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Having been inside an EWM once I fear for the worst...
Didnt realise that Blacks and millets were the same company.
Not fussed Tiso is far better anyway.
"This is the winter of our discount tents"
"This is the winter of our discount tents"
Not sure how to feel about that one.
Part clever, part ooooh.
Part last season is calling, it wants its joke back.
Didnt realise that Blacks and millets were the same company.
yep that both sell the same rubbish - never used to but their stock lines seem to have converged after blacks took millets over
Never shopped there, don't think I'd start now.
hora - Member
Never shopped there, don't think I'd start now.
hora - Member
I love the outdoors yet I never shop at Millets or Blacks. I once walked into Blacks with my dog and was asked to leave by the Manager. I said 'is this an outdoors shop'? To which he replied 'its a retailer Sir'.
Well you are barred so that's understandable. Just send the dog in for you 🙂
"This is the winter of our discount tents"
Someone has been listening to the Today program this morning..
Never shopped there, don't think I'd start now.
Nope, wait a week or 2 and the Oakleys that they have left will be rediculously cheap...
No wonder my next door neighbour (who's high up in marketing at Blacks, so part of that "central overhead costs") looks grumpy.
Everytime I've been in they just seem to stock wishy washy stuff. Tshirts with prints on, samey-generic jackets -all at ridiculous prices.
Maybe they've over expanded. On the edge of Deansgate, Manchester in the retail deadzone they have two stores with 20m's. Surely they'd be better off losing one or making a store within a store. Madness.
Maybe they've over expanded
Or not consolidated enough. I think the big problem is a combination of being more hit by the recession than other outdoor retailers (operating at the lower end of the market, they didn't have much room to move downmarket), and then I understand all outdoor retailers have suffered badly this autumn with the unseasonable weather meaning they're nobody wants to buy what they're stocking.
Last time I went in I saw alot of jackets well over £200. Same with Ellis Brigham. Well EB are worse- some were hitting £300. 😯
Madness for synthetics manufactured in China.
[i](operating at the lower end of the market, they didn't have much room to move downmarket),[/i]
Thing is, they didn't used to operate there. Blacks used to be a 'proper' outdoor shop selling 'proper' outdoorsy/mountaineering type stuff. Millets operated in the lower end family camping/scouts and guides market. Now there's barely any difference betwen them.
[i]Last time I went in I saw alot of jackets well over £200. Same with Ellis Brigham. Well EB are worse- some were hitting £300. [/i]
Top-end mountaineering gear costs. If you're wearing it in a howling Himalayan gale, you won't mind having paid £300.
Top-end mountaineering gear costs. If you're wearing it in a howling Himalayan gale, you won't mind having paid £300.
I had a real good look around the North Face jackets etc at this price banding. I wouldn't wear them in a Peaks winter nevermind there.
Millets lost it's way, neither basic outdoor gear or the more specialist end of the market. If you wanted a basic fleece top you can get better cheaper at ASDA so it's no suprise they are now a zombie company.
Back In The Day, the North Face Mountain Jacket was the cagoule of choice for mountaineers. I had the Mountain Ski, which was incredible.
They're basically a fashion brand now 🙁
Thats exactly what I was thinking - they 'look' like something you 'should' wear.
Those North Face logos are good aiming points...
TNF is still a good brand at the top end.