Retailing’s Failing : Everybody’s Emailing??

Of course, Akerman did not just mong iron; the helpful staff sold almost anything you could think of from a few screws to a small tile cutter.

If they hadn’t got it, they would advise where to go to get it OR, more often, how to do it differently.

Its owner (no longer an Aketman) wanted to retire and nobody wanted to buy the business. There were simply not enough customers.

Seaton has another similar emporium, but it is out of the ton centre and parking is often impossible!

Disappointingly, Abbotts shop is tidy and well organised; so probably more efficient for the seasoned user of mongered iron but less enjoyable for the wide-eyed btowser!

M & S Much Smaller

Once upon a time Marks and Spencer, which began as a “penny bazaar” in Leeds …

… was once the envy of the retail trade. But the great M & S has been going through tough times of late with boss man Stuart Machin …

… overseeing a plan for multiple store closures.

But young Stu seems to be getting a result!

The numbers certainly look better …

Commentators are suggesting that reducing prices, improving the product range and improving the service by upgrading shops have all contributed yo this improvement. But we need to bear in mind that the “improvement” is notably for M & S shareholders and can be seen as achieved to the detriment of many of its loyal customers whose stores are closed or closing.

Bus Travel is a retail business.

Its aim is to sell a product (bus rides) to its customers in order to make a profit for its shareholders.

It is no different from M&S!

To copy M & S, the bus company can reduce its fares. That’s what James Freeman …

… did in Bristol leading to dramatic increases in patronage. 

But there have been no great claims of long term success for an experimental scheme in Wales.

Likewise the delights of the one third reduction in Cornwall ticket prices seems to be fairly minor in terms of increased patronage.

And fares have recently been “revised” …

Obviously there will be no increase in the flat single fare until the end of 2024, but “seasons” are creeping up. Is that a desperate attempt to recoup some of the losses from the funding of the flat fare?

And what happens when the flat fare deal ends.

IMPROVING THE PRODUCT

Bus companies usually seem willing to put better quality vehicles on their busy (and already profitable) routes …

… but Zip’s failure led to luxury appearing on the X97/X98, hardly a money spinner but the buses had to be employed somewhere.

Often these branding schemes evaoporate; as with Arriva’s Sapphire and Max in many locations.

Generally, however, minor routes are equipped with hand-me-downs! And it is obvious!

Ray Stenning (The Bearded Bus Beautifier from the Bush) is always vociferous about the need for quality all round. If the company cannot afford to beatify their buses with a full repaint on secondary routes, they can do a lot with a splodge of sticky-backed plastic!

The bus industry has used Covid as an excuse to close its shops, as here in Plymouth.

A smaller equivalent of a bus shop is a bus stop. These are fearfully neglected by bus operators hiding behind “that’s the job of the local authority“.

A press release from Stuart Machin of M & S???

… with McGills!

And fbb will restrain his venom on the subject of printed material. But generally it is badly done, if at all.