On 03/03/2018 11:41, Tricky Dicky wrote:
However, with the number of replies to the topic are we secretly sad to see it go?


Not really. Like many companies as soon as the founders and their
vision of how things may be done leave or sell out the company goes
downhill.



--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 03/03/2018 11:58, Max Demian wrote:
On 03/03/2018 11:41, Tricky Dicky wrote:

Just coming back on topic, most posters have bemoaned the fact that
Maplins was not what it used to be and generally dear. However, with
the number of replies to the topic are we secretly sad to see it go?

Should I buy one of these in case I need it in futu
https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/c-battery...r-4-pack-l64aq
(I haven't seen one elsewhere; I don't even know what it would be called.)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2PCS-AA-t...4AAOSwtfhYrDNe

Usually a complete waste of time. If a piece of modern equipment is
designed to take a C size battery substituting a AA in a plastic holder
is likely to give limited performance.


Where else can I make a "distress purchase" for a single pot or
capacitor &c.?

Isn't that the problem you only use them for distress purchases and they
are not normally your first choice.


Where else can I buy cable by the metre?


Ebay


Where else can I buy LED strips in 10cm increments?


Cheaper to buy a 1m strip elsewhere than a 10cm strip from Maplin.
--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
Along with district nurses with starched caps driving Morris Minors,
telegram boys on bicycles, AA men who saluted, sweet shops where you
could buy 4 different items for a tuppny, proper bogs that flush when
you pull a chain and have a roller towel on the back of the door.

And the death penalty, blue passports, corporal punishment in schools,
"No blacks or Irish" signs in B&B, mumps, measles, rubella and ****ing
Brexit.

War in Korea? Conscription?

Ah - the good ol' days. ;-) For those safely past retirement age.

--
*I don't believe in astrology. I am a Sagittarius and we're very skeptical.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 03/03/18 11:41, Tricky Dicky wrote:
Just coming back on topic, most posters have bemoaned the fact that Maplins was not what it used to be and generally dear. However, with the number of replies to the topic are we secretly sad to see it go?

Richard

I think I used it once, and it didnt have what I wanted even then.

It's a bit like M & S. I now buy underpants online.

Anyone have a good online place for quality plain T-shirtts?


--
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.

On 03/03/2018 13:31, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
dennis@home wrote:
Yes you could do that but most stuff is in preprinted bags and has the
same barcode.

Thanks for confirming you don't use (modern) self checkouts. The one I use
tells you what you have just scanned.

But does it tell you the weight?
Its the weight you are arguing about not the description!

On 03/03/2018 16:33, Tim Streater wrote:


I use Eneloops with these in a Roberts Radio.

Anyone know where I can buy C size Eneloops ?


Lidl have the equivalents in on Sunday IIRC, a bit pricey at £2.99 for
two 4500mAhr ones though.

dennis@home wrote:

Its the weight you are arguing about not the description!

I just came back from shopping, I avoided putting the empty carrier bag
on scales, scanned a six-pack of crisps, put it in carrier and put
carrier on the scales

"using your own bag Y/N?" popped up on the screen ...

On Saturday, 3 March 2018 11:58:42 UTC, Max Demian wrote:
On 03/03/2018 11:41, Tricky Dicky wrote:

Just coming back on topic, most posters have bemoaned the fact that Maplins was not what it used to be and generally dear. However, with the number of replies to the topic are we secretly sad to see it go?

Should I buy one of these in case I need it in futu
https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/c-battery...r-4-pack-l64aq
(I haven't seen one elsewhere; I don't even know what it would be called.)

poundland. I put AAs in old clocks designed for Cs, no convertor needed if they're not moved much.

Where else can I make a "distress purchase" for a single pot or
capacitor &c.?

if you're really stuck a repair place might - but often not.

Where else can I buy cable by the metre?

wilkinsons

Where else can I buy LED strips in 10cm increments?

I've seen LED strip, maybe wilkinsons, even at their inflated price I expect it was cheaper to buy than 4" of Maplin stuff.

I've used Maplin all of once, when we really needed a cable for an event. The price was outrageous, hence random online sellers have had the other 99% of the business.


NT

On 03/03/2018 11:43, The Other Mike wrote:
On Fri, 2 Mar 2018 10:14:30 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

Sendz by the sounds of it...

I recall a mate going in there for a NICAM decoder chip. He asks for it
at the counter, and the chap behind has a rummage through some boxes of
assorted complete PCBs, locates and de-solders said chip before handing
it to him! ;-)

Just wonder if that's the same place that had full page adverts on the back
cover or near the back of Television magazine

ISTR they advertised extensively in the electronics mags of the time, so
quite likely.

If so they might be the ones that used to sell brand new tv circuit boards for
about a fiver. It was at one point by far the cheapest way to buy the Mullard
SAA5050 character generator chip used in the BBC Micro.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
dennis@home wrote:
Yes you could do that but most stuff is in preprinted bags and has the
same barcode.

Thanks for confirming you don't use (modern) self checkouts. The one I
use tells you what you have just scanned.

But does it tell you the weight?
Its the weight you are arguing about not the description!

You've just said they all have the same barcode. So how does the till
identify it?

--
*Not all men are annoying. Some are dead.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 03/03/2018 23:49, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
dennis@home wrote:
Yes you could do that but most stuff is in preprinted bags and has the
same barcode.

Thanks for confirming you don't use (modern) self checkouts. The one I
use tells you what you have just scanned.

But does it tell you the weight?
Its the weight you are arguing about not the description!

You've just said they all have the same barcode. So how does the till
identify it?


Stop trolling!

On 03/03/2018 11:41, Tricky Dicky wrote:
Just coming back on topic, most posters have bemoaned the fact that Maplins was not what it used to be and generally dear. However, with the number of replies to the topic are we secretly sad to see it go?

Richard


The Doncaster Maplins branch recently turned half of it's car park into
a McDonalds.

Some of the staff at that Maplins were quite good. The rest can have a
new job at the other side of the car park.

I do feel sorry for the staff that knew they stuff.

--
Adam

On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 10:14:27 -0000
"NY" wrote:

Well I've learned something.

That people on the internet spout ********.

Ever since the system was introduced,
I've thought that the system knew the weight of every item and
checked that the scales increased by that weight after it had been
scanned and was placed in the bagging area.

That is indeed how they work, at least in the supermarkets I frequent.
When the peanut butter I used to buy switched from glass to plastic
jars the system still expected the heavier item, and raised an error
every time I scanned one for months after the change.

In article ,
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:
In article ,
Nick Odell writes:
I was living in Leigh on Sea when that shop opened. There was a sort of
magic: we'd never had a shop quite like that before and what's more, it
wasn't in London, it was in our neighbourhood. Unfortunately, several of
the local second-hand radio junk shops in Westcliff closed shortly
after. The business actually started in a private house around the
corner from my in-laws in Rayleigh.

I remember sending off orders by post to Rayleigh (getting my Dad
to write a cheque to go with it), and eagerly waiting for a week to
get the goodies. They came with an order form and an envelope to
send off your next order in, with a dot-matrix printed sticky label
with your named and address and customer number stuck to the top.

The sad thing is I still remember my customer number, but last used
it 20-25 years ago. When I used to quote it in the shops some years
later, they always assumed I'd got it wrong as it had far fewer digits
in it than they expected, but it worked when they put it in the
computer.

I think all the Maplin stores I visited in recent years have now closed.
Guildford was the first I knew closed, when their stock
suddenly boosted the shelves of my local Maplin.
Farnborough and Bracknell closed a couple of weeks ago.
Reading last week.
Noticed Luton is closed.
I meant to check the Canary Wharf one when I was at
a client's office on Monday, but I forgot.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 20/06/2018 21:20, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:
In article ,
Nick Odell writes:
I was living in Leigh on Sea when that shop opened. There was a sort of
magic: we'd never had a shop quite like that before and what's more, it
wasn't in London, it was in our neighbourhood. Unfortunately, several of
the local second-hand radio junk shops in Westcliff closed shortly
after. The business actually started in a private house around the
corner from my in-laws in Rayleigh.

I remember sending off orders by post to Rayleigh (getting my Dad
to write a cheque to go with it), and eagerly waiting for a week to
get the goodies. They came with an order form and an envelope to
send off your next order in, with a dot-matrix printed sticky label
with your named and address and customer number stuck to the top.

The sad thing is I still remember my customer number, but last used
it 20-25 years ago. When I used to quote it in the shops some years
later, they always assumed I'd got it wrong as it had far fewer digits
in it than they expected, but it worked when they put it in the
computer.

I think all the Maplin stores I visited in recent years have now closed.
Guildford was the first I knew closed, when their stock
suddenly boosted the shelves of my local Maplin.
Farnborough and Bracknell closed a couple of weeks ago.
Reading last week.
Noticed Luton is closed.
I meant to check the Canary Wharf one when I was at
a client's office on Monday, but I forgot.

A friend of mine had a part time job in the lakeside store. He said
recently the warehouse people were basically sending out any crap they
could to branches to get shot of it. But say they happened to have 5000
scart leads, rather than send some to each shop, they would just send
the entire stock to one shop to shift! He said they were deluged with
bulk consignments of the kind of thing they might usually expect to sell
a few a month of.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

With hindsight, which as we all know is a wonderful thing, it was a real
mistake to go high street retail to such an extent, as in the old days when
they were just a single warehouse converting to on line would have been
relatively cheap. The lack of foot fall on the highstreet and the rise of
the cheap Chinese internet sources, when you consider the rates for a high
street shop these days made the whole thing untenable unless you could
increase your turnover and profit.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 20/06/2018 21:20, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:
In article ,
Nick Odell writes:
I was living in Leigh on Sea when that shop opened. There was a sort of
magic: we'd never had a shop quite like that before and what's more, it
wasn't in London, it was in our neighbourhood. Unfortunately, several
of
the local second-hand radio junk shops in Westcliff closed shortly
after. The business actually started in a private house around the
corner from my in-laws in Rayleigh.

I remember sending off orders by post to Rayleigh (getting my Dad
to write a cheque to go with it), and eagerly waiting for a week to
get the goodies. They came with an order form and an envelope to
send off your next order in, with a dot-matrix printed sticky label
with your named and address and customer number stuck to the top.

The sad thing is I still remember my customer number, but last used
it 20-25 years ago. When I used to quote it in the shops some years
later, they always assumed I'd got it wrong as it had far fewer digits
in it than they expected, but it worked when they put it in the
computer.

I think all the Maplin stores I visited in recent years have now closed.
Guildford was the first I knew closed, when their stock
suddenly boosted the shelves of my local Maplin.
Farnborough and Bracknell closed a couple of weeks ago.
Reading last week.
Noticed Luton is closed.
I meant to check the Canary Wharf one when I was at
a client's office on Monday, but I forgot.

A friend of mine had a part time job in the lakeside store. He said
recently the warehouse people were basically sending out any crap they
could to branches to get shot of it. But say they happened to have 5000
scart leads, rather than send some to each shop, they would just send the
entire stock to one shop to shift! He said they were deluged with bulk
consignments of the kind of thing they might usually expect to sell a few
a month of.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 21/06/2018 09:33, Huge wrote:


After all, why bust a gut when you're about to lose your job anyway?


I see that Dixons/PCWorld/Carphone has had a substantial drop in
profits. Having seen first hand the staff's frustration with the point
of sales software and their procedures when dealing with customers I'm
not surprised.

I also suspect that Argos will be in trouble if they cannot sort out
their stock control software and be able to tell customers where and
when a missing ordered item can be obtained.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Thursday, 21 June 2018 10:02:19 UTC+1, alan_m wrote:
On 21/06/2018 09:33, Huge wrote:


After all, why bust a gut when you're about to lose your job anyway?


I see that Dixons/PCWorld/Carphone has had a substantial drop in
profits. Having seen first hand the staff's frustration with the point
of sales software and their procedures when dealing with customers I'm
not surprised.

I also suspect that Argos will be in trouble if they cannot sort out
their stock control software and be able to tell customers where and
when a missing ordered item can be obtained.

they also won't get something from another store that has sold out locally.


NT

down the drain just like maplin airport home of London's third airport...

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

I think all the Maplin stores I visited in recent years have now closed.

Leicester one has. You'd think the administrators could have kept the
website running, if just to show which shops (if any) are still open?

(Andrew Gabriel) writes:

In article ,
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:

adding closure dates, so snipped older reminiscing

I think all the Maplin stores I visited in recent years
have now closed.
Guildford was the first I knew closed, when their stock
suddenly boosted the shelves of my local Maplin.
Farnborough and Bracknell closed a couple of weeks ago.
Reading last week.
Noticed Luton is closed.
I meant to check the Canary Wharf one when I was at
a client's office on Monday, but I forgot.

I was in a Maplin store in Cambridge on Friday 15th June, which
was its penultimate day. (This was in a retail park, but still in
town. The true high-street shop in the town centre closed about
two weeks earlier, as did one in Bedford.)

I had a short chat with somebody from the administration team,
who said that it would be the last store to close, on the 16th.
Any advance on that?

-

When not chatting, he was telling the regular shop staff how to
package lucky dip bags. At that stage, his advice seemed to be to
put an entire bay of stock into a bin bag - 50 phono-phono leads,
anyone?

I missed the last day, but saw the skip - no obvious stock, just
office and kitchen stuff, and some display banners. Oh, and half
a dozen bottles empty of bubble and smoke fluid. I hope they had
a good closing party.

--
David

On 21/06/2018 16:02, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
down the drain just like maplin airport home of London's third airport...



That was a non-starter from day one. If not cancelled they would still
be digging up un-exploded ordinance today.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 21/06/2018 10:02, alan_m wrote:
I also suspect that Argos will be in trouble if they cannot sort out
their stock control software and be able to tell customers where and
when a missing ordered item can be obtained.

I think they're in trouble anyway. Why go to a shop and look in a paper
catalogue when you can look online and have it delivered?

Andy

In article ,
David Williams writes:
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:

In article ,
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:

adding closure dates, so snipped older reminiscing

I think all the Maplin stores I visited in recent years
have now closed.
Guildford was the first I knew closed, when their stock
suddenly boosted the shelves of my local Maplin.
Farnborough and Bracknell closed a couple of weeks ago.
Reading last week.
Noticed Luton is closed.
I meant to check the Canary Wharf one when I was at
a client's office on Monday, but I forgot.

I was in a Maplin store in Cambridge on Friday 15th June, which
was its penultimate day. (This was in a retail park, but still in
town. The true high-street shop in the town centre closed about
two weeks earlier, as did one in Bedford.)

I had a short chat with somebody from the administration team,
who said that it would be the last store to close, on the 16th.
Any advance on that?

Reading one was 16th too - I don't know any open after that.

When not chatting, he was telling the regular shop staff how to
package lucky dip bags. At that stage, his advice seemed to be to
put an entire bay of stock into a bin bag - 50 phono-phono leads,
anyone?

Yes that was stupid - all the stores did that. Who the hell wants
to buy a bag of 200 8.2 ohm resistors.

I missed the last day, but saw the skip - no obvious stock, just
office and kitchen stuff, and some display banners. Oh, and half
a dozen bottles empty of bubble and smoke fluid. I hope they had
a good closing party.

Farnborough one had bags of mixed cable reels for £1 each
on the last day.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Thu, 21 Jun 2018 23:06:42 +0100, Vir Campestris wrote:

On 21/06/2018 10:02, alan_m wrote:
I also suspect that Argos will be in trouble if they cannot sort out
their stock control software and be able to tell customers where and
when a missing ordered item can be obtained.

I think they're in trouble anyway. Why go to a shop and look in a paper
catalogue when you can look online and have it delivered?

I get quite a lot of stuff from Argos. Usually stuff I need in a hurry -
order and have it delivered the same day.

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 21/06/2018 23:06, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 21/06/2018 10:02, alan_m wrote:
I also suspect that Argos will be in trouble if they cannot sort out
their stock control software and be able to tell customers where and
when a missing ordered item can be obtained.

I think they're in trouble anyway. Why go to a shop and look in a paper
catalogue when you can look online and have it delivered?

You can do that with Argos too. Same/next day delivery is £3.95
regardless of how many items in most cases. Or reserve online and pick
it up yourself if you don't want to wait. I expect they'll give up the
paper catalogue some time, though it's handy to browse.

--
Max Demian

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Yes that was stupid - all the stores did that. Who the hell wants
to buy a bag of 200 8.2 ohm resistors.

I buy resistors by the hundred. Rapid were selling the 0.6w metal oxide
type I like for about 1p each by the 100. Maplin at about the same time
were charging 35p each. One reason I stopped using them. ;-)

--
*Save the whale - I'll have it for my supper*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Yes that was stupid - all the stores did that. Who the hell wants
to buy a bag of 200 8.2 ohm resistors.

I buy resistors by the hundred.

So do I, but 8.2 ohms is not a value I use much. I appear to
have used one in the last ~45 years, given I have 9 in stock.

Rapid were selling the 0.6w metal oxide

These came from Rapid, ~45 years ago - an E12 set of 10 each
value which primed my stock of resistors, instead of rummaging
around my dad's biscuit tin with random resistors from valve
amps. I still have a few values where I still have the original
Rapid ones, but mostly not.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Yes that was stupid - all the stores did that. Who the hell wants
to buy a bag of 200 8.2 ohm resistors.

I buy resistors by the hundred. Rapid were selling the 0.6w metal oxide
type I like for about 1p each by the 100. Maplin at about the same time
were charging 35p each. One reason I stopped using them. ;-)

We buy 5000 resistors for £3 a time. They are surface mount and come on
reels, but it's always worth going out of your way to get a bargain ;-)

Theo

On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:33:08 +0000, Jethro_uk wrote:

Argos *are* in trouble. Unless I am misinformed the "savings" on the
tie-
up/merger with Sainsburys are coming in part from a "harmonisation" of
their stock and logistic systems. And you can bet it will mean dumping
the working Argos one, and overwhelming the could-it-get-any-worse
Sainsburys one.

What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look
an awful lot like a recession. When the arch globalist Mike Carney said
the BoE was expecting to raise rates again in August, I have to conclude
the man is a fool or a liar (and I don't believe he's a fool).



--
This message may be freely reproduced without limit or charge only via
the Usenet protocol. Reproduction in whole or part through other
protocols, whether for profit or not, is conditional upon a charge of
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protocols constitutes acceptance of this condition.

On Friday, June 22, 2018 at 2:34:31 PM UTC+1, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Yes that was stupid - all the stores did that. Who the hell wants
to buy a bag of 200 8.2 ohm resistors.

I buy resistors by the hundred.

So do I, but 8.2 ohms is not a value I use much. I appear to
have used one in the last ~45 years, given I have 9 in stock.

Rapid were selling the 0.6w metal oxide

These came from Rapid, ~45 years ago - an E12 set of 10 each
value which primed my stock of resistors, instead of rummaging
around my dad's biscuit tin with random resistors from valve
amps. I still have a few values where I still have the original
Rapid ones, but mostly not.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Same here! Except in my case it was more like 35 years ago...

J^n

On 22/06/2018 21:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:


What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look
an awful lot like a recession.

Or so many businesses getting too out of touch with what the customer
wants.

People still buy food, cloths, white goods etc. but many do not still
use the shops they may have done 10 years ago.

Today, I've sat in front of my computer and ordered goods on-line from 6
different retailers.



--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

"Cursitor Doom" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:33:08 +0000, Jethro_uk wrote:

Argos *are* in trouble. Unless I am misinformed the "savings" on the
tie-
up/merger with Sainsburys are coming in part from a "harmonisation" of
their stock and logistic systems. And you can bet it will mean dumping
the working Argos one, and overwhelming the could-it-get-any-worse
Sainsburys one.

What with one store or another going to the wall
it's beginning to look an awful lot like a recession.

Then you need new glasses, bad.

Whets actually happening is that amazon
and ebay and aliexpress are ****ing over
high street physical stores with stuff like that.

When the arch globalist Mike Carney said the BoE was
expecting to raise rates again in August, I have to conclude
the man is a fool or a liar (and I don't believe he's a fool).

Thanks for that completely superfluous proof that you have
never ever had a ****ing clue about anything at all, ever.

"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 22/06/2018 21:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:


What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look
an awful lot like a recession.

Or so many businesses getting too out of touch with what the customer
wants.

People still buy food, cloths, white goods etc. but many do not still use
the shops they may have done 10 years ago.

Today, I've sat in front of my computer and ordered goods on-line from 6
different retailers.

And I hardly ever by other than food in a physical store anymore
unless I must have it or would prefer to have it in a few minutes
instead of a few days or weeks in the case of aliexpress.

On 22/06/18 21:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:33:08 +0000, Jethro_uk wrote:

Argos *are* in trouble. Unless I am misinformed the "savings" on the
tie-
up/merger with Sainsburys are coming in part from a "harmonisation" of
their stock and logistic systems. And you can bet it will mean dumping
the working Argos one, and overwhelming the could-it-get-any-worse
Sainsburys one.

What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look
an awful lot like a recession. When the arch globalist Mike Carney said
the BoE was expecting to raise rates again in August, I have to conclude
the man is a fool or a liar (and I don't believe he's a fool).


Its not a recession, its just that Internet/Mail order continues to
replace the high street as the place to buy stuff - especially stuiff
that doesn't need 'touch and feel'.

Its a revolution in shopping habits. Going 'into town' is now about
cafes, and bookshops and the odd clothing store. Specialist places are
now in industrial estates and the rest have just closed down.




--
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign,
that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

Jonathan Swift.

On 22/06/18 22:16, alan_m wrote:
On 22/06/2018 21:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:


What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look
an awful lot like a recession.

Or so many businesses getting too out of touch with what the customer
wants.

People still buy food, cloths, white goods etc. but many do not still
use the shops they may have done 10 years ago.

Today, I've sat in front of my computer and ordered goods on-line from 6
different retailers.

Exactly. I built up my Nikon camera kit from secondhand camera stores.
Since then I went digital with a body bought on ebay and lenses bought
online from amazon.

Only thiunjgs I buy in town are medicines from Boots, food from waitrose
and the local butchers and the other day some jeans from M & S, *after
trying them on*

Building materials and tools are on the industrial estates.

I never buy electronics from stores - always online.





--
"Women actually are capable of being far more than the feminists will
let them."

On 23/06/2018 06:38, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 22/06/18 22:16, alan_m wrote:


Only thiunjgs I buy in town are medicines from Boots,

How can they survive with so many high street stores in the same town
and often situated next to a "cut price drug store" selling
non-prescription items much cheaper? In my town one time there were two
Boots chemists and a Boots Optician within a couple of minutes walking
distance. I believe that the Optician side of the business merged/took
over another business which also created duplicate high street stores -
not a good idea in these times.

I recently had a letter from Boots for a free eye test and £50 glasses.
When checking on the web the £50 offer was limited to a couple of frames
that wouldn't really suit me and ALL the other glasses styles listed
were very high priced. If the web prices are indicative of what is in
the stores it's a service I will not use.

food from waitrose

Waitrose are finding out that some of their sales are going to Aldi/Lidl.

and the local butchers

If you still have one then keep using it. If you still have a local
butcher they must be doing something right as most have closed unable to
compete with supermarkets.

and the other day some jeans from M & S, *after
trying them on*

I don't think I've been into a M&S for the past 10 years. I always use a
physical store to buy trousers because, like you, I like to try them on.
Some of the retailers that supply clothes on-line have very high
overhead costs because of high returns. People will often order the same
thing in different sizes to try on at home and return the items that
don't fit.

IMO, M&S is one of those retailers which are close to failure. Too many
shops in high streets where their neighbours are just pound and charity
shops. No real reason to pay town centre parking charges just to go to
their store. In my town the M&S is a near niegbour to the still boarded
up BHS.


Building materials and tools are on the industrial estates.

Toolstatan and Screwfix are next door to one another less than 5 minutes
drive from my house. B&Q and Homebase are closer and the former may be
used for a distress purchase of, say, a bag of sand to save driving 20
minutes to get it cheaper. I will want to always inspect wood before
purchase as there is so much c**p quality out there.


I never buy electronics from stores - always online.

In general yes. I did buy a laptop from PC World - only because I had a
voucher as part of a long service at work award. It was either voucher
for PC World or a voucher for other "high street" retailers I don't
normally use because their prices are high to start with.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

alan_m wrote:

Some of the retailers that supply clothes on-line have very high
overhead costs because of high returns. People will often order the same
thing in different sizes to try on at home and return the items that
don't fit.

Didn't people do the same with Grattan's/Kay's catalogues 40 years ago?

On Sat, 23 Jun 2018 13:24:58 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:

"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 22/06/2018 21:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:


What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to look
an awful lot like a recession.

Or so many businesses getting too out of touch with what the customer
wants.

People still buy food, cloths, white goods etc. but many do not still use
the shops they may have done 10 years ago.

Today, I've sat in front of my computer and ordered goods on-line from 6
different retailers.

And I hardly ever by other than food in a physical store anymore
unless I must have it or would prefer to have it in a few minutes
instead of a few days or weeks in the case of aliexpress.

Can you even PHYSICALLY leave the house, you endlessly prattling,
self-opinionated, senile cretin? You are like pushing 86, right?

--
Sqwertz to Rot Speed:
"This is just a hunch, but I'm betting you're kinda an argumentative
asshole.
MID:

On Sat, 23 Jun 2018 13:18:39 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:


When the arch globalist Mike Carney said the BoE was
expecting to raise rates again in August, I have to conclude
the man is a fool or a liar (and I don't believe he's a fool).

Thanks for that completely superfluous proof that you have
never ever had a ****ing clue about anything at all, ever.

Sounds like the nurse needs to change your diapers again, you irascible
incontinent senile oaf! LOL

--
Cursitor Doom about Rot Speed:
"The man is a conspicuous and unashamed ignoramus."
MID: