Many many businesses DEAD

[disneyteletubby]

Regarding businesses, and clothing stores, there seem to be lots of River Island and New Look stores closing in Jan 2026, so might go to one nearby (especially for discounted River Island )

 

[big ron]

Ours still has the GPO inside it...

And?

 

[lolly]

I don't understand who River Island's target demographic is at all.

 

[Inner Smile]

I don't understand who River Island's target demographic is at all.

Why complicate it? If it looks good you buy it

 

[Halli]

Trendy One Show viewers like crazychris

 

[Devil]

I’m far too old for it but I actually quite like River Island and the ‘slightly more fashionable than the rest of the high street’ clothes

 

[octophone]

I bought a pair of white jeans in River Island when I was 13. Literally everyone took the piss.

 

[lolly]

Why complicate it? If it looks good you buy it

I get that in terms of individual items, but in terms of what they stock as a whole, their branding etc, it doesn't make sense to me who they are aimed at. Other stores, even if not for me, I can usually get a feel for that. But not River Island.

 

[jyxz]

TIL that River Island used to be Chelsea Girl and that the business was founded in 1948! Don’t recall Concept Man being a thing though.

 

[lolly]

Oh I remember Concept Man! They shared a store with Chelsea Girl here. I'm guessing they disappeared early 90s?

 

[octophone]

I *vaguely* remember Concept Man and Chelsea Girl - for some reason I think both had concessions in C&A.

 

[Ellie]

I was always fond of Bay Trading Company. A true 90s relic.

 

[lolly]

I was always fond of Bay Trading Company. A true 90s relic.

I vaguely recall them. They had a store in our new shopping centre when it opened in 92. The same shopping centre that had a Virgin, Our Price, Woolworths and a small indie record store in it, as well as branches of WHSmith and Boots that both had large music sections. I used to work a 5 minute walk away and I think I spent practically every lunch break traipsing around them all. All those record shops within a few hundred metres of each other. And that's before you consider HMV, another branch of Our Price and a small local chain that were just outside of it.

In that same area we have just HMV and Rough Trade now. Still, I guess that's better than some places.

 

[Sheena]

I don't understand River Island either. I get the same feeling I get going to Urban Outfitters- walk in, get horrified at old I am and walk out. It realise it's aimed a LOT younger than me, but doesn't feel trendy enough (in its reputation at least) to actually attract that audience, whereas UO seems to be a bit better on that scale. River Island just generally reminds me of 90s shopping centres.

 

[Sheena]

I vaguely recall them. They had a store in our new shopping centre when it opened in 92. The same shopping centre that had a Virgin, Our Price, Woolworths and a small indie record store in it, as well as branches of WHSmith and Boots that both had large music sections. I used to work a 5 minute walk away and I think I spent practically every lunch break traipsing around them all. All those record shops within a few hundred metres of each other. And that's before you consider HMV, another branch of Our Price and a small local chain that were just outside of it.

In that same area we have just HMV and Rough Trade now. Still, I guess that's better than some places.

I still get annoyed with HMV. We have one in town again now and on the rare occasion I steel myself to go in, I walk out again very quickly. I realise they need to diversify to survive, but it's just REEMS and REEMS of SHIT ("AMAZON MYSTERY BOX!" etc.) at the front, with a limited selection of RIDICULOUSLY overpriced vinyl and their sales are actual con jobs. When they first came back, they were quite good, but who on earth is paying £25 for a single album in a "sale", with them claiming it was £50 at some point?

 

[Indie]

HMV still existing both baffles and delights me.

Not that I ever intend on stepping inside of one ever again.

 

[lolly]

Back in the late 90s/early 00s, it felt to me as if River Island was pretty much aimed at the same demographic as Next - and I was very squarely in it. It was just that Next leaned more smart/casual/office wear, and River Island more clothes you'd wear out.

It feels like Next has largely aged with me, but River Island hasn't. I doubt that Next is aiming for the mid 50s+ male, but I know that's where a lot of them shop.

I've been shopping enough with my teenage nieces to know that they aren't interested in the slightest in River Island though. Still, there's a whole demographic and a big market between them and me - which a lot of moopy probably sits in.

 

[Sheena]

Next really has aged with us. It feels like "smart man who no longer is trendy". I refuse to shop there for that reason. Well, when I actually bought new rather than second hand, that is.

 

[PercyPig]

It's not failing but it's a shame the M&S store merchandising hasn't improved along with their menswear itself. I'd much rather browse it online than in store, it just looks better than the almost jumble sale in store. Or even like a proper Autograph store within a store.

 

[Sheena]

Isn't M&S just kept afloat by its food, though? I seem to recall that somewhere...

 

[lolly]

Isn't M&S just kept afloat by its food, though? I seem to recall that somewhere...

I thought I'd read they had been doing a lot better recently and this was no longer the case.

Either way, we've been without a central M&S store for about 2 or 3 years, but a new one is finally opening here in a few weeks and I'm disproportionately excited. Admittedly because I can pop into the food hall on the way home from work rather than for the exciting fashions, but even so.

And I am quite fond of their loungewear...

 

[PercyPig]

Isn't M&S just kept afloat by its food, though? I seem to recall that somewhere...

I think that used to be the case but now it does well across the board (before they got hacked anyway )

 

[lolly]

Oh that reminds me - I had an online order cancelled because of the hack and they sent me a £10 evoucher a few weeks later to apologise and I haven't spent it. That'll be a bottle of wine when the new store opens next month.

 

[Ellie]

M&S and Next are now my go-to for most things. They likely survive on getting the rights to stock and distribute smaller mid-price higher end brands.

My current favourite brands for casual clothes are Joe Browns and Seasalt Cornwall, but they have no actual stores of their own in London, and ordering online for a Click & Collect in M&S or Next is super convenient.

 

[lolly]

Seasalt don't have stores in London? You see them in small towns around the southwest, so I kind of assumed they were national now.

 

[Ellie]

Seasalt don't have stores in London? You see them in small towns around the southwest, so I kind of assumed they were national now.

No, they have some in Kent and one in Guildford, but nothing in London.

 

[rhythmbandit]

I work for Marks and Spencer and food sales are doing exceptionally well. Clothing is up and down. We used to have sales once or twice a year but we're about to have a fifth soon before Christmas. Operationally, we're still recovering from the "cyber incident".

As a thank you for all our hard work, the business is making us work boxing day to reset the stores back for post-Christmas, none of the stores are open though.

 

[Shirley]

Seasalt don't have stores in London? You see them in small towns around the southwest, so I kind of assumed they were national now.

We've got one here but WHY I KNOW THAT I HAVE NO IDEA

 

[lolly]

No, they have some in Kent and one in Guildford, but nothing in London.

Thinking about it, when I said 'small towns', outside of Bristol, Bath and Exeter, it's pretty much all coastal towns.

 

[lolly]

We've got one here but WHY I KNOW THAT I HAVE NO IDEA

I assume you get enough international tourists who want AUTHENTIC CORNISH BEACHWEAR

 

[octophone]

Next are my go-to for their tall range. Dorothy Perkins were good for that too - possibly better - but Philip Green killed them when he decided he was rich enough and blamed the pandemic.

 

[Halli]

I went to a big M&S clothing store a while back (in Shoreham again, its ALL there! ) and was quite impressed with the range, it felt like they had definitely made it somewhat more trendy, having said that, I have been partial to Sainsbury's own range....TU? I think if you shop around you can find decent 'trendy' yet age appropriate whatever that means to you in most of them!

 

[Indie]

Thinking about it, when I said 'small towns', outside of Bristol, Bath and Exeter, it's pretty much all coastal towns.

There's one OOP NORTH here too.

 

[lolly]

I went to a big M&S clothing store a while back (in Shoreham again, its ALL there! ) and was quite impressed with the range, it felt like they had definitely made it somewhat more trendy, having said that, I have been partial to Sainsbury's own range....TU? I think if you shop around you can find decent 'trendy' yet age appropriate whatever that means to you in most of them!

I've got a friend in Shoreham and I love it there. Before I visited the first time when she moved there, I imagined it would be just a Brighton commuter town with no identity of its own and precious little in the way of shops and amenities.

Of course it very much IS a Brighton commuter town, but it does have a real soul of its own and a place I could consider living in without needing to escape to Brighton for any kind of life.

 

[Halli]

I've got a friend in Shoreham and I love it there. Before I visited the first time when she moved there, I imagined it would be just a Brighton commuter town with no identity of its own and precious little in the way of shops and amenities.

Of course it very much IS a Brighton commuter town, but it does have a real soul of its own and a place I could consider living in without needing to escape to Brighton for any kind of life.

A great Dunelm too! The amount of flats going up though I feel its going to change in the next decade in terms of overspill from Brighton. The town is lovely though

 

[Finn]

I went to a big M&S clothing store a while back (in Shoreham again, its ALL there! ) and was quite impressed with the range, it felt like they had definitely made it somewhat more trendy

Oh bless you but no, you've simply got older

 

[lolly]

A great Dunelm too! The amount of flats going up though I feel its going to change in the next decade in terms of overspill from Brighton. The town is lovely though

Yes, quite likely. My friend lives right in the heart of the old town, so you get the feel for that part of it. But I've seen that a lot of the construction is going on around the outskirts where it will feel anonymous in that way that suburbia does feel pretty much everywhere.

 

[Shoat]

I browsed the M&S menswear only a couple of weeks ago, and the vibe is very much still SENSIBLE

There's not much that was explicitly ugly, but it was all very much following trends of 10 years ago.

 

[lolly]

I did like their knitwear last year. Haven't seen it yet this year.

 

[Sheena]

Oh bless you but no, you've simply got older

As Victoria Wood said, "you know you’re getting old when you walk past a shop window displaying a pair of Scholl sandals and think to yourself, "Ooh, they look comfy".

It's the same thing.