one more to close

tosh · 12-03-2009, 15:30

noticed this morning that diamonds and pearls on Broadway has applied to go into administration. how many more?

Less · 12-03-2009, 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosh

noticed this morning that diamonds and pearls on Broadway has applied to go into administration. how many more?

Not many left so hardly a lottery is it?

magpie · 12-03-2009, 20:12

There won't be a town centre soon.....

Benipete · 12-03-2009, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosh

noticed this morning that diamonds and pearls on Broadway has applied to go into administration. how many more?

I'll have a £1 double on JJB and Fultons.

cherokee · 13-03-2009, 00:50

Agrre Benipete I think JJB are really struggling now. They have done well to last this long , I know our local store has slowed down some

flashy · 13-03-2009, 08:03

what was/is Bootleggers in the Arcade is closing down too

janet · 13-03-2009, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashy

what was/is Bootleggers in the Arcade is closing down too

Don't think the shop has done much buisness since going more upmarket, should have carried on selling the cheap stuff.

jimmi5bellies · 17-03-2009, 15:21

I wondered what was happening to Diamonds and Pearls today as i went past, it was all in darkness and locked up.

garinda · 17-03-2009, 17:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmi5bellies

I wondered what was happening to Diamonds and Pearls today as i went past, it was all in darkness and locked up.

They may have had too many refund returns to deal with after Christmas, when people tried to insure their new diamonds and pearls.

jimmi5bellies · 18-03-2009, 08:30

To be honest everytime i went in just for a look, everybody else had the same idea. I never saw anybody buy anything.

flashy · 22-03-2009, 11:35

went to Blackpool yesterday and it appears that NOT ALL the Diamonds and Pearls shops have closed down, i was in the Houndshill Shopping Centre and the one in there is still open...how odd

lindsay ormerod · 22-03-2009, 18:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashy

went to Blackpool yesterday and it appears that NOT ALL the Diamonds and Pearls shops have closed down, i was in the Houndshill Shopping Centre and the one in there is still open...how odd

When administrators are called in they shut the least profitable stores first, and try to find buyers for the ones that are still making money. The rent on that unit is ridiculously high for the turnover you would get from that product. What I find odd about it is the fact that the stock is still in there, in my experience the stock is quickly shipped out to a profitable store.

lancsdave · 22-03-2009, 18:21

They have actually been saved, but possibly not the Accrington store ?

Diamonds & Pearls has been saved from administration by a mystery consortium. The buyer, which has acquired the retail business under the name Diamonds and Pearls 2009 Ltd, has bought the head office and the 73 remaining stores, and is planning to open a further 30 stores by December.
The sale of the business through administrator KPMG has saved more than 300 jobs. Diamonds and Pearls 2009 Ltd has declined to reveal its corporate identity, but revealed that it is a wholesaler that sells through 200 standalone and concession stores in the UK.
Before entering into administration, Diamonds & Pearls had embarked on an ambitious expansion planned and had dubbed itself “one of the UK’s fastest growing fashion retailers”. The new owners said that now it has offloaded the loss-making stores that were dragging the business down, it will continue to grow the chain.
Diamonds and Pearls 2009 managing director Victoria Taylor said: “We are delighted to have acquired this business, with our expertise and vast range of additional products, it is certainly exciting times for Diamonds and Pearls.”
Diamonds and Pearls 2009 said that it will pay the wages of Diamonds & Pearls staff who were left without pay for the month of February, as exclusively reported in Retail Jeweller’s April issue. Staff had been left in limbo after KPMG said it could not afford to fund pre-appointment wages and were told they would have to wait for a buyer of the business to repay them.
Diamonds & Pearls went into administration on March 2. The retailer originally operated 91 high street stores, with the head office based in Bedford, and employed more than 400 people. The administrators were forced to close 18 loss-making stores, making more than 60 people redundant, to preserve the remaining viable business.

derekgas · 22-03-2009, 18:48

I think the rents, and more so the rates are one of the main problems in town centres, in Accrington for example, I know of 2 retail units, one town centre, and one one the very edge of the town centre, similar sizes, one is newish, the other is an old building, one is £48,000 per annum rent, and the other is £7500 per annum, the rates for the cheaper one are £240 per month, (£2400 per annum, 10 monthly payments), so the council make a third as much as the owner of the building! I dread to think what the town centre units rates are.

MargaretR · 22-03-2009, 19:04

I think the rate is based on 'frontage' so long narrow stores pay less.
Am I right?