasted trip. The retail park looked deserted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyMe Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Based on my experience this week I'm not so sure. I needed a peripheral urgently that I knew was stocked by my local PC World so drove across town in busy traffic only to find that the PC World shop had closed down and been merged into the Currys next door. It didn't have what I needed in stock so I had a wasted trip. The retail park looked deserted. Same experience for me a while ago - actually probably about 6 months ago. Standard peripheral - a joystick - none in stock in PC world, Argos out too. Not been into either since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappycocco Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 dixons is a similar friggin business model lol......i bet some of the people running it, worked at comet lol.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashedOutAndBurned Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Can't see Dixons lasting long term either. During the debt-bubble there was enough freshly-created money to sustain the online shopping revolution (which would have happened regardless) but also to fund the high street and ugly new megamalls. Now the reality that many people find it blissfully easy to buy all sorts of things online and not have to brave chavvy town centres and retail parks is sinking in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repetitive bleats Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Finally. Capitalism in action. Company that is bankrupt shuts down. Company that isn't bankrupt benefits. Would be great to see this philosophy extended to other parts of the economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNoSnowMan Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Went to Toy R Us in Gloucester about 2 weeks ago on a Friday night to pick up my newphews Xmas present (it was actually cheaper at Toy R Us than on Amazon or ebay). It's located on an out of town shopping complex and has a few big chain shops and a couple of drive-thru's. Every one of them was either empty or only had a few people in them (most of them staff). I couldn't believe it. I hadn't been there for a good 6 or 7 years and it was always busy back then, day or night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEngineer Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 ..purchasers will look elsewhere, trouble is how many who'd have bought from comet will now just buy online? Seb James addressing this - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) Seb James addressing this - It's a good talk but I think his company is utterly failing to execute on one of his points, namely that shops are better at guiding customers towards newer better technology. I've walked into a few electrical retailers over the last few months in the hope of taking a look at some new piece of kit and in almost every case I've been met with rows of obsolete products and staff who barely know what you're talking about. They're everything an Apple Store isn't. Edited November 30, 2012 by thecrashingisles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bear Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Our PCWorld is on a site with (something like) furniture land, kitchen land and carpetmatey something. You can often drive past in the day and see less then a dozen cars parked outside the lot. I cannot believe they manage to stay open. https://maps.google....ed+Kingdom&z=18 Same with the big one on the Eastern Avenue just west of Romford. Big PC World at one end of the estate and big Currys at the other end. PC World Romford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) There used to be PC World, Comet and Currys (maybe even a Dixons as well) all with similar sized stores. Once Comet closes they'll be down to one of the original stores now shared by PC World and Currys. So in terms of store area that group of companies are about 25% of the original size from just about 10 years ago. At that rate give it another 5 years or so and they'll not be on the high street at all any more. Not unless they become more competitive with the other outlets for their sort of products and that includes outlets other than the internet. Edited November 30, 2012 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone baby gone Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 It's good that Comet closing will help Dixons. Because Dixons / Currys / PC World need all the help they can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) Same experience for me a while ago - actually probably about 6 months ago. Standard peripheral - a joystick - none in stock in PC world, Argos out too. Not been into either since. Happened a few times that.....now will check on-line to see if in stock, if not will buy on-line.......nothing worse than making a special journey plus fuel costs for something required sooner rather than later to find it is going to have to be later plus the extra time and money..... Edited November 30, 2012 by winkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Same with the big one on the Eastern Avenue just west of Romford. Big PC World at one end of the estate and big Currys at the other end. PC World Romford + 1. Massive stores, hardly any customers. The same scenario at a retail park outside Poole, Dorset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
“Nasty Piece of work” Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 A real threat to EPOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bewildered_renter Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 They sell dated, overpriced rubbish if PCs are anything to go by. So, only good for them until they are next in line to go under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash4781 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 It draws away attention from that rather large European operation writedown in the accounts. New produsts are coming WIi-U now out I think. I doubt Sony will get to ps4 though, and not sure about a new xbox. PC sales are also really struggling (see the Windows 8 thread in off topic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash4781 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I should add remember what Game plc, and HMV plc said about the demise of Woolworths! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNoSnowMan Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I should add remember what Game plc, and HMV plc said about the demise of Woolworths! That's a good point. Both of them are currently on life support. How long do you think they've got left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theonlywayisdown Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 anyone taking bets on how long dixons group plc hangs on for? Probably those city bankers in their ivory towers have already shorted this company Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperChimp Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I wonder how much British pension companies have invested in the shares of these companies? I foresee a domino effect of collapsing high street comapnies leading to collapsing pension companies/rising pension contributions. On another note, every time I go to Argos a member of staff tries to sell me insurance for the product I am buying. No matter how small. I bought a plug socket for <£3 and was offered insurance for it. It has gotten to the point where I prefer to buy online (Amazon mostly) simply to avoid the harassment and awkward apologies at the till. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durhamborn Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 anyone taking bets on how long dixons group plc hangs on for? Probably those city bankers in their ivory towers have already shorted this company Not long,they are the worst business iv ever dealt with.Went in for a laptop for my parents who wanted it that day.Picked one out,sorry not in stock,,then another,not in stock,,i said why dont you have a sign on them saying not in stock? Oh because we can order them in....Well i can order one in online £80 cheaper thanks. Their business model,is suicide.No they are finished for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash4781 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) That's a good point. Both of them are currently on life support. How long do you think they've got left? This is not advice. No idea. For computer games Peter Molyneux (Populous) talks about it the retail model, tablet games, and consoles in his Wii U interview http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/919470-what-peter-molyneux-thinks-of-the-wii-u-i-find-it-a-little-bit-confused Edited December 1, 2012 by Ash4781 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diver Dan Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I'd love it if a European company like Saturn (their parent company already operate in the UK as Makro) entered the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.