Jan Camerons Retail Adventures down the gurgler

[winner69]

As percy keeps reminding us retail i australia is munted ... and even jan cameron can't hack it

mind you many have had a go with this mish mash of junk stores

shame to see so much of her katmandu money go down the gurgler ....

http://www.smh.com.au/business/discount-chain-buckles-putting-950-jobs-at-risk-20121026-28b12.html

[percy]

Sometimes it is not very nice to be right.
As KW pointed out on another thread,very few retailers bucking the retail slumps.
More empty stores around Australia.More people out of work.[More bad debts?].
No tenant,no rent for landlords.

[Hoop]

This could make for a good case study for University Business Students in the future.

[winner69]

This could make for a good case study for University Business Students in the future.

Still hasn't weaved her magic on Postie Plus yet has she ..... must still be well under water on that investment as well..... even with averaging down from her initial stake at 75-90 cents

[winner69]

Probably ahead on her Pumpkin Patch shares

Maybe she learnt from Pumpkin Patch and that you put your company into the hands of administrators and klet them do the dirty work with the greedy landlords and unions and then start again

[percy]

Probably ahead on her Pumpkin Patch shares

Maybe she learnt from Pumpkin Patch and that you put your company into the hands of administrators and klet them do the dirty work with the greedy landlords and unions and then start again

Yes, I agree with you.
Sad state of affairs that the only way forward is through the hands of adminstrators.
The long term liability of leases ,often entered into in good times,are the archilles heal of retailers when trade slows,as are ever increasing costs of staffing,advertising,power,phone and transaction costs such as eftpos fees.So many high fixed costs.

[FarmerGeorge]

This is a shame as Cameron seems like a really decent person with her heart in the right place, but it's just the reality of retail in Australia. I've been over the a quite a bit in the past few years and the economy seems to continue to just power along so it's not that no one is spending - they're just buying everything on line and if they do go to the shops they're comparing the prices to what they could be getting on line. And this is an accelerating trend. Surely anyone and everyone associated with retail has understood this for years?
That said I never understood the success of Kathmandu in the first place and always thought Cameron got lucky with the amount of cash she managed to pick up - so I'm certainly no expert on retail more broadly!

[percy]

This is a shame as Cameron seems like a really decent person with her heart in the right place, but it's just the reality of retail in Australia. I've been over the a quite a bit in the past few years and the economy seems to continue to just power along so it's not that no one is spending - they're just buying everything on line and if they do go to the shops they're comparing the prices to what they could be getting on line. And this is an accelerating trend. Surely anyone and everyone associated with retail has understood this for years?
That said I never understood the success of Kathmandu in the first place and always thought Cameron got lucky with the amount of cash she managed to pick up - so I'm certainly no expert on retail more broadly!

Retail is about having the right product at the right time,ie Kathmandu and Pumpkin Patch, the Warehouse,Harvey Norman and JBhi fi .Once the fizz has gone out of the bottle it is very hard to get it back into the the bottle.Surprises me that Hallensteins and Briscoes can keep the fiz in !!!
I may be wrong,but I just don't think a lot of "old School" retailers fully understood how much on line business would affect them.Most have done too little,too late,while the first traders on line have grown very quickly,and will continue to grow quickly.
A lot of really decent people continue to go broke,most loosing their homes to banks,as they were given as security for retail loans.
winner69.I have grave doubts whether Postie Plus will survive.

[winner69]

winner69.I have grave doubts whether Postie Plus will survive.

I was being very subtle when I said Jan might weave her magic on Postie Plus .... like her magic at the moment doesn't seem to be working eh .... and that bad stuff probably spill over to Postie Plus