House Of Fraser Meadowhall

[Silverfox21 10]

Went in House of Fraser yesterday and there are signs everywhere saying ‘closing down for refurbishment’ A member of staff told me that when it reopens it will be Flannels not House of Fraser and all the staff are being made redundant! Another one bites the dust ☹️

[bassett one 447]

where these not a posh company,for the want of a word ,that were in the city centre?

[Silverfox21 10]

They were in the building that is now Poundland then moved to Meadowhall 

[BigAl1 142]

going down!

 

Posh - once upon a time perhaps but not since Mike Ashley has got hold of them. 

 

 

[ECCOnoob 1,017]

3 hours ago, Silverfox21 said:

Went in House of Fraser yesterday and there are signs everywhere saying ‘closing down for refurbishment’ A member of staff told me that when it reopens it will be Flannels not House of Fraser and all the staff are being made redundant! Another one bites the dust ☹️

Flannels will be part of it on one floor.  What was House of Fraser is going more premium, more compact and single level to become Frasers.  

 

It will still be a dept store just much smaller and more selective in its stock.  There has been quite a lot about it in the Star and meadowhall website.  

 

"gone" in one sense but better to evolve it and keep some staff than it stagnate and close altogether.  

 

2 hours ago, Bigal1 said:

going down!

 

Posh - once upon a time perhaps but not since Mike Ashley has got hold of them. 

 

 

At least he tried to stop it from closing altogether.   

 

The retail world has changed and stores cannot cling on to their legacies and reputation.  They all have to adapt to what customers want.  Those that don't go the same way as Debenhams. 

 

I don't get this whole criticism of Ashley thing.

 

Yes he might be a ruthless hard nosed uncaring businessman but being like that has saved dozens of brands and thousands of jobs.  He may have a reputation of bringing cheaper brands into once 'upmarket' establishment but  ultimately that is what we the customers are demanding.  

 

Big posh department stores don't make money out of customers going in once a week fiddling with the merchandise, looking at pretty lights and then going home complaining it's too expensive and buying it from Amazon.  

Edited December 6, 2020 by ECCOnoob

[Anna B 1,401]

1 hour ago, ECCOnoob said:

Flannels will be part of it on one floor.  What was House of Fraser is going more premium, more compact and single level to become Frasers.  

 

It will still be a dept store just much smaller and more selective in its stock.  There has been quite a lot about it in the Star and meadowhall website.  

 

"gone" in one sense but better to evolve it and keep some staff than it stagnate and close altogether.  

 

At least he tried to stop it from closing altogether.   

 

The retail world has changed and stores cannot cling on to their legacies and reputation.  They all have to adapt to what customers want.  Those that don't go the same way as Debenhams. 

 

I don't get this whole criticism of Ashley thing.

 

Yes he might be a ruthless hard nosed uncaring businessman but being like that has saved dozens of brands and thousands of jobs.  He may have a reputation of bringing cheaper brands into once 'upmarket' establishment but  ultimately that is what we the customers are demanding.  

 

Big posh department stores don't make money out of customers going in once a week fiddling with the merchandise, looking at pretty lights and then going home complaining it's too expensive and buying it from Amazon.  

A bit like tax exile Philip Green of Arcadia fame do you mean?

[Cassie57 10]

My cousin works there and it was meant to be Frasers on the lower floor and Flannels on the upper floor. Day before 2nd lockdown the staff were told that they were being made redundant. Flannels is having the lower floor and part of the upper and Zara is having the rest. 

[ECCOnoob 1,017]

2 hours ago, Anna B said:

A bit like tax exile Philip Green of Arcadia fame do you mean?

Yeah if you like Anna.

 

Until their recent downfall another very successful businessman who established thousands of branches and in-store concessions, created hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributed millions to the economy.

 

Go push your anti-capitalism agenda somewhere else.

 

This is about House of Fraser. 

[ECCOnoob 1,017]

2 hours ago, Cassie57 said:

My cousin works there and it was meant to be Frasers on the lower floor and Flannels on the upper floor. Day before 2nd lockdown the staff were told that they were being made redundant. Flannels is having the lower floor and part of the upper and Zara is having the rest. 

Thank you. That must have changed very recently as it was scheduled to open in Spring.  Even the news on meadowhall own website must be out of date.  

 

It's a shame - but clearly they must have had a feeling that Frasers would not perform well particularly in the drastically changed climate and made the sensible decision to can it before investing too much and setting themselves up for a fall.  

 

Hope there are maybe some opportunity for the staff to be absorbed into other areas of the group.  In fact if they give in and let Ashley buy Debenhams out of administration there might be some hope later down the line.

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by ECCOnoob

[BigAl1 142]

21 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

Flannels will be part of it on one floor.  What was House of Fraser is going more premium, more compact and single level to become Frasers.  

 

It will still be a dept store just much smaller and more selective in its stock.  There has been quite a lot about it in the Star and meadowhall website.  

 

"gone" in one sense but better to evolve it and keep some staff than it stagnate and close altogether.  

 

At least he tried to stop it from closing altogether.   

 

The retail world has changed and stores cannot cling on to their legacies and reputation.  They all have to adapt to what customers want.  Those that don't go the same way as Debenhams. 

 

I don't get this whole criticism of Ashley thing.

 

Yes he might be a ruthless hard nosed uncaring businessman but being like that has saved dozens of brands and thousands of jobs.  He may have a reputation of bringing cheaper brands into once 'upmarket' establishment but  ultimately that is what we the customers are demanding.  

 

Big posh department stores don't make money out of customers going in once a week fiddling with the merchandise, looking at pretty lights and then going home complaining it's too expensive and buying it from Amazon.  

Don't know how Ashley treats his shop staff but his factories don't sound like a bundle of fun have a read

[Super Hans 10]

Yes the plan was for it to be refurbished but now everybody is being made redundant. I actually think Frasers will reopen at some point in the future in Meadowhall, but with none of the current staff involved. They have too many staff that are still there from 10/20/30 years ago which is expensive for Mike Ashley when they are on the old contracts from House Of Fraser, he likes part timers on his own terms.

 

It was always going to happen, the ones who had an ounce of foresight saw the ship sinking, the ones who didn't are still there.

[Luke456 11]

I have been a customer of House of Fraser since the 90s, mostly for the designer names it has (unlike Debenhams) I checked out this Flanels online and Mike Ashley must know what he is doing. Not sure about paying £250 for a Stone Island top these days in Sheffield, especially as I only go out to the Supermarket!