Oh noes! DSGi to close 77 Currys.Digital stores
Following a ‘radical’ review, DSGi retail group which operates Curry, Currys.digital and PC World stores here in the UK, is set to close 77 of its high street Currys.Digital (formerly known as Dixons) stores. The 100 remaining shops will be trialling new formats later in the year and rethinking the product lines they have in stock.
The results of chief executive John Browett’s review have been a hot topic, especially in wake of revelations that US retailer Best Buy is preparing a huge assault on the UK following a deal with The Carphone Warehouse.
Frankly, all this comes as little surprise and I’m not even remotely upset at the prospect of a big US corporation thundering in to grab the reigns of the UK’s high street electrical retailing. Good on them.
Dixons or Currys.digital or whatever ridiculous guise it’s operating under this week has slowly but surely earned itself a diabolical reputation in tech retail. It is invariably over-priced, its staff are usually surly and don’t have the first clue what you or they themselves are talking about, and what they’re selling isn’t worth the time of day either.
Unsurprisingly, Mr Browett has a somewhat less disparaging view of the business: “DSGi has many inherent strengths as a leading specialist electrical retailer, including market leading positions and strong supplier relationships,” he said, but admitted “it has not kept pace with its core customer needs, particularly in the UK.”
He also plans to give a PC World and Currys stores a makeover at the same time. The goal is to make PC world the “destination for computing and new technology digital products and services”. I think a ‘never knowingly undersold’ policy would help, but heaven forbid its customers actually discover internet shopping.
Currys meanwhile will be trialling a new store format, although it is unclear exactly what form it will take.
I do feel sorry for the staff. Curt, rude and ignorant are the terms I’d use to describe most of them, but it’s also clear that they get little incentives to do what they do and even less training. Hell, if half of them actually had the first idea about the crap they sell, they might even have a chance of selling it at those laughable prices.
Currys.digital (via PCRetail)
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3 comments
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There will always be people who think this way and it’s largly due to the companies poor base rate pay, which inevitably means they don’t hire the right passionate people. This is soon to change i think.
At the current prices, the stores are bearly making anything. Internet retailers can suppliment this by selling a massive amount of the item and not having rates to pay (rent etc either). The internet can be cheaper, but a lot more hassle if anything goes wrong. I had to return a tv card to play.com and it’s been 5 weeks and still no solution.
Having seen the ‘behind the scenes’ view of what direction the company is going in i am genuinely excited. I can’t vouch for other stores, but to say they are all poor is a farce. The new system however, if it rolls out for all stores, will be utterly fantastic and make currys alot more competitivly priced and easily more shopable.
Well I know people are entitled to their opinions, but as an employee of some 17 yrs I have obviously seen lots of changes over the years, have also received some excellent training along the way and would appreciate if bigotted idiots like this would not tar us all with the same brush!!!!! It would be nice if he was man enough to apologise too!!!
A VERY ANGRY employee who knows EXACTLY WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT!!!!!
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