Really irritating that they wouldn't transfer stock between stores, presumably baked into their logistics model, but hugely annoying.
Re Decathalon – I don’t think the UK is market that they are that interested in expanding aggressively into – which is a shame because they sell alot of very good stuff for the price they charge.
I’m not sure how aggressively they’re expanding but they’ve certainly increased their number over the last few years. This from their website:
Our past
Decathlon UK opened its first store in London in 1999 and has since grown to over 44 stores. Six of the stores are owned by Decathlon as to show our direction to be a long term player in the UK market and we service our customers through omni channel means using a logistics hub based in Northampton.
Our target areas
Since our initial development plan of opening stores UK wide, we have made a strategic decision to concentrate our development around the main catchments of London, Birmingham and Manchester. Once established with a strong market presence of stores in these areas, we will widen this development direction to other UK cities and wider geographical areas.
And if you look at the map of UK stores - that’s pretty much what they’re doing. You could almost draw a straight line from SE to NW (excl Scottish stores obvs).
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I guess this is why the Calibre chap jumped ship to Planet X?
Decathlon clearly have store location issues - they even have one in Bolton FFS.
I'll happily spend time in both Scottish branches.
I wonder how this will turn out given there really appears to be interest in camping and other outdoor pursuits, due to this virus. Plenty of threads on here for all manner of camping kit.
I'm not sure people will for a number of years be happy with going abroad, and are looking to holiday here at home, and I think too people will be looking to save rather than spend thousands to go to Europe(Which appears to hate us anyway)
They couldn't make the Edinburgh more awkward to get to!
They couldn’t make the Edinburgh more awkward to get to!
Try getting out of the Braehead one outside of office hours!
deadlydarcy
Member
That’s a pity. The Bristol store is only a few minutes walk from home for me. Have had some bargains from there when popping in while out walking the dog. (Always a bowl of water and treats for the pooches too.) I hope they can find a way to stay open.We’re a bit screwed for that kind of retail in Brizzle if it goes. Decathlon’s store opening strategy seems to concentrate on a spine from south east to north west. AFAIK from the last time I checked, there are no plans for a Bristol or Cardiff store anytime soon. I’ve never understood why they don’t have a massive store in an outdoor mad city like Bristol, or indeed molgrips’ Cardiff.
The Bristol store is only a 10 minute drive away for me, it will be a real shame if it shuts down. I used to enjoy pottering around there.
I agree about Decathlon, would be great to have one close, I only ever got to go to one when my son was racing in Manchester Velodrome (and when on holiday in Spain).
I'm never really sure what GO is for, I go in but rarely find much in that I'd actually want. It's a bit like outdoors TK Maxx, occasionally you do find something you want cheap, but more often you find something cheap that might do. Most of the cheap stuff is as cheap somewhere else and the kit is typically fairly basic.
It compares poorly to decathlon.
It compares poorly to decathlon.
I'm not sure thats entirely fair. There is alot of overlap but they are not quite the same market - Decathlon does pretty much all sports with a good outdoor section and a few tents and lots of own brand stuff but it doesn't have the range of camping equipment that Go Outdoors does.
I think the business model makes sense - in a recession you go camping because its cheap, when your doing well people take extra holidays camping. I think the underlying question is whether any retailer like this can compete in the days of Amazon, CRC, Wiggle etc.
I’m not sure how aggressively they’re expanding but they’ve certainly increased their number over the last few years. This from their website:
Happy to stand corrected!
Perhaps it could be bought out by Decathlon and Sports Direct.
I’m never really sure what GO is for, I go in but rarely find much in that I’d actually want.
I've bought many t-shirts from there at decent discounts; several pairs of shoes; a Rab eVent jacket for £100 (down from £250); a nice rack for my commuter that was half the price of most stuff; Rab stuff for my wife; kids' shoes; some caravan gear; cheap camping stuff, loads of things. They seem to bring in clearance stuff like TK Maxx and this is often the best bargains. There's lots of quality kit in there as well as lower end stuff but even then that's alright these days too.
Got to say, really surprised by the eulogising of gooutdoors. Let's be clear here it wasn't anything amazing. They sold a lot of stuff, of very variable quality, at generally very low prices. I got a few bargains there, still got two shrink wrapped climbing ropes that were pretty much free with the various offers they stacked together.
But a great outdoor shop they really really weren't.
And the irony of people lamenting them because they're the last/only outdoor shop in the area.
Errrmmmm
it’s for finding high quality branded stuff cheap online and getting GO to beat that price. Shame you never managed to figure that out 😂 I’ve got some absolutely crazy bargains over the years, my two F10 tents being the highlights. Plus there’s one 5 mins walk from where I live which is handy for grabbing last minute stuff before a trip!!I’m never really sure what GO is for
I’m never really sure what GO is for
It just means go.
I expect when JD Sports or whoever took them over put the buy out loan on the balance sheet, took away any properties and charge them a hefty interest rate plus, rent and a big corporate overhead charge. Covid-19 has killed sales, so they have no cash flow to service that debt. By going into some form of receivership, they'll try and write-off some bad debts, renegotiate with landlords, get rid of unprofitable stores and probably wriggle out of any redundancy payments.
They should have dropped the discount card as that immediately adds a £5 premium for a casual internet purchase.
dovebiker, spot on, so many good businesses asset stripped and dumped with crippling debt.
They should have dropped the discount card as that immediately adds a £5 premium for a casual internet purchase.
Which you then save with the discount plus extra for finding it cheaper elsewhere.
JD also owns Millets and Blacks
This explains why I was seeing both advertising Fox clothing!
Got to say, really surprised by the eulogising of gooutdoors. Let’s be clear here it wasn’t anything amazing.
They're pretty good for browsing. I've not been anywhere else where you can view, and walk inside a full range of tents from various manufacturers. It's like the adult version of Toys r Us.
I don't think I've ever once bought anything from there. The discount card always put me off making any kind of casual purchases and I never seen any deals tempting enough to get one.
yep, fair point as far as big tents go. Perhaps I have was thinking of them as a 'proper' outdoor shop, not just a shop punting huge tents and camping tat to the masses. (they do the latter very well)
Perhaps I have was thinking of them as a ‘proper’ outdoor shop, not just a shop punting huge tents and camping tat to the masses.
They have plenty of 'proper' kit in there. Not in the camping section but in the clothing and footwear. As said, the real gold is where you get clearance stuff from good manufacturers at rock bottom. Then going into Tiso or Cotswold starts to look really flippin expensive.
I probably wouldn't go into GO if I were properly loaded - but I'm not, so I do.
And the irony of people lamenting them because they’re the last/only outdoor shop in the area.
Errrmmmm
Exactly what I was thinking. But the last time I tried to buy a tent from the last independent shop in this area they weren’t even close to the internet on price, never mind matching what Go Outdoors were doing. The independent has now shut, no surprise, so Go Outdoors is the last camping shop in this area.
Got to say, really surprised by the eulogising of gooutdoors. Let’s be clear here it wasn’t anything amazing.
They do some good bargains at times just keep a watch out.
They've kept me in day-to-day footwear for like 15-20 years. Whenever I need to replace them I just jump on GO and buy whichever model of Salomons they've got reduced from £140 to £60 that week.
That sucks. As a Cub leader I enjoy a decent discount at Go Outdoors, as do the Cubs. For a big chain they are actually very supportive of organisations generally.
Go Outdoors always had a good selection of kit, from cheap to expensive. It was one of the few shops I could go into and try on clothes or boots from 6 to 10 different manufacturers, get to feel the cloth, see how it fitted, stretched, how it was put together. The £5 "membership" fee was easily worth it, even if I only bought a couple of items every year. Their OEX range of camping equipment might not have been the very lightest but it was good kit for the money. I really hope they can be saved.
They aren't a bad shop I suppose but I must admit of be absolutely mortified if Decathlon went under!
I love that place.
It was one of the few shops I could go into and try on clothes or boots from 6 to 10 different manufacturers, get to feel the cloth,
You touch cloth in Go Outdoors?
They aren’t a bad shop I suppose but I must admit of be absolutely mortified if Decathlon went under!
I googled them a while back, they're massive (and profitable). Something like 10x Bigger than Dorel, the home furnishings group that owns Cannondale/GT/Mongoose/Schwin/Iron Horse.
Aye, me too Poopscoop, really canny beat an hour wandering round Decathlon, about the only retail experience I enjoy. I suggested a wee visit to the inlaws this week, just so happens they're not far from the Glasgow branch, great excuse to pop in. 🙂
I don't feel like this is a surprise while they operate using a membership.
If i'm going shopping I want upfront pricing as and when I chose to frequent the store.
You get that already though...you get member and non-member pricing on the items.
Up to you if the money saved as a member warrants coughing up the £5 to become a member.
You get that already though…you get member and non-member pricing on the items.
Up to you if the money saved as a member warrants coughing up the £5 to become a member.
The point is a lot of people probably just want a stove, or some gas, or an OS map, or a puncture repair kit, or a tyre.
So you go in, pick up the item, go to the checkout, find out your card expired again last week, pay another £5 because it's not worth wasting an hour of your life going elsewhere, wonder why you didn't just go across town to Decathlon where it was probably cheaper anyway and you could have spent that £5 on some gadget you didn't need instead.
9 times out of 10 the bike stuff isn't actually that cheap anyway unless you're buying a Bossnut.
I'll miss go outdoors. Decathlon doesn't quite cover the same range of things I'm looking for. But I've also found that I'm starting to look online more and more. Millets and Blacks have been slowly going down hill for decades and never have anything I want, and Cotswolds whilst nice to browse is eye watering in price, and seems to like having big shops with very little in it (Or so the Leeds on did a couple of years ago).
Living in the middle of Cheshire, there aren't the outdoor shops especially more specialist/highend one. Northwich had a basic army/navy shop and a more upmarket hiking one, but both have gone now.
More trips to Keswick I think. Lots of lovely shops to browse after being out on the fells all day.
Membership/discount card put me off.
I've got cash, you've got goods, we swap - if its more complicated than that, you'll lose custom.
Yup.. dual pricing always put me off. I can see the logic for the company to offer the discount card to try and build loyalty and a marketing database... but it kept me away.
wonder why you didn’t just go across town to Decathlon
You mean go across the country..? There aren't enough Decathlons. Hopefully Decathlon will buy up Go Outdoors sites.
But the basic stuff you mention isn't that much cheaper with the card. It's the clearance stuff that has the big bargains. There are lots of nice T-shirts I won't pay £40 for but I'll pay £20. That's where the discount card comes in handy.
There are lots of nice T-shirts I won’t pay £40 for but I’ll pay £20. That’s where the discount card comes in handy.
I refer you to my comment on the first page
And downstairs was just TK max for berghaus and wierd fish t-shirts for once youve given up on life and want to dress like your dad.
It's for the Superdry dads who're past looking cool and have accepted that what they really need for this season, and every season for the next 40 years is a nice fleece and a light jacket.
I refer you to my comment on the first page
And downstairs was just TK max for berghaus and wierd fish t-shirts for once youve given up on life and want to dress like your dad.
I don't have Berghaus or Weird Fish t-shirts, they do stuff like ice breaker too. And my Dad does not wear t-shirts, nor have I given up on life at all - I look quite hard for t-shirts and clothes I like. You're coming over a bit mean here.
You’re coming over a bit mean here.
Just kidding.
I think it varies by shop, the Reading one isn't bad, I think I wandered into the Wigan one looking for something random like socks and inner tubes and they must have had a container load or Wierd-fish t-shirts. I've not seen a wierd-fish t-shirt since the early 2000's!
