MFI and Woolworths

[Evil DM Mark3]

So, what does everyone make of the news that Woolworths and MFI have both gone into Administration?

For non brits, Woolworths is a is a 100 year old chain of toy-confectionary-video etc shops and MFI do furnature.

[Dihan]

Woolies can't die!

However, I feel that it doesn't really have a purpose. It doesn't really do anything as well as specialist stores. Hopefully someone can step in and save it, though.

[Evil DM Mark3]

However, I feel that it doesn't really have a purpose.

Yeah, I mean this really dawned on me when I tried to describe them for this thread, what kind of shop are they anyway?

[Dihan]

*Shrugs*

Wikipedia doesn't even know. It's simply described as a "high-street retail chain".

[Oregano]

MFI? meh. Woolworths, how the hell!?:smallconfused:

I mean as you said it's a century old and must have been one of the richest retail chains in Britain, it was just a massive surprise.

[Evil DM Mark3]

I think we may well have uncovered the reason for this turn of events... (although the fact that they took 80% of their money in the 8 weeks around Christmas probably didn't help)

MFI has a much simpler explantion. They try and do what Ikea does, but worse. Which is odd seeing as when they started up they did exactly what ikea does (well, furniture only) only several years earlier and more layers of product quality. Long gone however are the days when one could reliably take home the flat pack furnature on the day one bought them, rather than waiting for delivereis and such like.

[Jibar]

Well, I'm of the opinion that Woolies still owe my sister £500 odd for the work she did during the summer and if she doesn't get it she isn't going to be eating too well. :smallannoyed:
I don't like her much or anything, but the management has been messing her around for months, promising it'll be the next week for sure and £300 out of £800 is not acceptable when you're a Uni student.

[potatocubed]

I'm not surprised Woolworths is gone. That store was more or less dead back in the 80s, but the laws of financial inertia kept it around long after it had started to smell.

MFI's a bit of a surprise, though. I suppose they've just been outdone by IKEA and Argos (of all people).

[Evil DM Mark3]

30,000 jobs at Woolworths alone, man that is going to be a lot of runied Christmases.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Woolworths be a Supermarket. A Supermarket.

[Felixaar]

Yes, fellows, Woolworths is a Supermarket. In good old fashioned Australia. And they're in no danger of going under - rather, they're slowly taking over the world through low prices.

Shame about Britain, though.

[Coidzor]

If they exist over here in the states (and I may be confusing them with something else), then Woolworths' was a department store chain.

Always unfortunate when the people who are most harmed are those at the bottom when those on top who were behind the failure get rewarded or emerge unscathed at least.

[Evil DM Mark3]

The Australian and American companies are different, but where once part of the same whole. The British ones certainly do not qualify as supermarkets.

[Castaras]

Yeah, sad to see Woolies going down.

The problem iirc was that they only made a profit at Christmas. The rest of the year was a loss. Then you get the credit crunch...:smallsigh:

[bosssmiley]

Time was (back in the '60s) when each department in Woolies was basically a mini-shop staffed by people who knew their stock inside out and were able to make personal recommendations to their customers. If they'd played to that strength as their USP rather than trying to be cheap and cheerful - which, let's face it, Wilkos and Netto do better - then Woolies might still be a household name rather than just a source of nostalgia.

Sorry to hear the staff are getting gypped. By rights the useless, directionless upper management should be paying the back pay from their undeserved remunerations packages. :smallannoyed:

[banjo1985]

A little sad to see Woolworths go, though it was always going to struggle. It's a bit of everything store, and I'm afraid Wilkinsons are cheaper and specialty stores are better. Woolies got caught in the middle.

Not in the slightest bit surprised about MFI. Ikea and Argos own the flat-pack furniture market.

[Faceist]

Friend of mine worked at Woolworths and is losing his job. But eh, he's a student still living with his parents, so it's not the end of the world for him, just means I have a companion when I go job-hunting. :smalltongue:

Kinda shocked about the whole shenanigans, though.

[Krytha]

The economy... Oh Laird...

[Hazkali]

It was at first shock to me that Woollies was going under, but then I realised that it's business model is fourty-odd years out of date. People don't need a "general" high-street shop anymore when the big supermarkets are selling everything that Woolies did and more, and for less.

Anecdotally, earlier this year I bought some shoelaces from Woolies because mine had snapped. I paid a reasonable price for them, and went away. Within about a fortnight, they'd snapped. So I went back, got another pair, and after another week or two, they had snapped. Their prices just weren't good enough for the quality.

It's a shame to everyone who loses their jobs though; in Durham they've never been anything but exceptionally friendly and helpful and it's sad to think that some of them will be losing out this Christmas.

[Evil DM Mark3]

Apparently several supermarkets are looking to buy up parts of it, those parts that give them new shops in good places (they have the planning permission of supermarkets and that means food sales).

Also, Theo Pathetis.