Among the many failed retail stores that closed shop in high street is Comet, an electronics retail chain in the United Kingdom. Comet was founded in the year 1933 and was publicly listed in 1972. It was later purchased by Woolworths, itself owned by Kingfisher. In the year 2003, it was later operated under Kesa Electricals, which would later sell it to OpCapita, a private equity firm, in the year 2011. The company was put under administration in the year 2012 due to the challenges being experienced in high street as well as the impacts of the economic recession at the time. In recent past across the United Kingdom, many prominent retail chains have closed down their business operations at a high rate of more than 30 stores per day, as the economic depression continued. The United Kingdom’s high street went suffering from the declining consumer confidence and spending as a consequence. Some retail outlets have been put under receivership as well as under administration. High-profiled administrations included retail giants such as Woolworths, Comet and Blockbuster. High costs of doing business in the UK further led to the decline and failure of high street businesses. A report released by the British Retail Consortium, states that the overall cost of doing business for retail outlets in high street had risen from £96 billion in 2011 to £116 billion since 2006. Although in some cases lease rentals have remained unchanged or even declined, the government instigated rates rose by 2.8%, adding £175 million to the retailers’ bills overnight (Wood & Inman et al. 2011). Using Retail Change Theories to explain Failure of High Street Many researchers have made efforts to study retail change, based on the assumption that they can gain an... ... middle of paper ... ..., National Academies Press, Washington, DC. Parker, SC 2011, Entrepreneurship in recession, Edward Elgar Pub., Cheltenham, UK. Available from: . [18 March 2014]. The Guardian. 2012. UK retailers in administration: timeline. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/nov/01/uk-retail-collapses-timeline [Accessed: 22 Mar 2014]. Vahie, A &Paswan, A 2006, ‘Private label brand image: its relationship with store image and national brand’, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 67-84. Wood, Z, Inman, P & Allen, K 2011,Retailers left reeling as shoppers tighten belts. Available from: . [18 March 2014].
In the early 2000’s Lowe’s was rapidly intensifying its presence nationwide. The company carried a varied assortment of home improvement products and catered to the needs of retail as well as commercial business customers. Lowe’s expanded their reach by acquiring a 41-store chain, Eagle Hardware and Garden, and engaging in a strategic alliance with HGTV to obtain a more profound existence in their market (Rouse, 2005). By 2004, Lowe’s operated almost 1,000 stores with plans to continue expansion across the nation (Rouse, 2005). The company has a core competency in helping customers meet their home improvement needs at a low price. In order to use this core competency to gain a competitive advantage, the company has focused on key functional strategies. To continue their success, Lowe’s must specifically focus on marketing, logistics, and human resource management strategies.
The article then goes on to explain the economic climate that changed the competitive environment from one of near-perfect competition to the oligopoly that existed in the 1980's. This was followed by several examples of how local legislation, and environmental factors kept many of the smaller independent stores and chains in business and clawing for market share.
Despite the closure of many of HMV’s stores due to administration difficulties, over 100 stores were still in operation in prime shopping locations in the UK and Ireland. In 2012 HMV had nearly 20% of the market share, slightly more than Amazon at the time. HMV is one of the largest and most successful entertainment retail store in Europe and is more successful than its rivals such as Virgin megastore who closed down in Ireland in 2002. (McCaughren, 2007). As of 2013 HMV had 16 stores operating all over Ireland in the main cities such as Henry Street, Lucan , Graton Street, Galway and Cork. (www.thejournal.ie). In Ireland HMV’s physical presence is strong compared to their rivals Tower Records and Golden discs as HMV is more recognisable than them and are in prime locations.
Introduction The purpose of this report is to undertake financial analysis of the position of the three major supermarket chains (Tesco plc, Morrison plc and Sainsbury plc) in the UK, using the financial tools such as Horizontal and Vertical Analysis and Ratio Analysis. The calculations done are considering the figures from the income statement and balance sheet of these three companies for the last 2 years (2008 & 2007). Doing these calculations is an effort to find out the current position and if any forecast on their performance. Tesco Plc *Interpreting the Horizontal and Vertical *Analysis The balance sheet’s horizontal analysis reveals the first worrying statistics about the company- the fact that stock level has increased by 25.84% in the year, even though net assets have increased by only 12.59%. The vertical analysis of the balance sheet again highlights the increase in amount of stock held by the company at the end of 2008 and increase in current assets. Interpreting the Ratio Analysis By looking at the ROCE* ratio it is clear that the business has not generated any higher return in the period 2007-2008. Though there is a marginal decrease in the returns (0.14% from 0.16%), however when compared with returns of other competitors Tesco plc has performed much better. Drop in asset utilisation ratio in the year 2008 indicates that the company did not use its assets efficiently to generate sales. As a result profit margin dropped down to 5.91% in 2008 from 6.21% in the year 2007. The Acid test ratio also doesn’t meet the ‘ideal’ ratio of 1:1. In other words Tesco had only 38p of quickly realisable assets to meet each £1 of current liabilities. Stock turn shows the effect of increased stock at the end of 2008 as it s...
In the mid-1980s, ASDA was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy. Besides its core supermarket retail format, the company also offers a number of other products, including financial services and a mobile phone company. ASDA 's marketing promotions are usually based solely on price, and like its parent company, Walmart, ASDA promotes itself under the slogan "Save Money. Live Better”. (ASDA, 2015) City estimates suggested that ASDA had overpaid by around £300 million for 61 of the largest Gateway stores, two undeveloped store sites and a distribution center. That was far above the net book value of the locations some of which were poorly sited. This move overstretched the company and by 1991 it found itself in serious financial trouble and saddled with £1 billion worth of debt (Hope, 2008) The situation was so dire ASDA was close to breaching its banking covenants and came very close to
JCPenney is a chain of American mid-range department stores that is based out of Texas that started over 100 years ago. JCPenny has been successful for most of its time up until the last three to four years. The company is trying relentlessly to overcome the lingering effects of the makeover that former CEO, Ron Johnson, had implemented in order for the company to take a new direction in hopes of increasing sales. The new CEO, Myron Ullman, has taken a close look into the markets demographic segmentation along with the income segmentation in order to attempt to return the retailer back to its old self, which is to appeal to middle-market customers. A couple issues of major concern for the company are the dissolving of Johnson’s Boutiques, the price of their products, and overall revenue.
2- Webb, Steve. "Montgomery Ward cut out of busy retail market." National Real Estate 1 Jan. 2001. Web. 18 May 2014. .
...e year to February 2, 2013, taking revenues to a record £716.3m. During the 53-week period, Harrods grew total profit after tax to £632m, up from £89.5m last year, with a major boost from the sale of trademarks for £541m. A customer satisfaction is another method of evaluating business performance. The brand Harrods earned trust of millions across the globe and numbers verify this fact. Up to 300.000 people visit London store on peak days and majority of them non-Britain visitors.
As the retail industry is confronted with extraordinary challenges (Deloitte LLP, 2011), firms are facing increased competition. Porters leading authority on competitive strategy is largely accountable for the increased importance to a firm’s strategy. The retail industry is becoming highly saturated as the world is becoming smaller; this point alone makes strategy a vital component to a firms success.
The food and staples retailing is an increasingly competitive industry. The market giants (competitors) are Coles (owned by Wesfarmers) which has 741 stores across Australia and plans to add 70 m...
UK’s exit from the European Union following the Referendum on 23rd June 2016 has exerted tremendous and profound impact on UK grocery industry. Many experts warn that devalued sterling will force the prices to go up and bring a tough time for the industry. However, Lidl, a German no-frills supermarket, has emerged to be the fastest growing supermarket with a 12.2 percent increase on sales from June to August (Denton, 2016). In the early 90’s, Lidl opened its first UK store. Insisting on providing qualified products with low prices, it has expanded rapidly in UK and owns more than 640 stores now. It also won the 2016 Good Housekeeping Awards as the Best Supermarket (Lidl, 2016). With no doubt, Brexit greatly changes the business
Bibliography: Lawson, A. (2013). Analysis: Is Asda’s five-year strategy the right one?. [Online] Retail-week.com. Available at: http://www.retail-week.com/sectors/food/analysis-is-asdas-five-year-strategy-the-right-one/5054989.article [Accessed 23 Jan.
...& MAKLAN, S. 2007. The role of brands in a service-dominated world. Journal of Brand Management, 15, 115-122.
The competitive environment of Metro Holdings Ltd would be evaluated based on Michael Porter’s 5 forces Model. The factors affecting each force would be critically analysed to determine the competition faced by the business. As the nature of department stores and specialty “accessorize” stores is vastly different, the report would focus on the analysis of department stores which accounts for a bigger portion of the company’s income and presence in the industry.
• Redefinition of relationship between malls and retailers. It is no more the tenant landlord relationship that existed traditionally. Both need to consider each other as partners or associates, where one parties growth is greatly dependent on the other.