Wilko - will they survive ?

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Rumours now going round about the local Boots closing. It's very handy as I pick up my medication from there and also a friend's, plus they offer covid boosters/flu/other lurgy jabs. Saves travelling miles to get them.  I hope the rumours are wrong but I did read some time ago that Boots would be closing 200 further branches in addition to the 300 they've already shut.  The high street will be like a charity shop/nail bar/barber wilderness soon.

[plantfit 7,602]

Just the same in Newark Jill, mobile phone repair shops, cafes, nail bars, mobile phone shops and charity shops that seem to charge more for their goods than the original shops they came from, in fact nothing there that interests me

 

Rog

 

[philmayfield 6,145]

…. but on the outskirts of Newark the trading estates are busy. Being able to park for free is a plus. 

[benjamin1945 16,165]

1 hour ago, plantfit said:

Just the same in Newark Jill, mobile phone repair shops, cafes, nail bars, mobile phone shops and charity shops that seem to charge more for their goods than the original shops they came from, in fact nothing there that interests me

 

Rog

 

Must admit Rog......do like the Charity shops''....in the last couple of years ive bought loads of different products in them.......from 'Ornamental' Cats to small pieces of ''Furniture''..........in fact this afternoon ive been sorting ..Scarves..Ties..shirts...shorts...Lycra bottoms and a couple of Jackets...i no longer wear to take to the ''Cancer'' charity shop in Bulwell......

 

But i must admit its the inter-action with the staff i most enjoy....believe it or not i also get the odd short dance too......LOL.....

[plantfit 7,602]

Nowt wrong with charity shops Ben but when they charge the same price as high street shops for goods they have been given them it is a bit much, last year when I was in Edinburgh I got a rather nice waistcoat for seven quid, when I showed it to the assistant in a charity shop in Newark she told me she would have charged thirty quid for that sort of quality, I find charity shops in major city's to be much cheaper than the smaller town ones, just my observations of course

 

Rog

[plantfit 7,602]

1 hour ago, philmayfield said:

…. but on the outskirts of Newark the trading estates are busy. Being able to park for free is a plus. 

Being able to park free is a big plus Phil, Imagine going to Lincoln city for a quick nip into a shop to buy a pair of shoes/trousers/shirt etc it's going to cost you another 3 or 4 quid to park your car because you're going to allow yourself another hour just in case you run out of car parking time, if you do run out of the allotted time and you get caught it's another eighty quid, makes sense to use out of town retail parks with free parking but with the local councils setting high rents and rates for in town shops it's no wonder shops are moving out

 

Rog

 

[philmayfield 6,145]

We used to shop in Lincoln on a Saturday afternoon when the children were young. It was further than Nottingham but a much nicer place to visit; especially the uphill area. I used to be able to run up Steep Hill! We parked cheaply on old railway land near Brayford Pool but they went and stuck a university there! We still call into the downhill trading estates when we pass through as we often do. Our daughter took her driving test there last year (used to live in London so never needed to drive). She practiced around the area at weekends under my supervision so I have an intimate knowledge of the city and the estates.

[plantfit 7,602]

Be careful when parking near the Next shop on Tritton road Phil, the free car park runs into a pay to park car park with little or no markings/signs to the effect, lots of people been parking there thinking it's part of the Next shop car park and finding a parking ticket on the windscreen when they get back to their car with an eighty quid fine attached

 

Rog

[philmayfield 6,145]

Usually Machine Mart, M&S or Sainsbury’s Rog. Sometimes the mower shop at Hykeham and we have been know to visit your Asda store!  We visit Hemswell or Navenby Antiques at least monthly and we often go to Horncastle. I like Lincolnshire from the wolds to the fens. It’s the wide open countryside. We used to go to Boston but I hear immigration has made the town less desirable.

[plantfit 7,602]

You hear right Phil, locals call it little Poland but I think very few Polish live there, mainly other eastern Europeans but they don't seem to want to integrate with locals preferring to stay with their own countrymen/women,

Hykeham rail station is free to park and a few minutes train ride into the city is a lot cheaper than paying carpark fee of seven quid for four hours in Lincoln

 

Rog

[benjamin1945 16,165]

Just been announced 'Wilko's' stores will close next week.........don't really care for wilko's........but i'll be thinking of the 12000 staff being made redundant........i know many of the staff in Bulwell who have been there since its Coop days.........i also worry about what the atmosphere will be like in Bulwell and other places...Wilko's is such a large store in a Prime Position.......but then again Bulwell as overcome bigger problems in its History.....

[benjamin1945 16,165]

Got a feeling our towns will soon look like this

[Beekay 5,158]

A late, dear pal of mine, who was an Antique dealer once told me, many years ago that 'You can always recognise the demise of a town or market, by the number of charity shops that open up'.

This demise is usually followed by boarded up fronts. And by crikey he was'nt far wrong. We've got it happening in Lewes, on the high street and School hill. We even lost our Art Deco bus station in the town centre.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/wilko-redundancies-store-closures-likely-8699843?fbclid=IwAR3WChF2n_xTzbtUgD9aa1wWlVfNj8_CtPTj1sh9cMV2cGtiUp2jq5fCVmE

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

I had a look in the Parliament Street branch this morning. Still operating with their 'Administration Sale' but there were big empty spaces on many of the shelves. They're obviously running down the remaining stock.

 

It was hit and miss if you were able to buy whatever you were looking for.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Apparently, B&M are buying around 51 of Wilkinson's branches but haven't revealed which ones.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

HMV's saviour (can't remember his name) is supposedly buying lots of stores but is not taking on the distribution centre etc. at Worksop.

 

Edit: This just appeared on Facebook. Treat it like it was on Facebook.    

 

https://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/read-this/wilko-more-than-8000-jobs-could-be-saved-as-hmv-owner-nears-rescue-deal-for-majority-of-stores-4276778?fbclid=IwAR2lyhYNkOXr0fv3zvsJY3qFfkPzGT6tj8iDqWeqr8sNlhYhdhEYC50HbvA

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Bulwell hasn't been named in the closures over the next two or three weeks. Perhaps it will be spared.

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

I wonder what will happen to the branch at Clifton.  https://goo.gl/maps/oMGEyjiZMW9zzojG6

 

These days it's only a single storey shop, but back in the 1960s it was a Co-Op and operated on both floors. Access to the upper floor was via a staircase which was a bit like a miniature version of the one everyone remembers at the big Co-Op on Parliament Street.

[Stuart.C 491]

B&M have said that of the "Up to 51 stores" they have offered £13m for, the majority will be rebranded B&M and Wilko staff will not automatically be transferred.

Presumably if B&M get Bulwell they'll just move everyone over from  their existing shop across the road and maybe take on a few extra staff, who may or may not be ex Wilko.

[benjamin1945 16,165]

Still think Bulwell branch would make a great ''INDOOR Market'''........equally sure it would attract customers from further afield.......Lots of potential customers who love a bargain and lots of people who would like to set up their own ''Flea Market'' type stall..........What better place than Bulwell with its 'Free Parking'' trams...Trains...and Buses.......

                  They could also make it a ''Cash only'' site.....leading the way for the rest of the country........LOL............

[Beekay 5,158]

Looking at your link picture CT., Southchurch drive looks a lot different from when I used to drive the 53 up there, from Valley road.

That were back in the mid 60s mind.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

I remember Be Wise being there in the 1980s.

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

That stretch of road changed in a big way when the tram invaded around 2012-13.

[plantfit 7,602]

4 hours ago, benjamin1945 said:

Still think Bulwell branch would make a great ''INDOOR Market'''........equally sure it would attract customers from further afield.......Lots of potential customers who love a bargain and lots of people who would like to set up their own ''Flea Market'' type stall..........What better place than Bulwell with its 'Free Parking'' trams...Trains...and Buses.......

                  They could also make it a ''Cash only'' site.....leading the way for the rest of the country........LOL............

Could only be a good thing for Bulwell but do you think with more people visiting for the shops/indoor market/outdoor market etc free car parking would cease and car park charges would have the same effect on Bulwell as they have on similar small towns ie: people using out of town retail parks and forgetting about the parent town? not being negative Ben but you see it happening all over the place these days

 

Rog