High Street shoe chain Barratts has entered administration for a third time, with more than 1,000 jobs at risk in the UK and Ireland.
The shoe chain first went into administration in 2009.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24899808
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I didn't even know they still existed.
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I am with R&S - I thought Barratts built houses! I don't recall ever seeing a shoe shop of that name, in the last 20 years.
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>> I don't recall ever seeing a shoe shop of that name, in the last 20 years.
www.barratts.co.uk/en/info/storelocator
My 'local' one shut the last time they went into administration
oxforddailyphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/barratts-oxford-closes.html
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 11 Nov 13 at 13:28
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Almost no presence at all in Midlands, just Derby and the Merryhell centre.
Sure there used to be a store in Northampton (on Drapery?) and of course a factory. The latter is in fact one of the town's sparse collection of architectural gems.
www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-431353-barratt-shoe-factory-northamptonshire
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Had it been a horse it would have been shot quite some time ago. Outdated business model, overtaken by competitors and forgotten by the consumer. In a way it's a mercy.
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The economic conditions of the last few years have cleared out a lot of the dross. A hard thing, but a good thing.
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There are others sniffing around the property portfolio...
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>>Outdated business model
What's changed in the Retail Shoe business model then , Runfer? I'm genuinely interested.
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Well, in very short terms, the market has become polarised on four points.
The first is the pile it high sell it cheap, hang the quality so long as the look is on trend.
The second is the residual fashion branded business which can still command some premiums, though with a few notable and sometimes surprising exceptions not nearly as much as it could, with average retail prices achieved even in this sector having pretty much halved since 2008.
The third is the premium quality traditional heritage product which still functions at the top end of the market.
Lastly there is the comfort promise market inhabited by primarily older profile brands which has held up rather better than most.
I would accuse Barratts of not focussing on any of the above and relying on bland, "me too" product pitched at prices too low to be aspirational but too high to be impulse purchases.
Retailers who continue to thrive are very clear about who their consumer is and what they want, how much they're willing to pay and keep a definable clarity in their offer. Those who use a scattergun approach to their range building have stumbled.
Men's footwear represents only 17% of the market so fluctuation here is minimal in its overall effect. Women's however is nigh on 50% with children's making up the rest.
Therefore it is vital to have a convincing women's offer. The "heeled" market has taken a caning during the recession. ( Fewer nights out perhaps ) or maybe it's that there has been a huge swing to buying much cheaper products in this category. Conversely, womens casual footwear ( as in very casual, canvas sneakers, casual boots etc ) has continued to work.
Stir all the above up in a pot and add the seasoning of clever retailers merchandising stock into their stores using local rather than national demand trends ( EG if certain stores in their group are good at boots or sandals or whatever they get proportionately more of those than the stores which have different demand trends ) and also reacting quickly to successes and indeed failures ( buy more if it's going well, bail out at a discount if it's not but do both quickly enough to make a difference)
Add in the exponential and inexorable growth of online shopping ( now approaching 50% of all footwear sales in the UK ) and any weaknesses in the propositions of the bricks and mortar retailers with their high operating costs will soon show.
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Thanks for that.
Aside from the fact that inadequate management at Barratts would seem to have hastened their [strangely persistent] demise, does the growth of online shopping and the seemingly reducing market ultimately mean that the retail group is likely to further shrink considerably?
Are shoes particularly price sensitive in the normal day to day market?
Presumably the pressure on shoe shops, as opposed to department stores who sell a variety of products, is going to make the traditional High Street an even more impoverished environment?
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>> Presumably the pressure on shoe shops, as opposed to department stores who sell a variety
>> of products, is going to make the traditional High Street an even more impoverished environment?
I went to the "traditional high street" - well "shopping town" - Kingston on Thames - on Sunday, and it was heaving. Car parks filling up by 10:30
Impoverished is a very regional / localised phenomena.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 11 Nov 13 at 21:39
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Yes that was a very interesting insight.
Barratts must have been in a real tailspin, given that two administrations will have shaken off the least profitable bits as well as some debts on each occasion.
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I'm afraid I didn't know they ever existed...
As I read the news a few minutes ago, I thanked my lucky stars that I was not Prime Minister and thus in a position to be accused of being completely out of touch.
Unfortunately, NoFM2R, the economic conditions have been too benign to clear out the dross properly.
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Mon 11 Nov 13 at 13:56
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Their product is not cheap enough for real volume sales and not expensive enough for profitable sales at lower volume.
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I occasionally go into Clarks shoe shops. Very nice looking men's shoes @ £70 but a check on the product tag shows made in Indonesia or Vietnam. This is fine but the price does not seem to factor in the reduced labour costs. I buy most of my non-formal shoes from a British manufacturer; the prices are keen and they have the added benefit of selling 1/2 sizes. Name not far removed from "Warmer"!
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>>Name not far removed from "Warmer"!
I didn't realise they were UK made. I'll look out for them in future.
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/9355178/Hotter-Shoes-a-sole-survivor-in-a-dying-industry.html
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I have two pairs of Hotter shoes , my wife has three or four pairs , as does my daughter.
High fashion they are not, but by 'eck they are comfortable!
They have a shop in Meadowhell (Sheffield) and a VERY efficient mail order set-up.
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Roger - they sometimes have a £10 a pair stock clearance too, around this time of year. They seem to have a very wide fitting too which suits my old feet! Made in Skelmersdale
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Lordy ! I wondered briefly where I was going to get my liquorice allsorts from !
Realised it t's Bassetts who confectionalise.
Ted
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Crap store, crap products, good riddance.
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There is one in the Arndale centre in Manchester according to their store locator, however I have no clue where it is. I suspect it must be in a part of the centre with a lower footfall.
They seem to have a lot of stores in the Yorkshire area though.
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Thought they disspeared from the high street after their last administration. Bought my eldest a pair of school shoes when he first started at school and the sole fell off after a week. Took them back and it took an awful lot of time and effort to get anything out of them so never went back
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I can't remember the last time I saw a Barrats shop.
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Barratts Shoes goes into administration (again) - RattleandSmoke
