Had a bad experience with HG a few years back.... never been back since and not at all surprised they have failed. If you sell sub standard kit at inflated prices and then offer shoddy customer service its no surprise that customers are not knocking your front door down.
I nipped into the Lincoln branch the other day and saw only 20% off, around £329 for an Alpine Stars suit was tempting. I drove past the Doncaster store last week and didn't see any signs though.
Mate was the manager of that store till about 2 months ago - he knew there were problems so got out before it went bump - when you have to use your own personal credit card to buy stock / goods for customers the writing is on the wall.
well dont know about the shops you have there but the HG store here was a rip off price wise.didnt surprise me when I heard the news.
Took the car over to HG Lincoln this morning, what a waste or time! The have reduced their prices on some stock to the normal price of everywhere else, they have learnt nothing if they are not competitive even under administration? IMO only I'm sure someone somewhere has a bargain ?? Ps took the car because of the crap weather.
That's funny, when I left HG Lincoln on Friday I went for a ride around Grantham to find Grantham Honda, I failed probably 'cos I rely to much on Sat Nav and was on the bike
I'm quite gutted that HG is shutting down. To be honest it's the only descent place for the likes of myself and the missus to get bike gear. The guy we deal with really couldn't be more helpful. The last time we were in was for the missus to get a full set of riding gear. Ie jacket, bottoms, gloves, boots, and helmet. Not only did he knock off 35% from the total price but he also stayed on another 45 minutes after the store was meant to be closed and then gave us a further £40 gift card to spend next time we were in store. Needless to say I recommended them to a mate who also got the same sort of deal/service. Can't see me finding service like that anywhere soon
Your probably right, I never like to see any business fail, the store keeper today had a positive attitude which must be difficult when you are losing your job?
The Administrators will be looking to get as high a price for all the remaining stock as they can, to pay off the creditors. They've advertised the closing-down sale but won't mark down prices dramatically on the first weekend in case they get quite a bit of business with these initial discounts. As time goes on the discounts will get greater the longer they still have the stock. On the flipside the stock they can't shift will be the less-desirable items so next weekend may be the optimal time to go but it'll depend on how keen the Administrators are on getting rid the stock.
Can't agree more Colin, my local store have always been very helpful & friendly. Really gutted for them. Again I must agree with Carl that even though the staff know they are out of a job they are still greeting people with a smile and are very helpful.
Just had a new mail out saying discounts up to 40% off now, with everything a minimum of 20% off. Reckon I'll be paying HG a visit this weekend although I don't actually need anything at the mo (for a change!) but if they have some decent stuff left then may as well pick some stuff up for the future.
It will all be a con, i will be waiting until its in its death throws !!! Then the real bargains will be had.
I went to the Gants Hill HG yesterday and all clothing was 25% off so better than the minimum 20% but didn't see much with higher than 25%. Stock-wise, there were a few one-piece & two-piece leathers, plenty of boots and helmets (although not sure how many of each size they had left) and bits of other stuff like undersuits, back protectors, gloves, etc. They didn't have much in the way of engine oil left but strangely did say they were expecting a new shipment in on Tuesday (?). The most stock they had was for females, which makes sense as it will be harder to shift. If you're a female rider or have your other half as pillion then worth taking a look as I reckon the story will be the same across most HG stores.
I went to Farnbough yesterday and talked with a member of staff, I said where are you going to work now mate? He said "we're not closing only a number of other branches!" Oh so this one is not shutting down then? "No!" he said! I think he said they were closing 20 or so of the stores NOT all of them :S Confused???
Yeah that's quite common if some stores are turning a profit. The profitable ones can be saved if the debts can be repaid by the sale of the other ones. It's all down the Administrators really. Fitness First are doing the same - the profitable large city branches are being kept whilst the others are being sold.
