Comet
 

On Sat, 3 Nov 2012 09:44:41 +0000 (UTC), Silk wrote:

Scott wrote:
On Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:58:47 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
David wrote:
News headline Comet going into administration, did I hear correct?
Regards
David

It's hardly news - they've been in trouble for ages.

Pedant mode Change of legal status. There is a big difference
between 'being in trouble' and the owners handing over management to
administrators. Pedant mode off

I await your definition of trouble, if calling in the administrators isn't
it.

If you take a look at the definition of administration you will see it
is a distinct legal step. Contrast that with 'being in trouble' which
would cover a variety of situations.

I agree the former is a subset to the latter.

Comet
 

"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article en.co.uk,
Roderick Stewart wrote:
In article , Tony sayer wrote:
Seems the real problem is online shopping for such products and I've
done it myself now with some household goods in preference to
traipsing down to them or curry's in the Cambridge traffic ..

You seem almost ashamed of this, but what would you expect any shopper
to do, except what's most advantageous to them? It's only the same as
what businesses do, the ones that survive at any rate.

I'd agree that business often behaves in equivalent ways. But that does
raise the question of the real meaning in practice of "advantageous to
them".

Since it can be "advantageous" to be able to go into a shop and try out /
examine competing products as an aid to decision (also sometimes getting
info from the shop staff), it means may be "advantageous" to buyers to
*have* such places open with the stock to examine.


Comet wasn't really the place where one could try out or examine different
products. And the shop staff didn't have any info on anything other than
the benefits of extended warranties.

--
JohnT

Comet
 

In article ,
David Woolley wrote:
Roderick Stewart wrote:


You appear to be suggesting that we should buy things in shops at
higher prices than we could obtain elsewhere in order to ensure that
the shops remain in business. In other words, we should subsidise
businesses as if they were charities. I don't understand how this
would be in my interests, as long as I can obtain the items
elsewhere. If you really think people should behave like this, good
luck persuading enough of them to care.

If you can only obtain it in one other place, they will increase their
prices once the competition has gone.

But it was the competition that killed Comet. Mainly, I'd guess, from
internet sales which they decided wasn't for them.

Also, there are benefits in terms of quality of life and crime reduction
in having a vibrant high street.

Comet was on the high street? All the ones round here were in shopping
parks - thought by many to be the reason for the high street dying.

--
*I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Comet
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


Comet was on the high street? All the ones round here were in shopping
parks - thought by many to be the reason for the high street dying.


I did wonder about that. The local ones aren't, but some of the media
seem to be describing them as a high street retailer, so I assumed they
had migrated there in some parts of the country.

Comet
 

In article ,
David Woolley wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


Comet was on the high street? All the ones round here were in shopping
parks - thought by many to be the reason for the high street dying.


I did wonder about that. The local ones aren't, but some of the media
seem to be describing them as a high street retailer, so I assumed they
had migrated there in some parts of the country.

Perhaps. I've never seen one. They started out as a 'shed' retailer, so
why would they change? Curries are different because they are an older
chain which did, at least, start off in the high street. But seemed to end
up like Comet as a shed - often next door to one another.

--
*How many roads must a man travel down before he admits he is lost? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Comet
 

On Sat, 03 Nov 2012 12:45:14 +0000, wrote:

On Sat, 03 Nov 2012 10:49:16 +0000, Tim Streater
wrote:



What does "vibrant" mean?

A woman having a tantrum because her batteries are flat.

Sexist stereotyping! Other models are also available:
http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/sex-toys/...ale-vibrators/

Comet
 

In article ,
wrote:
On Sat, 03 Nov 2012 13:49:18 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:


Going back to the 1970's in the Southampton area Comet occupied a unit
in a smallish shopping center fairly close to what was then a busy
shopping area

My recollections of Comet are from the POV of a manufacturer rather than a
customer, and back in the days when they were simply called a 'discount
warehouse'. Decades ago, so another world in many ways...

The man who ran/owned them used to visit ( was his name Hollingsbury?). He
was accompanied by two 'assistants' who stood behind his chair when he sat
down. Think 'Minder'. :-) At one time he was essentially buying 90
percent of what we made, and selling the amplifiers for 50p *less* each
than our price to him![1]

He put the amps at the far end of the shed so people would have to walk to
the back to get them. The idea was, fairly clearly, that they'd spot some
speakers or a tuner or whatever during the trip, and he'd make his profit
from that with the amp as a 'loss leader'.

He then simply relied on the makers (i.e. us) to sort out any problems or
questions after sale. Whereas our established specialist dealers would
actively help customers sort out things out when they made errors or didn't
know what to do. The result was bad for customers, makers, and specialist
retailers who charged more but would then help customers.

So although he sold the items as if they were bags of sugar, the reality
was that the customer would sometimes find there was more to it... after
they'd gone for the lowest price ticket.

Slainte,

Jim

[1] This was on the back of a Which? report that said they were excellent
value for money, etc.

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Comet
 

In article , Jim Lesurf wrote:
You appear to be suggesting that we should buy things in shops at higher
prices than we could obtain elsewhere in order to ensure that the shops
remain in business.

You appear to be misunderstanding what I actually wrote. I was simply
pointing out that in some cases we may judge it "advantageous" to buy "in
shops" if we decide that will be "advantageous" for us with respect to
future dealings, etc, and we judge that worth the higher up-front price.

I'm having difficulty thinking of anything that could be considered
advantageous these days in buying something from a shop, and thereby helping
to keep it in existence, as opposed to buying it elsewhere at a lower price.
Once upon a time the shops would be able to provide advice and assistance
with specialist products, which it could be argued had a value, but those
days are well gone. Now umpteen online vendors compete against each other on
price, delivery and range of products, and the shops aren't even bothering
to compete with them.

Rod.
--

Comet
 

David Woolley wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


Comet was on the high street? All the ones round here were in shopping
parks - thought by many to be the reason for the high street dying.


I did wonder about that. The local ones aren't, but some of the media
seem to be describing them as a high street retailer, so I assumed they
had migrated there in some parts of the country.

The media are largely clueless mupputs, who often just like to use broad brush
clichés.

I've not seen any high street Comets, the nearest to that were Dixons. Many of
those stores closed about five years ago, others were rebranded to
'Currys.Digital'

There's another problem that Comet suffered from (though Currys/DSG are no
different either). They hold little to no stock on site, particularly large
items, so you need to get it delivered, and often with a 20 quid delivery
charge slapped on. In the past, I've stuffed a washing machine in the back of
the car, and driven home there and then.

So, the only 'USP' they have over internet retailers is the fact you can see
the products in the flesh. I'm as guilty as the next man, I go into Currys or
Comet, have a play, then go home and order from a on-line retailer, for less
money. Who wouldn't eh ?


--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Comet
 

On Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:10:32 -0000, Roderick Stewart
wrote:

In article , Jim Lesurf wrote:
You appear to be suggesting that we should buy things in shops at higher
prices than we could obtain elsewhere in order to ensure that the shops
remain in business.

You appear to be misunderstanding what I actually wrote. I was simply
pointing out that in some cases we may judge it "advantageous" to buy "in
shops" if we decide that will be "advantageous" for us with respect to
future dealings, etc, and we judge that worth the higher up-front price.

I'm having difficulty thinking of anything that could be considered
advantageous these days in buying something from a shop, and thereby helping
to keep it in existence, as opposed to buying it elsewhere at a lower price.
Once upon a time the shops would be able to provide advice and assistance
with specialist products, which it could be argued had a value, but those
days are well gone. Now umpteen online vendors compete against each other on
price, delivery and range of products, and the shops aren't even bothering
to compete with them.

Rod.

When I buy something from a shop it is either for convenience or with
the thought in the back of my mind that I'm keeping local people in
jobs. It's the same with checkouts in supermarkets and other big stores.
If there's a choice of self-checkout or a manned checkout I'll tend to
go to the manned one.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)