Marks & Spencer Group Live Discussion

Gamesinvestor1 11 Sep 2018

Shopping, a thing of the past? “”"The sector is under mounting pressure from a combination of subdued consumer spending, intense price competition both online and offline, and high taxes, such as business rates. The CRR predicts that 10,000 stores will shut this year, of which half will be independents. In 2008, 5,793 stores were closed with the loss of 74,539 jobs. According to its research, more than 1,900 sites were closed over the first seven months of the year, with the loss of 21,355 jobs. CRR director Professor Joshua Bamfield warned that the pace of closures and job losses will accelerate, with the quarterly rent bills that are due in September expected to trigger a fresh wave of business failures. Bamfield said: “The first 100 days of this year saw more shops close and employees sacked than the whole of 2017. This year is shaping up to be the worst since 2008, with House of Fraser going into administration, We expect 10,000 stores to close by the end of the year and this will be a turning point for many retailers, the ones that survive. “Half of those closures will be independents, the number of failures will ramp up in the latter part of the year." On a dramatic Friday, House of Fraser became the biggest high street casualty since Woolworths when it collapsed into administration. However, within hours Sports Direct announced that it had bought the business for £90million. The sportswear and equipment retailer, which is controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley, has not set out its plans for House of Fraser, but it is believed that it will close its loss-making sites. Prior to its collapse, the 169-year-old department store chain had planned to close 31 out of its 59 stores, which would have resulted in 6,000 redundancies. House of Fraser employs 17,000. This week DIY giant Homebase is expected to add to the growing tally of store closures and redundancies, when it unveils plans to turnaround its business after a disastrous spell under Australian ownership. It is believed that Homebase’s owner Hilco, the turnaround group, will use an insolvency procedure called a company voluntary agreement to close around a quarter of its 249 stores. That would result in up to 2,000 of its 11,000 workforce losing their jobs. In May Australian group Wesfarmers sold Homebase for £1 to Hilco, just two years after buying it for £230million and in the process, locking in losses of more than £1billion. Games

Gamesinvestor1 26 Aug 2018

Existential I think Amazon has done a wondeful job of capturing customers, however, it’s quite often presenting products that are more expensive, so you are better to do a wider search. You have to pay for Prime and I guess you have to ask yourself, how often do I need next day delivery? Also on a wider level Amazon is slowly destroying the tax and employment base in the UK, which is needed to fund schools and hospitals. It’s too late now, because it’s so well established, but unless the government acts to tax at the point of sale, Amazon will continue to use clever accounting rules to switch profits outside of the UK.

Deepsleeves2 24 Aug 2018

Existential Despite not being a huge fan of M&S [Some products in food are great but I resent queuing to pay] I have just spent £86 on line for some bedding. Done online to avoid going to shop, inconvenient, and to find item/size “out of stock” in store Website was OK but had to “spend £50 for free delivery” and that will be in 3/4 days. Not exactly going to frighten Amazon Prime. where I earliered ordered 5 different items, expect them all within 24 hours Shop owners issue Deep

Dot_Waudby 23 Aug 2018

Existential Thanks for that games - Dot

Gamesinvestor1 20 Aug 2018

Existential Hi Dot, you can post a message without first entering your portfolio. If you click on the “Main Site Search” button next to the spyglass it will switch to another menu and you can then click on “Discussions” and from there you can insert the ticker symbol for the stock you want to comment on and read the topics on that company that others have already started. Or you can start your oen topic, by selecting “New Topic” Hope that helps – Games

Dot_Waudby 20 Aug 2018

Existential Can you tell me if someone has posted a message without having to go into my share portfolio which a waste of time? Thank you

Gamesinvestor1 11 Jul 2018

Existential The chairman of Marks & Spencer has given his starkest warning yet about existential threat faced by the high street giant as he refused to rule out further store closures and job losses. This business is on a burning platform,” said Archie Norman, who took over as M&S’s chairman last year. “We don’t have a God-given right to exist and unless we change and develop this company the way we want to, in decades to come there will be no M&S.” – Guardian

Dot_Waudby 10 Jul 2018

Clothes I use Aldies and Sainbury’s (for quality]. In the last month I have had to throw a lot of fruit and veg from Aldies so now I get them from Sainsbury’s. I have no problem with tills , but if I want to I can use the express check outs. I also like a coffee while doing my shopping. People sometimes need to use the toilet, no chance. Yes Aldies is cheaper but not if you have to throw stuff away. Had no trouble with deliveries from M&S 2 days, maybe I have been lucky.

Deepsleeves2 09 Jul 2018

Clothes Sadly for M&S it is not about the clothing but about the retail experience. Shoppimg for food in my local M&S means no issues with the food quality but a very poor checkout experience. Badly laid out and long queues for very poor checkouts. Compare this to Aldi or Tesco. Checkouts work and are manned to meet demand. Clothes shopping is so bad even my wife, a long time fan of M&S, has stopped bothering. Cramped/rammed floorspace that smells with 10 million bras on display. Bought 2 pairs of cargo type shorts on line. Buying online was painful. Although logged on as a registered account holder I had to log in again! [why] and click through various options. Delivery took 4 days and was free but only if I spent enough. This would have been ok 10 years ago but have they not heard of Amazon Prime? It may be and is unfair but it is the reality of UK retailing. I am attracted by the dividend but only just ducked Tesco, got out with no loss at £3.30 4 years ago, just wish I then bought FEVR!! Deep

Dot_Waudby 04 Jul 2018

Clothes Yes I agree, I sent for some teeshirts at the beginning of summer they were perfect, some long sleeves and some short, I spent enough for free postage. They were packed perfectly you will never get me knocking them.

Gooffy 03 Jun 2018

Clothes Had a visit and the clothing range has changed, some rather nice T shirts for six pounds, it takes time to turn things round but Archie's well on his way and look at Asda and ITV when he took over.Nice divi well covered as well.DYOR

gamesinvestor 02 Jun 2018

A Richer Sound.... could be happening around M&S :-[link]

Lupo di mare 02 Jun 2018

Re: Amazon? Any particular reason why, essential?

EssentialInvestor 27 May 2018

Amazon? It's by no means out of the question imv.Shorts holding their nerve?.

Alan Tittymarsh 26 May 2018

Good Bloomberg article Interesting article here from Bloomberg which puts some issues into perspective. Personally I can't really see M&S reviving its clothing business, and certainly not at the prices they continue to charge for mediocre quality gear. It also suggests the recent rally may be due to Amazon sniffing around. One way or another it does look like the shorters could get badly burned here and so far there's been no cold feet from them with shorts still near an all-time high, at 11.5%.[link]