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Quote: Originally posted by adandemsmom on 04/10/2009

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 It also seemed as though all the decent stuff had either been removed from the shop or sold.

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Quote: Originally posted by 3madboyz on 04/10/2009

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I can completely sympathise with lurcher pie,

The company that I work for went into administration in January this year and whilst we were away camping at February half term they closed HALF of our stores... (fortunately mine wasn't one of them but I was wracked with guilt over all of the friends and colleagues that I had lost along the way) It was an awful time and probably something I will never forget....

My heart goes out to you and all of your colleagues... Millets are a bit of a high street legend (as is the company I work for) and its a sorry shame to see them go like this.
I wish you and everyone who may lose their job a successful future and all the luck in the world.....

I for one will NOT be picking at the carcass!!!!

Bright Blessings (O)

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 That's exactly it ; it's the knowing that friends will be losing their jobs as well as wondering who's next .

 I went through it 2 and a half years ago , before I got a transfer to the store I'm at now , and was shocked at how insensitive some 'customers' actually can be ; some were just like ghouls . One guy walked into the store and actually said ' well that's you out of a job then ' and laughed   We'd never seen him before , he wasn't a customer , just a total tool who wanted to be nasty .

 On the flip side of that we have had some people come in to see if we'll be ok , and to wish us luck  

I'm really sorry that Blacks and Millets are having such troubles, but I can't say I am very surprised. I stopped using them years ago, when they converted from a camping shop to a camping fashion shop.

All the camping shops I know that are doing reasonably well are independents; they concentrate on selling things that their customers want to buy and change rapidly to the changing market. It seems to me that Blacks/Millets were/are inflexible, and wasted expensive shop space filling up their stores with 50,000 different makes of boot and anorak, whilst throwing out all the useful stuff like primuses or trangias, water carriers, a range of different tents, more than just 6 different sizes of the same cheapy cheapy dome tents, and all the other stuff which actual campers actually want.

Check out companies like PJ camping and the Complete Outdoors. They do much the same as Millets, just better.

I bet if Blacks re-invented themselves as an out-of-town large camping set of reasonably independent stores, they would do better. I also bet if they trusted their employees more to stock what the local market wants, they would also do well.

Charlie

I'm so sorry Lurcher Pie, it's so tough out there at the moment. The co I work for supplies retail (badly hit by Woolies closing). The biggest shocker for me was that the people at Woolies we knew heard about it closing on BBC radio! I just hope that Blacks are treating their loyal staff a bit better.

It seems to me that when people don't spend in these shops the top guys all do fine, while the rest of the staff bear the pain. Hope all works out for you - end of rant!

Quote: Originally posted by racletcharlie on 05/10/2009

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 I also bet if they trusted their employees more to stock what the local market wants, they would also do well.

Charlie

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In our local paper tonight, Millets is closing the smaller store that is tuck right out of the way in one of the side streets quite away from the town centre.,

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED08%20Oct%202009%2013%3A31%3A37%3A530

Interesting that they call Millets & Blacks a "clothing store".

Quote: Originally posted by Lurcher Pie on 05/10/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by racletcharlie on 05/10/2009

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 I also bet if they trusted their employees more to stock what the local market wants, they would also do well.

Charlie

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 <IMG alt=17 src="https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/forum_images/smiley32.gif" width=18 align=absMiddle> 

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Quote: Originally posted by weetabixface on 09/10/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by Lurcher Pie on 05/10/2009

Quote: Originally posted by racletcharlie on 05/10/2009

 I also bet if they trusted their employees more to stock what the local market wants, they would also do well.

Charlie

 <IMG alt=17 src="https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/forum_images/smiley32.gif" width=18 align=absMiddle> 

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giving the staff an amount of buy-in to the stock and running of the store is an excellent route to success - sales staff that can converse knowledgably about their stock are always more likely to seal the deal. The last time I was in Blacks there were four disinterested teenagers on duty

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to be honest, I don't think it matters about whether its sourced by a buyer or a local bod.  The trouble with Blacks and Millets has always been floorspace, and they have always tried to be too many things to too many people.  Also there online presence is limited.

The old saying is jack of all trades master of none.  And unfortunately with a bit of everything its the same.  The other problem is cost.  If you are honest you limit to what you get from blacks / millets because of price.  So you have a double whammy.  I hope Blacks do reinvent themselves as the market needs them, but I hope someone looks at what they are doing and adjust the strategy accordingly.