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House of Fraser calls in administrators


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House of Fraser is appointing administrators after giving up the fight to save the business, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

In a statement, the department store chain said that talks with investors and creditors had "not concluded in a solvent solution".

However, all 59 shops are set to open as usual on Friday, including 31 that have already been marked for closure.

House of Fraser employs 17,500 people, including 11,500 concession staff.

 

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7 minutes ago, Hail the Tripod said:

Just blame Brexit.

Or Amazon and internet.

Never the shop for being crap.

Ive actually never been in a HoF.

 

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I don't think I've been in one either.

Clearing the town centres of the peddlers of tat is simple good news IMO; but then I can't stand shopping or people endlessly going on about buying things.

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2 minutes ago, spygirl said:

Or Amazon and internet.

Never the shop for being crap.

Ive actually never been in a HoF.

 

The few times I went in as a poor child they just used to look at you with contempt - it was always for "posh" people. Can't say I've set foot in the place for 20+ years, not likely to now either!

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Just now, eight said:

The few times I went in as a poor child they just used to look at you with contempt - it was always for "posh" people. Can't say I've set foot in the place for 20+ years, not likely to now either!

Binns in Darlo? 

They're shutting the M and S there too. 

It's just going to be pound lands and charity shops left

These towns could be made good. But they seem to be on a mission to destroy them

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longtomsilver
3 minutes ago, crashmonitor said:

I see Debenhams shares are up a couple of percent on the news. Not that thst is much consolation for shareholders the whole shooting match could be swapped for just one house in Eaton Square.

One less loss making competitor I suppose.

I'm trying to buy a few Debenhams shares with the £600 dividend I've just received from Dairy Crest however funds aren't showing as available just yet. If I was in the position of renegotiating their escalating rent clauses I'd put HoF in as an example to all landlords that retail isn't quite the cash cow they'd hoped for. I agree that HoF was reaching for the shrinking middle classes but Debenhams is different right, right?! It's a small punt and a token of solidarity for the high street. 

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2 minutes ago, One percent said:

Can’t even tell the truth on their website 

https://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/maintenance

i used them a few years ago to buy something as they were the cheapest. 

Half the order didn’t turn up, the other half looked like someone had been playing football with it. Returning it was a bloody nightmare. 

Maintenance is default switch off mode for that type of e-commerce site when you want to pull the plug.  Telling the truth  requires throwing the text across multiple systems and will take some time..

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27 minutes ago, Poseidon said:

Binns in Darlo? 

They're shutting the M and S there too. 

It's just going to be pound lands and charity shops left

These towns could be made good. But they seem to be on a mission to destroy them

HoF / Binns' problem is their brands / selections. I'm probably their prime male market (40+, dress smart casual, earn well over local wages) yet I look at the brands there and head back to John Lewis or Barkers / Lakeland / Fatface in Northallerton if I need things in a hurry.

The food part of M&S is moving to West Park next to the Aldi. Lidl (with Home Bargains and a Starbucks) are opening up in Faverdale where the SCA factory was...

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34 minutes ago, Frank Hovis said:

I don't think I've been in one either.

Clearing the town centres of the peddlers of tat is simple good news IMO; but then I can't stand shopping or people endlessly going on about buying things.

I reckon you must have been in one at some point, they took over loads of regional department stores but never really put their mark on them. I used to love hanging around in there on a cold winters day in my late teens, girls on the escalators, plenty of floors to get lost in, imagining what life could be like...

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M S E Refugee

I would imagine if Mike Ashley is successful in buying HoF then there will be yet more store closures as I can't see the need for him to have a Debenhams and a HoF in the same towns.

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44 minutes ago, spygirl said:

Or Amazon and internet.

Never the shop for being crap.

Ive actually never been in a HoF.

 

Walked through one many times, never purchased

Where I was it appeared to serve the clientele that thought they were better than those that shopped at Debenhams and liked to say at dinner parties "I got this at HoF', when, in fact, both stores sold the same crap but for a slightly different mark-up. Eventually i) discretionary money dried up, and ii) the realisation dawned. Now, those people i) don't buy as much stuff and ii) don't talk about where they bought their stuff.

 

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30 minutes ago, M S E Refugee said:

I don't think they are finished yet as it looks as if Mike Ashley will buy them.

Ashley is complicated.  

He certainly collects brands, and I could well imagine him buying HoF brand and rebranding half of his SD shops (and even opening more as HoF).  But I'm not sure he actually wants the actual shops.

Then again, he is a bit of a retail genius -- I think he knows how to make a shop that poor people want to spend their money in.  He's also, IMO, desperate to achieve some sort of status (more than just the chav shop guy), and if he turned either Debenhams or HoF into Harrods he'd probably get that status.  I just don't think it is possible.

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10 minutes ago, M S E Refugee said:

I would imagine if Mike Ashley is successful in buying HoF then there will be yet more store closures as I can't see the need for him to have a Debenhams and a HoF in the same towns.

I'd say he wants Debenhams, not HoF, but WTFDIK.

Eds:  I can't see why he'd want more than the brand.  He loves brands.  But that doesn't explain why he's built up such a large stake in Debenhams and HoF.  There's clearly more going on with him.

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2 minutes ago, dgul said:

I'd say he wants Debenhams, not HoF, but WTFDIK.

Eds:  I can't see why he'd want more than the brand.  He loves brands.  But that doesn't explain why he's built up such a large stake in Debenhams and HoF.  There's clearly more going on with him.

Well he's just bought HoF for £90m...

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7 minutes ago, dgul said:

Ashley is complicated.  cunt.

He certainly collects brands, and I could well imagine him buying HoF brand and rebranding half of his SD shops (and even opening more as HoF).  But I'm not sure he actually wants the actual shops.

Then again, he is a bit of a retail genius -- I think he knows how to make a shop that poor people want to spend their money in.  He's also, IMO, desperate to achieve some sort of status (more than just the chav shop guy), and if he turned either Debenhams or HoF into Harrods he'd probably get that status.  I just don't think it is possible.

Ashley relies on buying old brands cheap, making in Asia, stacking high.

Relied on strong pound, cheap Asian currencies and subbed UK labour.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40665459

ashley gambles.

On finding this link, the late news ticer came up with 'Ashley to buy HoF'.

He gameles. A lot. He assuming becasue he buys it cheaps it has value. It doesnt.

 

 

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M S E Refugee
1 minute ago, dgul said:

Ashley is complicated.  

He certainly collects brands, and I could well imagine him buying HoF brand and rebranding half of his SD shops (and even opening more as HoF).  But I'm not sure he actually wants the actual shops.

Then again, he is a bit of a retail genius -- I think he knows how to make a shop that poor people want to spend their money in.  He's also, IMO, desperate to achieve some sort of status (more than just the chav shop guy), and if he turned either Debenhams or HoF into Harrods he'd probably get that status.  I just don't think it is possible.

I really think it is a case that the market is saturated with department stores and he is looking to rationalise this sector by combining Debenhams and HoF.

For years in my hometown of Carlisle we had HoF which is pretty big and one other small family run department store which closed down a few years ago.

The Council encouraged Debenhams into the town a few years ago so now we have two large department stores in a City of around 80000 people,it's utter madness.

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2 minutes ago, eek said:

Well he's just bought HoF for £90m...

And how much is the brand?

Difficult to know what happens next with Ashley.  His past form is to take the core brand and rejig to cut costs massively, ending up with something that's only really a shell of what it was.  He can't so easily do that with HoF as he also owns the staff and their contracts (and redundancy pay).

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Roger_Mellie
44 minutes ago, One percent said:

Can’t even tell the truth on their website 

https://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/maintenance

i used them a few years ago to buy something as they were the cheapest. 

Half the order didn’t turn up, the other half looked like someone had been playing football with it. Returning it was a bloody nightmare. 

I use HoF online a lot, I'll be sorry to see it go. Free delivery over £50 and free return. I usually order £200-300 of clothes I like the look of, try it on at home and send most of it back. Never, ever had a problem.

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6 minutes ago, M S E Refugee said:

I really think it is a case that the market is saturated with department stores and he is looking to rationalise this sector by combining Debenhams and HoF.

For years in my hometown of Carlisle we had HoF which is pretty big and one other small family run department store which closed down a few years ago.

The Council encouraged Debenhams into the town a few years ago so now we have two large department stores in a City of around 80000 people,it's utter madness.

But that's not what the market needs.  It's saturated and it needs to not have Debenhams and not have HoF.  

I can only think that he's going to reinvent the department store.  Just as he reinvented the sports store.  Problem is, I simply can't imagine how he could possibly do it.

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2 minutes ago, dgul said:

But that's not what the market needs.  It's saturated and it needs to not have Debenhams and not have HoF.  

I can only think that he's going to reinvent the department store.  Just as he reinvented the sports store.  Problem is, I simply can't imagine how he could possibly do it.

If you look at the refurbished stores - the ground floor perfume area is now all experience based with make-up sessions, nail bars.....

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3 minutes ago, Roger_Mellie said:

I use HoF online a lot, I'll be sorry to see it go. Free delivery over £50 and free return. I usually order £200-300 of clothes I like the look of, try it on at home and send most of it back. Never, ever had a problem.

I’ve only used them the once so it may have been one off. Mind I also find online from marks and Spencer to be a complete disaster every time I use it too. 

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M S E Refugee
1 minute ago, dgul said:

But that's not what the market needs.  It's saturated and it needs to not have Debenhams and not have HoF.  

I can only think that he's going to reinvent the department store.  Just as he reinvented the sports store.  Problem is, I simply can't imagine how he could possibly do it.

I think there is a place for department stores there are just far too many.

My wife is an area manager for a concession that deals with Debenhams and House of Fraser and in quite a few Cities her company has a concession in each store when they only really need one.

Many large Cities can have a Debenhams,a couple of HoFs and a John Lewis,it's too many.

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