[Brighton] RIP Debenhams

OzMike · Dec 1, 2020

Publius Ovidius said:
It’s going to be a McLaren garage isn’t it? Not necessarily something that many of us can afford or even attain to afford.

Big box? Is that in the solutions inc site?

Except the Tesla car owner club.on here.

Perfidious Albion · Dec 2, 2020

Never shopped there myself so I cannot say that I will miss it. The place always seemed out of touch, did not have what I wanted ...and expensive.
The days of department stores , like Hanningtons , like the fictional Grace Bros , have gone I am afraid.

bluenitsuj · Dec 2, 2020

I see all the vultures on twitter complaining the site is/was down so they are unable to grab the bargains. I think they forget the 1000's of jobs being lost. These are probably the people that have never shopped there before and helped lead to its downfall.

saafend_seagull · Dec 2, 2020

dejavuatbtn said:
It continues to be a concern that the demise of the high street will bring down property prices and devastate pension funds. If the funds can’t afford to pay pensions out then it will be serious stuff.
The number of big stores that have been there all my life and have now gone to the wall is unbelievable. Kids today won’t have a high street. At best it will be a trip to places like Bluewater (if that can succeed) in order to see and feel what they are buying.
Internet purchasing has already led to lower wages, as if shop workers aren’t on low enough already.
A bit of a bleak outlook really.

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dejavuatbtn · Dec 2, 2020

saafend_seagull said:
Do not follow. Every one of our funds I look after has generated positive return in 2020 for investors (all pension funds).

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Wonderful news.

beorhthelm · Dec 2, 2020

Swansman said:
I am suggesting a complete departure from basic economic principles (remember that those principles are not very old). Yes, the internet created a lot of jobs because there was a lot of development to do manually and that computers still couldnt do. This is changing very, very rapidly. Machine Learning and Deep Learning are going to replace the majority of all the jobs where you need a brain and knowledge, the dominant attributes for most works in a service society.

they really wont. ML is very narrow in its ability, usually in new fields analysing data, so not replacing any jobs. or creating many in development and data scientists to create and feed the ML systems.

marcos3263 · Dec 2, 2020

bluenitsuj said:
I see all the vultures on twitter complaining the site is/was down so they are unable to grab the bargains. I think they forget the 1000's of jobs being lost. These are probably the people that have never shopped there before and helped lead to its downfall.

I thought that this morning when I read about the outrage that the website was crashing. We used to shop there in fact the mrs got a rather fetching jacket there recently.

Churchill square seems to be largely built around the Debenhams with the whole center leading to the 3 floors at the end.

God knows how they will fill it. It will cost a huge amount to break down into smaller units and then who is going to fill it anyway? already many shops empty around the town.

bluenitsuj · Dec 2, 2020

marcos3263 said:
I thought that this morning when I read about the outrage that the website was crashing. We used to shop there in fact the mrs got a rather fetching jacket there recently.

Churchill square seems to be largely built around the Debenhams with the whole center leading to the 3 floors at the end.

God knows how they will fill it. It will cost a huge amount to break down into smaller units and then who is going to fill it anyway? already many shops empty around the town.

Our Debenhams in Eastbourne closed about a year ago which has left a huge empty property.

Neville's Breakfast · Dec 2, 2020

Not [MENTION=13530]bhadebenhams[/MENTION] I hope.

BNthree · Dec 2, 2020

PILTDOWN MAN said:
As these big stores disappear the majority have themselves to blame. There was a mad rush to open shopping malls, leaving many a town centre bereft of the major stores, and those left allowed to stagnate. The convenience of out of town supermarkets, shopping malls and retail parks has left most town centres to coffee shops, charity shops and Weatherspoons. As time went on more and more people have started to shop online and now I hardly know anyone who goes into town to shop but more often to wonder about and perhaps drop in for a beer or two. The days of serious town centre shopping have have been confined to history.

And without meaning to sound like Stat Brother too much this is all tied up in car culture. Where most people live they need a car to get around or go to the shops. If the option of walking/safe cycling/getting cheap and convenient public transport was there then local high streets become much more visited destinations.

Thunder Bolt · Dec 2, 2020

bluenitsuj said:
Our Debenhams in Eastbourne closed about a year ago which has left a huge empty property.

TJ Hughes almost opposite went also, which was another large store on three floors.

Greg Bobkin · Dec 2, 2020

blue-shifted said:
I think you can accurately predict that 50% of the jobs today won't exist in 10 years.

They'll be replaced by other jobs though. Mostly ones which don't exist yet.

Or the other view is that brexit will screw us and capitalism was on it's way to China anyway, so prepare for generations of decline.

I can't work out which I think is more likely

Agree with all of that apart from the percentage. I can't see half of ALL the jobs in the world will be gone in a decade. That would mean whole industries disappearing. Retail is taking a battering, but it will still be alive and well in 2030 – look at volumes at supermarkets pre-lockdown, for a start!

Jello · Dec 2, 2020

Would love a John Lewis in Brighton, wonder if they'd take on the Churchill Square site but delay opening for a while

Lyndhurst 14 · Dec 2, 2020

Makes you wonder who is next, Currys PC World ? They always seem to be having a fire sale and have the most clueless staff and Amazon must be making a big dent in their computer and whitegoods business

beorhthelm · Dec 2, 2020

Lyndhurst 14 said:
Makes you wonder who is next, Currys PC World ? They always seem to be having a fire sale and have the most clueless staff and Amazon must be making a big dent in their computer and whitegoods business

Currys have a strong online offering, and out of town shops sort of work like a glorified demo showroom. people like to see the goods, size and measure up. and buy on HP of course, which might be better in person than online.

Thunder Bolt · Dec 2, 2020

beorhthelm said:
Currys have a strong online offering, and out of town shops sort of work like a glorified demo showroom. people like to see the goods, size and measure up. and buy on HP of course, which might be better in person than online.

We bought a new fridge/freezer a month ago. We went all round Curry’s but didn’t like any of them.
We ordered a new one from AO.com.

Palacefinder General · Dec 2, 2020

North Street Boots had previously considered the Debenhams units in Churchill Square according to a friend who worked there.

Skaville · Dec 2, 2020

Thought I’d go on their website and buy a couple of things. Took 15 minutes to get on. Browsed for a while, put three things in my basket and went to checkout. I got kicked out and couldn’t get back in.

Popped over to Amazon, found an identical item immediately, bought it in about a minute and it’s coming tomorrow. That’s why they’ve ****ed I’m afraid.

Super Steve Earle · Dec 2, 2020

BNthree said:
And without meaning to sound like Stat Brother too much this is all tied up in car culture. Where most people live they need a car to get around or go to the shops. If the option of walking/safe cycling/getting cheap and convenient public transport was there then local high streets become much more visited destinations.

I'm in sentence two, living 11 miles from Brighton with just the bus service alternative to a car. Brighton has succeeded in pushing me away from driving to the Town Centre, which is presumably the plan. But I don't use the bus, I just drive where my car is welcome, i.e. anywhere but Brighton. I have been just twice this year. The second time was early Autumn and I had no idea if I was returning towards Preston Circus from the pier the right way or not. So I haven't been back. But the shopping I do in Brighton, I couldn't cart around around with me or easily carry on a bus.

Dick Swiveller · Dec 2, 2020

Thunder Bolt said:
TJ Hughes almost opposite went also, which was another large store on three floors.

Was previously an Army and Navy. The shop diagonally opposite used to be a Co-op homeware place that we bought a washing machine from in the early 2000s - it is now a BHF Furniture shop. Plummer's used to be a department store but became a C+H years ago. Woolworths went long before the chain did and became a Poundland amongst other things. Littlewoods went and is now a Primark. BHS went and half of it is now a Wilko. This is a telling article. Of over 200 shops and businesses in Terminus Road in 1972, only 7 remain.

https://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_britain/shops/high_street_eastbourne.html

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[Brighton] RIP Debenhams

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