Is Superdrug going bust too, do you think?

Probably - I predict WH Smiths will be another casualty too. again no basis for this thinking just a gut feeling - and with all the sales and offers they have had on.

Again, no basis other than gut instinct but Debenhams for me - it's come close in the past few years and I've lost count of the number of "up to 70% off" sales they've had this year.

Have also heard rumours about the group behind Currys and PC World.

My H has heard rumours of the group behind Currys/PC World too. He was telling me about it at the start of December.

We've also heard rumours that TK Maxx is in trouble too (however we've heard other rumours that our local one is moving to a larger unit in a new retail park just outside the town centre) so who knows whats the truth!!

I passed by our Symths toy store last night at 6.30pm and it was closed even though all signs say its open until 10pm (and always has been) along with the rest of the stores in the retail park/shopping centre. I have been wondering about thatone too!

Funny you should say WHS , MrJMP said the same yesterday.

I wouldn't be surprised if Superdrug went the way of Woolies et al. I don't mean to be rude to Lolls but it's a down-market Boots really isn't it? Is there room in the marketplace for two similar shops?

I've always thought WHSmith might be in trouble but they are very successful at airports and I'm sure I read somewhere that they're still number one on the High St in terms of book sales - I'm sure the airport book sales come into this.

I think DSGi (who own Currys, Dixons & PC World) are in really big trouble. My friends husband is an accountant for them and was made redundant back in October and then taken re-deployed to a different area of the business. He was then told he'd be working on the shop floor in PC World over Christmas as the company couldn't afford to take on any more staff to cover the Christmas 'rush'.

My Husband works for one of their rivals and has said Currys are making something like 7p profit on some of their TV's because they've slashed the prices so much. That could well be rubbish though!

Just as a long as we get our TV delivered today and fridge freezer on Friday before they go bust I'll be happy as they're both bought on the credit card.

Superdrug - that selling off discontinued stock sounds very much to me like realising as many assets as possible. Although I could be being very cynical.

John Browett (the guy behind Tesco.com) took over as chief executive of DSGi last year, hence the restructuring at head office to streamline the business.

This year, PC World's sale is no different to every other year, just old stock being sold off. They don't have the debts that a lot of big stores have, so there is nothing to substantiate this.

Saying stuff about companies like this just freaks people out IMHO.

I'll bet you all £100 (each) that none of the companies mentioned on this thread goes bust in the next year.

What are your predictions BGB?

I'm not sure about WHSmiths, it always seems to be busy in there. Superdrug though, I can see the potential. I don't go in purely as the queues are always rubbish.

Why so confident Baron?

Now that would be telling ?

I've heard the same rumours re PC World / Currys - my boss's H is a bit of a finance whizz and was predicting this - have no idea what he based it on though

All the information you need to know about why those companies are sound is in the public domain - published accounts, Companies House filings, interim results for the quoted companies.

Well, I'm not a gambling woman bgb ?

I'd be glad to be wrong. I don't go into Superdrug often but the staff in the one I'm talking about are always nice and friendly and I hate to hear of people losing their jobs.

I'd also be a bit gutted if Debenhams went. I don't shop there much either but I used to work there as a student so I've always had a bit of a soft spot for them.

My SIL works for WHS and she was saying the other day that they are opening loads of WHS in hospitals so i don't think they are going under

I actually prefer Superdrug to Boots. And I don't like the way the Advantage card works. You can only spend your points when you're buying something worth less than the amount you have on your advantage card. Why can't you use your points towards a higher value item, like you can with nectar, clubcard and every other loyalty card I've heard about? Stupid.

I love Superdrug, I like all their make-up which is different to Boots.

No idea if they will go under though, hope not ?

I sell to Superdrug and am also fairly sure they won't go under as they're owned by AS Watson, a fairly large, global company. They haven't been doing so well recently as high street traffic has fallen (bar xmas pressie buying & sales!) but they can be quite a bit cheaper than Boots so it's just whether shoppers will continue to buy in shops like that vs supermarkets for all their stuff.

I am pleased BGB I am wrong! all this bad news is just dreadful all round.

Just my 2p worth but I agree with BGB - you can access loads of companies financial info and all tho its meaningless to me, I reckon most of these companies are fine. If they weren't it would be all over the papers....

Certainly with somewhere like WHS, they are able to massively discount stock byl bulk buys/special printings with suppliers and are not really *true* sale items. Plus the retailers can return items they've bought back to their suppliers and get their money back if its within certain parameters.

Its more the little local shops that are closing - a fair few near me have, which is really sad.

True. The papers won't necessarily give an opinion on the likelihood of failure but certainly where companies are publicly traded, the information in the public domain is good enough to be interpreted by the public at large.

As for the Christmas sales, it never fails to amaze me that people think that the likes of Next must be so utterly rubbish at buying stock that they have so much to sell on Boxing Day at ridiculous mark down prices. They deliberately buy stock for the sales where they know they will still make a decent margins. John Lewis are absolutely brilliant at managing their stocks yet still have a massive sale each year. This year is no different.

The retailers where there are genuine sales are the ones that get a fashion trend totally wrong (rare) or more commonly the weather goes against them e.g. B&Q selling off thousands of barbecues and garden furniture sets at a loss or Faith selling off women's boots last year.

The failure of smaller retailers is alarming and is going unnoticed at the moment.

Superdrug is part of the AS Watson Group, which is a part of Hutchison Whampoa (as is the company I work for). I'm fairly certain they'll be ok ?

http://www.hutchison-whampoa.com/eng/index.htm

Eeps - I hope Superdrug stays! I like both SD and Boots, and in Leeds they're right next door to each other, so perfect for getting the best price

My prediction is Jessop's (the photography shop). I had to exchange a battery charger for my 9 month old Nikon D-60 yesterday, and they gave me a new one with no questions, even chucking in a free battery. They seemed to be a bit free and easy with the stock, which raised suspicions.