Many many businesses DEAD

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Foyles have only recently opened a branch here. I MUCH prefer it to our Waterstones, although partly that's due to location.

I'm not that impressed by Dwell. It's just shitty overpriced glittery ornaments and nasty vases in the window whenever I walk past.
 
And regarding Habitat, I feel quite :(, although I don't think I've EVER bought anything in there other than household bits and bobs like cutlery, crockery or frames. I agree entirely that it was a nice place to go and point at brightly coloured candles, though.
 
I used to get my WINE GLASSES in Habitat

They were the only ones HEAVY DUTY enough :shy:
 
Poor Habitat. It's where I was going to furnish my future home once I earn enough money to BYPASS IKEA.
 
That's what EVERYONE says. It's just that they very rarely ACTUALLY DO :D

The thing about their furniture is that it bizarrely works when a whole property is IKEAfied. The hostel I was staying in last week was all IKEA and it actually looked almost GOOD.


You never do earn THAT MUCH MONEY alas :(

Where's KATE?
 
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Moben can't be included in the thread title if they're more than partly dead (ie: ENTIRELY DEAD.)
 
Moben can't be included in the thread title if they're more than partly dead (ie: ENTIRELY DEAD.)
They've called in the administrators, exactly the same as Habitat and Jane Norman

If anything, the only partly dead one is Thorntons, as it's not actually dead at all, just downsizing
 
So it's really "Habitat, Jane Norman and Moben ENTIRELY DEAD (Thorntons on CRASH DIET)"
 
Moben is rising from the ashes. All of that Moben, Dolphin lot have been pre-packed into a new operation and sold to management. Bang go the debts, on goes the business (yes, it does stink a bit).

No business is entirely dead whilst in administration, as the aim of the administrator is at least partly to secure the business continues in some form, unless a decision is made to put it into liquidation. God, i'm really sad, aren't I?
 
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It's only about 20% of Thorntons shops going, isn't it? And when you consider they have three shops all within a 5 minute walk of each other in the main shopping centre here, I'm surprised it's not more.

It's difficult to see where they fit in these days, anyway. I mean they can hardly place themselves as a 'luxury' brand any more against chains like Hotel Chocolat and the independent chocolate shops, but they charge significantly more than Cadbury or Mars, so where does that leave them? I also think the idea to sell them via supermarkets has confused consumers as well. I know my mother used to buy them as gifts for people, but has said now that it doesn't feel so special (I'd question if it ever did, but that's me for you) any more when you can just bung them into your trolley in Tesco.
 
No business is entirely dead whilst in administration, as the aim of the administrator is at least partly to secure the business continues in some form, unless a decision is made to put it into liquidation. God, i'm really sad, aren't I?

Well yes, but the majority of companies that have gone into administration over the last few years have ended up dead soon afterwards. Not many people want to buy a failing business in tough economic times.

Those that do continue (and there are few) either go bust again soon (ZAVVI) or be completely irrelevant (woolworths)

Either way, administration is the death knell.
 
I'd love to see a pre-pack administration to go hilariously wrong.
 
Habitat is the one that surprises me most really. It occupied a niche between Heal's (really much more expensive than most people will have the cash for) and IKEA and I'd have thought it would have been able to adapt and survive. Having said that, I haven't bought anything there for YEARS and it used to be my premier fallback for wedding presents for people you don't like all that much.

I thought Habitat was actually owned by Ikea. I specifically went to Habitat to buy some bedding when I was back in the UK, because the last lot I bought was LOVELY and is still going strong years and years later.

POOR HABITAT.
 
Oh it is owned by Ikea. Well, sort of.

And three stores are remaining and the website and maybe the European stores. So not completely gone then.
 
One of my mates works/worked for Jane Norman, fortunately she's recently qualified as a teacher and takes up that post in a few weeks, so it's not as bad as it could be. However, she isn't going to be paid for the work she has done since her last pay day - I understand that a company going into administration means that they're SKINT, but to not pay your employees for keeping your business operating really irks me... presumably the rich people at the helm of the company remain rich and only lose face, and the ten-a-penny grafters are out of pocket.

Admittedly, I don't know a great deal about how these things work, but surely legally there must be an obligation to pay an employee for the work they've done, even in this situation. Cunts.
 
I've already bought the petrol needed to firebomb every Jane Norman shop I see.

Meanwhile I'll busy myself buying overpriced, tasteful trinkets from stores you only get in the south.
 
Admittedly, I don't know a great deal about how these things work, but surely legally there must be an obligation to pay an employee for the work they've done, even in this situation. Cunts.

If the place was closing down and they weren't bothering to pay me, I simply wouldn't COME IN. Why work for nothing? She's not a volunteer...
 
Well, the first she knew was when the store didn't open on the weekend. She's not a spastic.

Edit: The work she did was in the good faith that she would be paid, she wasn't informed that this was imminent.
 
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Ugh, I didn't think that was allowed! She should go in and help herself to a few piles of clothes and flog them on Ebay.
 
Edit: The work she did was in the good faith that she would be paid, she wasn't informed that this was imminent.

Ah right, I read it wrongly. I thought you meant that the stores were still opening for closing down sales and that your friend was working despite almost certainly not being paid.

I agree with KATE.
 
Ugh, I didn't think that was allowed! She should go in and help herself to a few piles of clothes and flog them on Ebay.

My friend did exactly that when the record label she worked for went into administration. The director fucked off abroad leaving the general manager to tell the staff they were out of a job and not getting paid for the month they had just worked, so she marched into the director's office, took two pieces of artwork from his walls and sold them.
 
No, as I say, she had no clue.

Surely she must have a legal leg to stand on, somewhere? Where is our resident lawyer? Kratz?
 
My friend did exactly that when the record label she worked for went into administration. The director fucked off abroad leaving the general manager to tell the staff they were out of a job and not getting paid for the month they had just worked, so she marched into the director's office, took two pieces of artwork from his walls and sold them.

Fabulous! :disco:
 
I can understand Habitat the more I think about it. They've still got lovely small bits but their furniture really hasn't been very stylish for a long time. Places like BoConcept, Heals and Dwell do it much better.

I've always found Dwell to be very much an inferior Habitat. Sad times.
 
Dwell is nowhere near as good for small bits as Habitat, but the furniture is nicer IMO.
 
Jane Norman has been bought by Edinburgh Woollen Mill so is apparently carrying on as normal...
 
Well I personally am very much looking forward to Jane Norman being filled with cable knit boob tubes and fleece leggings :disco:
 
I see CarpetRight is shutting a load of stores too.

I fucking HATE carpet shops. They were only good as a kid to hide in the rug books and roll about on the rolls of lined up carpets.
 
Edinburgh Woollen Mill buying Jane Norman? Does this just mean it will continue AS PER just under new ownership, or will they be sort of MERGED product wise? Because they are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. I have no idea how this shit works

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