I'm also wondering why Mary spent so long with the rather dim Jane when it seemed to me that Jamie was far more switched on and receptive to her ideas (and rather hot too;))
Fully agree. Jamie looks far more engaged, intelligent and (yes) hot!
I was surprised at him saying that he didn't want to disappoint customers who travel from a long distance.... Who travels to get anything that you could just as easily get in either a supermarket or any old pound shop?
Also, those cards just took up far too much space for a DIY shop.
I found it quite interesting when they were doing their market research... just seeing the types of things that people would have a go at (And using that information to work out what kind of products you should concentrate on.)
I normally quite enjoy these types of series but I struggle to warm to Mary Portas.
The key difference to me is the approach - in "Kitchen Nightmares", Ramsey, despite being harsh and at times unpleasant to the owners, lets them solve the problems and coaches them how to do it. Portas doesn't coach - she tells them what to do without getting their buy in.
She also to me (as others have said) understand the local market - the shop was obvioulsy badly layed out and needed some thinning out but local people obviously liked the type of shop it is. Many smallish towns have similar shops - people reply on them
She also to me (as others have said) understand the local market - the shop was obvioulsy badly layed out and needed some thinning out but local people obviously liked the type of shop it is. Many smallish towns have similar shops - people reply on them
But that's the point - people rely on this type of shop less and less. It wasn't making enough money. He needed to do something.
By the way I hated the new name, sounded like some awful Saturday morning children's show. A modernisation, yes, but the old name was perfectly ok.
But that's the point - people rely on this type of shop less and less. It wasn't making enough money. He needed to do something.
By the way I hated the new name, sounded like some awful Saturday morning children's show. A modernisation, yes, but the old name was perfectly ok.
I agree - but it was too extreme. I tidy up and thin out - yes. New name, new colour etc why?
And the key point was she didn't do it with him - she did it to him. Hence why he's reverted back to the old name
Very interesting. The photos in the last blog post seem to suggest that the shop is back to selling an arbitrary selection of crap.
I enjoyed the episode, but found it odd that they didn't use the huge floorspace to stock timber, boards and steelstock as well as tools. An independent place like that could potentially make a lot of money from commercial sales. Supplying businesses normally results in regular repeat purchases.
It could be that there are other outlets who are controlling that market - it would be interesting to see the market research that must have gone on.
I've not seen the programme yet, but there's a lot of small hardware/DIY businesses in trouble.
The "killer" was many years ago when they were forced to close on Sundays but the "sheds" remained open.
The downturn in the housing market has affected these and the sheds alike, but the sheds are able to ride the recession better.
We've a local one which is struggling, most of their trade is in small purchases. No one with any sense spends "big money" in these shops, (for any DIY "projects," I use an electrical wholesaler, builders merchant, plumbing supply company and a woodyard) These small shops are now mostly just a convenience for when you're out shopping and you suddenly remember you need a plug, lightbulb, or a tube of Polyfilla.
They can compete on price with the sheds, but many people think the sheds are cheaper but across the board they aren't.
. . . .I do hope that for her next series she goes back to what she knows best - Fashion. There must be dozens of independant clothes retailers that would be interesting in taking part, and who don't only take part because they have clearly been offered a free refit up front.
Its unlikely there will be a new series soon. Mary has signed to Channel 4. Her next series in the autumn is about sorting out the fashion industry that doesn't cater for the older woman. (think Marks and Spencer, John Lewis)
Mary has signed to Channel 4. Her next series in the autumn is about sorting out the fashion industry that doesn't cater for the older woman. (think Marks and Spencer, John Lewis)
Oh I will look forward to that. I'm late 40s, but not ready for frumpy polyester/elastic waists/Edinburgh Woollen Mill just yet.
Well, I've watched the whole series, and Mary has made me want to watch it, but for me the series hasn't worked nearly as well as her clothes shop ones for several reasons.
It has become far too formulaic. In virtually every episode she has insisted on changing the shop name, often for no good reason. In every episode she has had to deal with completely intransigent show owners, who have presumably asked for her to help them, yet are then completely resistant to change. Every episode has featured clueless and unpleasant staff - sack the lot of them and get some intelligent/friendly staff and your takings will soar. And then there's Mary's constant mugging to the camera - again,exactly the same in every episode.
In fact this series looks like it has been made by Channel 4 - and the reason I seldom watch more than the first few episodes of any of their "reality" series (Supernanny, The Hotel Inspector, Country House Rescue, The Business Inspector etc. etc.) is because they are edited to such a rigid formula, that you feel like you are watching endless repeats of the same episode.
They've even used the highly irritating C4 idea of showing all the best bits up front. Note to producers - if I sit down to watch a show I want the best bits to be a surprise - a reward for watching the whole show, not shown at the start and thus spoiling their inclusion later. It's not as if you even have ad. breaks on the BBC where people might lose interest, so why do it?
There is no doubt that Mary understands display, but I don't think she has a clue about small town mentality, and how stores that sell everything are invaluable to the community.
I do hope that for her next series she goes back to what she knows best - Fashion. There must be dozens of independant clothes retailers that would be interesting in taking part, and who don't only take part because they have clearly been offered a free refit up front.
Apologies to ditto everything above, but 100% agree with Mystery Man
It has to be remembered, first and foremost this is a "show." A lot of footage will be taken over several days and the producers/directors can slant this in anyway they wish. So staff can be made to seem helpful/unhelpful by using particular clips rather than others. The more "dysfunctional" the subjects are, or can be made to appear, improves the "watchability" of any series.
If everything went smoothly, there'd be no "cliffhanger element" to keep the viewer's attention. So; "if there ain't one, they'll make one."
I remember someone writing in a news feature where they said they'd complained about the way they'd been portrayed in a programme. The producer told them "It's what we do."
I was amused by the local people Mary dragged into the village hall for the "market research" - one poor old girl on crutches looked like she didn't have the strength to pick up a screwdriver, let alone attempt any DIY (the rest of the old biddies didn't look much better).
I agree with most of the posts re the last show. FixIt Factory was a ridiculous name as was the colour scheme for the outside, it looked like a small branch of B&Q . Driving past you would think it was a completely new shop, so I can understand why he changed the name back.
I love those Alladin cave type of old DIY stores but can they compete with the big names. I would love to support all these independant stores everywhere if only because they sometimes stock items you would never get in the multis. Surely the main reason why these independants flounder is on price. They just cannot compete with the big giants who can buy in bulk and get a nice discount from the suppliers.
Sadly though I cannot see this shop lasting very long. The owner did not seem to enjoy serving in his shop but preferred to shut himself away in his office. There was no mention if he has a partner but he certainly needs someone to give him some drive and energy back.
I'm the same with B&Q - have just bought a house, and its my new favourite shop. Spent about £200 in the space of a couple of weeks - paint, brushes, doormats, lightshades. A veritable Aladdin's cave!
Oh yes. Bought a house a month ago and now I find myself in B&Q almost every lunchtime for bits and pieces. Just got my credit card bill and it's frightening how much money it has all added up to.
I'm a total novice at DIY so I see objects in B&Q that I wouldn't know what to do with.
I agree with most of the posts re the last show. FixIt Factory was a ridiculous name as was the colour scheme for the outside, it looked like a small branch of B&Q . Driving past you would think it was a completely new shop, so I can understand why he changed the name back.
I love those Alladin cave type of old DIY stores but can they compete with the big names. I would love to support all these independant stores everywhere if only because they sometimes stock items you would never get in the multis. Surely the main reason why these independants flounder is on price. They just cannot compete with the big giants who can buy in bulk and get a nice discount from the suppliers.
Sadly though I cannot see this shop lasting very long. The owner did not seem to enjoy serving in his shop but preferred to shut himself away in his office. There was no mention if he has a partner but he certainly needs someone to give him some drive and energy back.
It's the age old problem, they end up giving 75ps worth of service to sell 25ps worth of goods.
I was amused by the local people Mary dragged into the village hall for the "market research" - one poor old girl on crutches looked like she didn't have the strength to pick up a screwdriver, let alone attempt any DIY (the rest of the old biddies didn't look much better).
Probably the sort of old biddies and codgers who turn up at any local event just for something to do.
Oh yes. Bought a house a month ago and now I find myself in B&Q almost every lunchtime for bits and pieces. Just got my credit card bill and it's frightening how much money it has all added up to.
I'm a total novice at DIY so I see objects in B&Q that I wouldn't know what to do with.
B&Q are just an expensive convenience.
Use dedicated suppliers/wholesalers, for electrical, plumbing, building and timber products. It'll work out cheaper.
They are also able to give you good advice.
Use dedicated suppliers/wholesalers, for electrical, plumbing, building and timber products. It'll work out cheaper.
They are also able to give you good advice.
The majority of the staff at B&Q "know nuffin'."
I'm sure that's true - but B&Q are
a) cheaper than Homebase
b) opposite where I work
c) convenient as I don't have the time to go visiting local suppliers
d) has long opening hours and a great burger van outside
Advice is the one thing they don't do. Most of the staff as spotty teenagers. It would be nice to have people there who look as if they have built a house with their bare hands. You'd think they be more interested in hiring older staff who have some experience.
I'm sure that's true - but B&Q are
a) cheaper than Homebase
b) opposite where I work
c) convenient as I don't have the time to go visiting local suppliers
d) has long opening hours and a great burger van outside
Advice is the one thing they don't do. Most of the staff as spotty teenagers. It would be nice to have people there who look as if they have built a house with their bare hands. You'd think they be more interested in hiring older staff who have some experience.
To be fair they do employ some older people who know particular trades. But the best of 'em are actually doing it. There's plenty of work available for older people with some DIY skills. Most small business don't want small jobs, they are uneconomic.
This is the old version but it looks like theres plenty of houses round there to give them business.
Looking at that properly you can see how easy it would have been to have the cards and gifts shop totally separate and had one of his staff in there, and not have it joined up. Then it could have been run as a separate business not diluting the DIY store.
I really enjoy the show but I agree that it needs a revisited episode as others have stated. It's become formulaic in that you know the shop will be thriving at the end of the show, but it leaves you wondering what will happen afterwards (and I don't mean 2 months later)
Also, I would like to see her tackle a more "downmarket" shop for a harder challenge. I've missed a couple of episodes lately so not sure if this has been covered, but all the ones I've seen have either been in fairly upmarket areas (Under The Moon) or had a relatively middle class client base (John Peers)
Missed tonight's episode unfortunately.
Also - where do they find the shopowners to appear on the show? Word of mouth/advertising?
Didn't enjoy last nights epsiode as much as others in the series.
The show has never been about business facts and figures, but there is usually a passing comment about how much money the business is losing, how much debt they are in etc...this weeks I didn't hear any comments just that it was struggling.
yet again no questions were asked as to why there were several members of staff manning the shop when just a couple of them and the owner would have sufficed with such low volume trade.
i was interested in a rough estimate of the value of stock they were holding, as although some of the stuff was cheap, 15,000 product lines must still add up to a ludicrous stock inventory level.
instead we wasted time looking at modern art sculptures, trying to train some fairly hopeless staff, and making the shop look a bit better.
overall I didn't feel any of the changes were going to make the business viable in the long-term, I just don't see a future for small DIY shops in that industry due to the big competition from the chains, and also the way that the supermarkets do the 'odds and ends' DIY stuff now too.
Comments
Fully agree. Jamie looks far more engaged, intelligent and (yes) hot!
Also, those cards just took up far too much space for a DIY shop.
I found it quite interesting when they were doing their market research... just seeing the types of things that people would have a go at
The key difference to me is the approach - in "Kitchen Nightmares", Ramsey, despite being harsh and at times unpleasant to the owners, lets them solve the problems and coaches them how to do it. Portas doesn't coach - she tells them what to do without getting their buy in.
She also to me (as others have said) understand the local market - the shop was obvioulsy badly layed out and needed some thinning out but local people obviously liked the type of shop it is. Many smallish towns have similar shops - people reply on them
But that's the point - people rely on this type of shop less and less. It wasn't making enough money. He needed to do something.
By the way I hated the new name, sounded like some awful Saturday morning children's show. A modernisation, yes, but the old name was perfectly ok.
I agree - but it was too extreme. I tidy up and thin out - yes. New name, new colour etc why?
And the key point was she didn't do it with him - she did it to him. Hence why he's reverted back to the old name
Very interesting. The photos in the last blog post seem to suggest that the shop is back to selling an arbitrary selection of crap.
I enjoyed the episode, but found it odd that they didn't use the huge floorspace to stock timber, boards and steelstock as well as tools. An independent place like that could potentially make a lot of money from commercial sales. Supplying businesses normally results in regular repeat purchases.
It could be that there are other outlets who are controlling that market - it would be interesting to see the market research that must have gone on.
The "killer" was many years ago when they were forced to close on Sundays but the "sheds" remained open.
The downturn in the housing market has affected these and the sheds alike, but the sheds are able to ride the recession better.
We've a local one which is struggling, most of their trade is in small purchases. No one with any sense spends "big money" in these shops, (for any DIY "projects," I use an electrical wholesaler, builders merchant, plumbing supply company and a woodyard) These small shops are now mostly just a convenience for when you're out shopping and you suddenly remember you need a plug, lightbulb, or a tube of Polyfilla.
They can compete on price with the sheds, but many people think the sheds are cheaper but across the board they aren't.
Its unlikely there will be a new series soon. Mary has signed to Channel 4. Her next series in the autumn is about sorting out the fashion industry that doesn't cater for the older woman. (think Marks and Spencer, John Lewis)
Oh I will look forward to that. I'm late 40s, but not ready for frumpy polyester/elastic waists/Edinburgh Woollen Mill just yet.
Apologies to ditto everything above, but 100% agree with Mystery Man
If everything went smoothly, there'd be no "cliffhanger element" to keep the viewer's attention. So; "if there ain't one, they'll make one."
I remember someone writing in a news feature where they said they'd complained about the way they'd been portrayed in a programme. The producer told them "It's what we do."
I love those Alladin cave type of old DIY stores but can they compete with the big names. I would love to support all these independant stores everywhere if only because they sometimes stock items you would never get in the multis. Surely the main reason why these independants flounder is on price. They just cannot compete with the big giants who can buy in bulk and get a nice discount from the suppliers.
Sadly though I cannot see this shop lasting very long. The owner did not seem to enjoy serving in his shop but preferred to shut himself away in his office. There was no mention if he has a partner but he certainly needs someone to give him some drive and energy back.
Oh yes. Bought a house a month ago and now I find myself in B&Q almost every lunchtime for bits and pieces. Just got my credit card bill and it's frightening how much money it has all added up to.
I'm a total novice at DIY so I see objects in B&Q that I wouldn't know what to do with.
Focus did have to shut down a load of stores a few years ago, but they seem to have turned themselves around.
It's the age old problem, they end up giving 75ps worth of service to sell 25ps worth of goods.
Probably the sort of old biddies and codgers who turn up at any local event just for something to do.
B&Q are just an expensive convenience.
Use dedicated suppliers/wholesalers, for electrical, plumbing, building and timber products. It'll work out cheaper.
They are also able to give you good advice.
The majority of the staff at B&Q "know nuffin'."
They were sold to new owners in 2007.
I'm sure that's true - but B&Q are
a) cheaper than Homebase
b) opposite where I work
c) convenient as I don't have the time to go visiting local suppliers
d) has long opening hours and a great burger van outside
Advice is the one thing they don't do. Most of the staff as spotty teenagers. It would be nice to have people there who look as if they have built a house with their bare hands. You'd think they be more interested in hiring older staff who have some experience.
To be fair they do employ some older people who know particular trades. But the best of 'em are actually doing it. There's plenty of work available for older people with some DIY skills. Most small business don't want small jobs, they are uneconomic.
Looking at that properly you can see how easy it would have been to have the cards and gifts shop totally separate and had one of his staff in there, and not have it joined up. Then it could have been run as a separate business not diluting the DIY store.
Also, I would like to see her tackle a more "downmarket" shop for a harder challenge. I've missed a couple of episodes lately so not sure if this has been covered, but all the ones I've seen have either been in fairly upmarket areas (Under The Moon) or had a relatively middle class client base (John Peers)
Missed tonight's episode unfortunately.
Also - where do they find the shopowners to appear on the show? Word of mouth/advertising?
The show has never been about business facts and figures, but there is usually a passing comment about how much money the business is losing, how much debt they are in etc...this weeks I didn't hear any comments just that it was struggling.
yet again no questions were asked as to why there were several members of staff manning the shop when just a couple of them and the owner would have sufficed with such low volume trade.
i was interested in a rough estimate of the value of stock they were holding, as although some of the stuff was cheap, 15,000 product lines must still add up to a ludicrous stock inventory level.
instead we wasted time looking at modern art sculptures, trying to train some fairly hopeless staff, and making the shop look a bit better.
overall I didn't feel any of the changes were going to make the business viable in the long-term, I just don't see a future for small DIY shops in that industry due to the big competition from the chains, and also the way that the supermarkets do the 'odds and ends' DIY stuff now too.
I'm a bit like that in Ann Summers...