Maplin and Toys R Us

[A Quiet Monkfish]

I see the affluent or older generation making a stand but the masses go for the cheapest or most convenient option the majority of the time.

Unless something is on offer, rarely seen in somewhere like Maplins, the common comsumer won't buy it but look elsewhere.
Very easy to price check online nowadays whilst you browse.

With places like Starbucks, it's mostly down to convenience.
Personally I hate the place, the coffee is swill.

Costco the same. Cheapest, most tasteless coffee imaginable, but £billions in marketing has got the under 35's in there..

[A Quiet Monkfish]

It's a good shop, nice to look around, then go home and buy it cheaper from Amazon.

We won't have a High Street in 40 years.

In 40 years most people will never leave their homes. They'll be born, eat, shit, sleep, buy, sell, work, play, and die. Probably only get up out of their chair to got to the toilet or bed..

[blue matt]

Costco the same. Cheapest, most tasteless coffee imaginable, but £billions in marketing has got the under 35's in there..

Costa i guess

from a personal point of view, i dont mind Starbucks, I know where ever i am, i can have a coffee thats nice enough

[ccfc_is_my_life]

And how many small coffee stores have been put out of business by the chains? Christ, Queen Street these days seems to be nothing more than coffee shops and pound stores!

Privately owned stores like Toys R Us, Maplins haven't been catering for public demand, adapting to modern needs. As a consequence, public have gone elsewhere. Same throughout history.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

In 40 years most people will never leave their homes. They'll be born, eat, shit, sleep, buy, sell, work, play, and die. Probably only get up out of their chair to got to the toilet or bed..

Reclining armchair/commodes should sort that out.

[dembethewarrior]

WH Smith have lots of concessions at airports and railway stations, otherwise as you say I don't know how they keep going.

Fat bastards like me buying over priced meal deals and other drinks and snacks at the train station.

[BlueWales]

WHS even sells booze at Leigh Delamare services.

[Keyser Soze]

Latest from today's FT. Private equity LBO methods killing the companies.


At Toys R Us, those problems were exacerbated by $5bn of debt heaped on the US parent company in 2005 when it was taken private by a consortium of buyout funds that included Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado Realty Trust.

The company filed for bankruptcy in the US in September after what analysts say were years of under-investment in its tired-looking stores, as it struggled to keep up with the $250m annual cost of servicing its debt.



The position of 2,335 workers at Maplin grew increasingly precarious as February wore on, with management holding emergency sale talks after credit insurers refused to back the electronics retailer’s liabilities to suppliers.

On Wednesday, owners Rutland Capital the latest in a series of private equity owners — handed control to the company’s creditors. Zelf Hussain, a partner at PwC who is acting as joint administrator, said the business would trade as normal while the search for a buyer continued.