What's going to collapse next...

[dgul]

19 minutes ago, Underwhelmed said:

one opened up near me or very similar brand on holloway rd north london, at first bit skeptical about the biz model but it seems busy so may well work

It is a complicated space.  You'd think it would be sensitive to the economic cycle, but often it is poor geeks spending a little cash on 'nice things' (eg, Games Workshop), rather than lots of cash on 'nice things' (travel agents). 

All that said, though, I think we've got a nasty recession coming and I'd guess that this sort of shop will be decimated (double whammy of no-one with spending money and  inflation of prices of crap from China).

I've no idea what'll do well in the coming years, but IMO it isn't going to be easy.

[I'd guess anything to do with 'getting people to behave' and general security products.]

[Well, and all the eco-economy stuff -- but that'll all be the big players -- there won't be so much space for little guys]

[wherebee]

42 minutes ago, dgul said:

It is a complicated space.  You'd think it would be sensitive to the economic cycle, but often it is poor geeks spending a little cash on 'nice things' (eg, Games Workshop), rather than lots of cash on 'nice things' (travel agents). 

All that said, though, I think we've got a nasty recession coming and I'd guess that this sort of shop will be decimated (double whammy of no-one with spending money and  inflation of prices of crap from China).

I've no idea what'll do well in the coming years, but IMO it isn't going to be easy.

[I'd guess anything to do with 'getting people to behave' and general security products.]

[Well, and all the eco-economy stuff -- but that'll all be the big players -- there won't be so much space for little guys]

GW made a decision not to use China for manufacturing a while ago due to risk of IP loss, I read a few months ago.  I was looking at them as their share price has gone astronomical.  it's a very british success story with geeky hippies making a very specialised item and selling it worldwide.  way too overpriced now, I think, but to give them credit they do seem to actually employ people in the UK to make things, unlike so many financial whizzy structures.

[dgul]

6 minutes ago, wherebee said:

GW made a decision not to use China for manufacturing a while ago due to risk of IP loss, I read a few months ago.  I was looking at them as their share price has gone astronomical.  it's a very british success story with geeky hippies making a very specialised item and selling it worldwide.  way too overpriced now, I think, but to give them credit they do seem to actually employ people in the UK to make things, unlike so many financial whizzy structures.

The GW story is all about added value.  You've got to admire their business model (ie, it doesn't make sense except it actually does in hindsight).

'Geek Retreat' is all about selling crap.

 

[leonardratso]

rubbery.

daylight rubbery.

[reformed nice guy]

53 minutes ago, dgul said:

The GW story is all about added value.  You've got to admire their business model (ie, it doesn't make sense except it actually does in hindsight).

'Geek Retreat' is all about selling crap.

I have a friend that I found out loves the Games Workshop. He calls it plastic crack. Hes a professional in his mid 30s and he says that hes not an unusual customer.

[gibbon]

12 hours ago, Underwhelmed said:

one opened up near me or very similar brand on holloway rd north london, at first bit skeptical about the biz model but it seems busy so may well work

Never heard of them so just looked them up. So basically a shop full of overpriced comics and toys for grown men with a cafe attached. Weird. Guess it's part of the continued infantilization of adults. These little boys in mens bodies would feel uncomfortable in somewhere like a pub so I figure these geek retreats are a safe space for them. In a city of say 500k there must be at least 100k of these boy men, so if it's the only shop of it's type I reckon it could do a good trade.

 

Looks fucking horrendous if you ask me. 

[UnconventionalWisdom]

28 minutes ago, gibbon said:

Looks fucking horrendous if you ask me. 

I agree. I have got into board games during the lockdown. Mate in australia plays so i was like why not. It's a great way to speand an hour or 2- good for the brain and good to kerp contact. 

This pic makes out like you need to be a geek to enjoy it- all stupid colours and looking like a nursery for toddlers. I've visited places that are effectively pubs but with good, modern games. What's wrong with that- split was ~50:50 between males and females. Not trying to be anything other than a good place to socialise. That pic makes it seem they want to be outsiders.

[eek]

2 hours ago, UnconventionalWisdom said:

I agree. I have got into board games during the lockdown. Mate in australia plays so i was like why not. It's a great way to speand an hour or 2- good for the brain and good to kerp contact. 

This pic makes out like you need to be a geek to enjoy it- all stupid colours and looking like a nursery for toddlers. I've visited places that are effectively pubs but with good, modern games. What's wrong with that- split was ~50:50 between males and females. Not trying to be anything other than a good place to socialise. That pic makes it seem they want to be outsiders.

Geek retreat isn't my choice of place but the twins will happily spend money at Travelling Man (very similar but without the coffeeshop that attracts a male client base).

[sancho panza]

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8844831/Boots-sales-freefall-lockdowns-batter-High-Street-stores.html

Boots sales in freefall as lockdowns batter High Street and transport hub stores

Boots continues to struggle due to a 'significantly reduced' number of shoppers on the High Street and a collapse in commuter numbers, according to its US owner.

The chemist said it had also suffered as customers shift towards picking up toiletries as part of their food shop rather than in its stores.

Retail parks, where many supermarkets are situated, have performed better than transport hubs and the High Street as families avoid public transport.

Overall the company made profits of £288million during the quarter.

Revenues at Boots UK plunged 16.7 per cent, which reflected the 29.2 per cent like-for-like fall in sales from stores, counter-balanced by a 155 per cent jump in demand online.

The store performance was an improvement on the period between March and May when revenues halved.

The chain's struggles during the first lockdown, when many of its stores were loss-making, led it to announce in July that 48 outlets would close and 4,000 jobs would be axed.

[Loki]

30 minutes ago, sancho panza said:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8844831/Boots-sales-freefall-lockdowns-batter-High-Street-stores.html

Boots sales in freefall as lockdowns batter High Street and transport hub stores

Boots continues to struggle due to a 'significantly reduced' number of shoppers on the High Street and a collapse in commuter numbers, according to its US owner.

The chemist said it had also suffered as customers shift towards picking up toiletries as part of their food shop rather than in its stores.

Retail parks, where many supermarkets are situated, have performed better than transport hubs and the High Street as families avoid public transport.

Overall the company made profits of £288million during the quarter.

Revenues at Boots UK plunged 16.7 per cent, which reflected the 29.2 per cent like-for-like fall in sales from stores, counter-balanced by a 155 per cent jump in demand online.

The store performance was an improvement on the period between March and May when revenues halved.

The chain's struggles during the first lockdown, when many of its stores were loss-making, led it to announce in July that 48 outlets would close and 4,000 jobs would be axed.

Didn't they have one of those cynical digital queuing systems on their website back in March? Someone here worked out if you made your browser say it was Google, you got straight in

Fuck 'em, if so

[Straingone]

On 19/10/2020 at 22:09, Option5 said:

There's still a chance for DOSBODS 'r' US then

I wonder if Geoffrey the Giraffe would be available as a DOSBOD's mascot?

[Option5]

8 hours ago, Straingone said:

I wonder if Geoffrey the Giraffe would be available as a DOSBOD's mascot?

That's Mr Pin

@MrPin

Edited October 21, 2020 by Option5

[Straingone]

2 hours ago, Option5 said:

That's Mr Pin

@MrPin

Does he have a blue tongue?

 

[King Penda]

On 20/10/2020 at 10:47, gibbon said:

Never heard of them so just looked them up. So basically a shop full of overpriced comics and toys for grown men with a cafe attached. Weird. Guess it's part of the continued infantilization of adults. These little boys in mens bodies would feel uncomfortable in somewhere like a pub so I figure these geek retreats are a safe space for them. In a city of say 500k there must be at least 100k of these boy men, so if it's the only shop of it's type I reckon it could do a good trade.

 

Looks fucking horrendous if you ask me. 

No women to myther them or ethnics

[gibbon]

1 hour ago, stokiescum said:

No women to myther them or ethnics

Not all bad then 

Sure some attention seeking whores will realise this and start turning up in their cosplay outfits with their tits hanging out to secure the male simp attention that sustains them.

[gibbon]

14 hours ago, Loki said:

Didn't they have one of those cynical digital queuing systems on their website back in March? Someone here worked out if you made your browser say it was Google, you got straight in

Fuck 'em, if so

Those cynical digital queuing systems were a complete con, just part of the overall plan by TPTB to fuck with our minds and enforce the narrative. These big e-commerce sites are distributed and scalable by design. All fronted by nginx or the like which acts as a load balancer to handle traffic peaks, they can then fire up new HTTP app web servers in seconds, while their backend databases will already be using replication/clustering and pooling. They'll even be using automation tools which scale up and down this infrastructure on the fly without human interaction depending on traffic levels.

A complete psyops by big business in bed with big daddy government.

[leonardratso]

1 hour ago, gibbon said:

Those cynical digital queuing systems were a complete con, just part of the overall plan by TPTB to fuck with our minds and enforce the narrative. These big e-commerce sites are distributed and scalable by design. All fronted by nginx or the like which acts as a load balancer to handle traffic peaks, they can then fire up new HTTP app web servers in seconds, while their backend databases will already be using replication/clustering and pooling. They'll even be using automation tools which scale up and down this infrastructure on the fly without human interaction depending on traffic levels.

A complete psyops by big business in bed with big daddy government.

who would queue to go in the boots website?

faster & cheaper for me to nip down superdrug and 'lift' what i need.

which is basically razor blades and batteries (i dont shave much these days or use batteries)

Edited October 21, 2020 by leonardratso

[Boon]

Easy to make bold statements.

It's a franchise selling pretty commoditised items.... Games Workshop this is not.

To me it seems utterly dependent on the new franchisees getting a decent deal on rent.

Good for the original owners, not sure about a franchisee.

[gibbon]

2 hours ago, Boon said:

Easy to make bold statements.

It's a franchise selling pretty commoditised items.... Games Workshop this is not.

To me it seems utterly dependent on the new franchisees getting a decent deal on rent.

Good for the original owners, not sure about a franchisee.

You talking about Boots? I thought only their opticians were franchised. Really surprised they are still around to be honest and haven't been kerbed stomped yet by specsavers/vision express/online only stores.

[eek]

4 hours ago, gibbon said:

Those cynical digital queuing systems were a complete con, just part of the overall plan by TPTB to fuck with our minds and enforce the narrative. These big e-commerce sites are distributed and scalable by design. All fronted by nginx or the like which acts as a load balancer to handle traffic peaks, they can then fire up new HTTP app web servers in seconds, while their backend databases will already be using replication/clustering and pooling. They'll even be using automation tools which scale up and down this infrastructure on the fly without human interaction depending on traffic levels.

A complete psyops by big business in bed with big daddy government.

Nope, the front end can cope but the backend systems can rarely cope...

 

21 minutes ago, gibbon said:

You talking about Boots? I thought only their opticians were franchised. Really surprised they are still around to be honest and haven't been kerbed stomped yet by specsavers/vision express/online only stores.

Geek Retreat..

[Democorruptcy]

On 20/10/2020 at 10:47, gibbon said:

 

That photo reminded me of betting shops in the 90's. They were more like social clubs then and you could set your watch by what time certain punters would come in and you knew which chair they would sit at. 

[spygirl]

On 20/10/2020 at 10:47, gibbon said:

Never heard of them so just looked them up. So basically a shop full of overpriced comics and toys for grown men with a cafe attached. Weird. Guess it's part of the continued infantilization of adults. These little boys in mens bodies would feel uncomfortable in somewhere like a pub so I figure these geek retreats are a safe space for them. In a city of say 500k there must be at least 100k of these boy men, so if it's the only shop of it's type I reckon it could do a good trade.

 

Looks fucking horrendous if you ask me. 

I think the Testorone-ometer is broken.

Its reporting a reading of 0.

[sancho panza]

Holland & Barrett.....was in there today.STaff were grateful to see me.

[Democorruptcy]

18 minutes ago, sancho panza said:

Holland & Barrett.....was in there today.STaff were grateful to see me.

I bet they were at those prices. The staff were probably saying to one another "Oh look.... there's one here who doesn't know this stuff is a lot cheaper at Home Bargains"

[wherebee]

6 hours ago, Democorruptcy said:

That photo reminded me of betting shops in the 90's. They were more like social clubs then and you could set your watch by what time certain punters would come in and you knew which chair they would sit at. 

yeah.  a mates son goes to something similar here in Oz and I am pretty sure they are the equivalent of men only clubs from the 60's - not by rules, but by self selection in who wants to go sit in a sweaty pit with 50 men.  

Men like areas where they can be with men and talk about nothing in particular.  If you could serve beer in those places, we would call it a pub.