HMV owner seeks £50m backing for Wilko rescue bid
The Range, a value retail chain, is in pole position to acquire Wilko's online operations if a deal with Doug Putman falls through, Sky News understands.
The owner of HMV has approached a number of debt providers to back a last-gasp rescue bid for Wilko, the ailing high street retailer.
It's a pity that Wilko seems to be going under. We find it useful for various odds and ends and visited our local store only this morning to rummage through any offers.
I bought an axe for chopping wood for the log burner. I already have a sound one, so I didn't need a new one, but it was so cheap I had to buy it. I also bought some AA batteries I don't need - cheap though.
It's called sustainable shopping, or shopping for the future. A somewhat distant future in this case, but be prepared, that's the sustainability mantra.
7 comments:
I'd never heard of Wilko. I do remember Sergeant Bilko though. Like much American comedy most of it wasn't actually funny but its sheer energy made it enjoyable, plus one character - the poor put-upon Colonel.
I remember when, as a young man, the local Wilkinsons always used to smell of creosote and paraffin. A proper ironmongers and hardware smell to match a proper ironmongers and hardware range of goods.
The smell has long gone and what is on offer is limited to popular items only. It's a shame they have fallen foul of the 'don't fix it - buy a new one' way of modern life.
And fleabay is crawling with shysters trying to scam the unsuspecting with "offers" on Wilko stock. I reported six a couple of hours ago: fleabay is, of course, exhibiting its usual inertia.
I'm afraid that Wilkos, while filling a useful retail spot, seem to be in the wrong areas of many towns. The tired old 'Arndale' style shopping precincts are dying out nowadays, and I've even noticed that small town shopping streets, which had the odd road leading off and full of independents, are beginning to show far too many voids and boardings.
When we want to buy anything the first thing I look at nowadays is the laptop screen, not a garish shopfront with cheap tat piled high!
My forebears were of the firm opinion that one pocket- or wristwatch was enough for anyone (and there was, by all accounts, great familial disapproval of Great-aunt Nellie when she bought herself a bracelet watch for evening wear); before mobile phones made the things effectively obsolete, my teenage niece once mentioned that she owned six different watches, all bought for a few pounds from fashion shops, so she would have one to match every outfit.
Perhaps you are simply at the cutting edge of fashion (so to speak) with your second axe for special occasions.
DiscoveredJoys:
The smell of creosote was absolutely wonderful, even better than roads being resurfaced. As a child, I used to linger near people painting their garden fences. Can't get it now, of course.
dearieme - I liked Bilko himself - his energy kept it going. I still remember his facial expressions as part of the comedy.
DJ - a few years ago we had a local general store with an ironmongery section. That had a smell of creosote and paraffin which permeated the whole store, but there was also a sweetish smell mixed in, like cake.
Jannie - we only use fleabay as a last resort and even then we check to seller. Haven't actually bought anything for a number of years.
Scrobs - yes it's laptop first for us too. We're sorry to see the boarded up shops but times change.
Macheath - carrying an axe through town made us very aware of modern sensibilities. The only packaging was a transparent plastic cover over the blade so Mrs H carried it as inconspicuously as possible.
Sam - wait until the smell of roads being resurfaced becomes even rarer, you may remember it as comparable to creosote.
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