How is Mike Ashley making money?
Discussion
Ashley has offered his SIL (new head of SD) a couple of £100 million if share price rises by x%.
That x% equates to an increase in wealth for Ashley of more than £1billion.
I don't think anyone thinks anything else apart from "desperate man"
At the moment Ashley has joined the ranks of Branson and Stelios and countless others. The business is surviving just as a way to maintain their expensive lifestyle. Going no where and as soon as the head is gone it will collapse like a house of cards.
That x% equates to an increase in wealth for Ashley of more than £1billion.
I don't think anyone thinks anything else apart from "desperate man"
At the moment Ashley has joined the ranks of Branson and Stelios and countless others. The business is surviving just as a way to maintain their expensive lifestyle. Going no where and as soon as the head is gone it will collapse like a house of cards.
boyse7en said:
Wacky Racer said:
You must be a different timezone as the two near me are horrible dark windowless buildings with so much stuff crammed in them that you knock stuff off all the rails as you try and squeeze through from the check-outs positioned at the back of the shop. 
Sports direct will go from strength to strength, they have eliminated most of the high street competition, (JD sell virtually no equipment),,,how many independent sports shops are around now, compared to thirty years ago?....and SD have a very good online business.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/19278241/mike-ashle...
SpeckledJim said:
'maintaining my expensive lifestyle'
and
'going nowhere'
You say it like it's a bad thing!
not saying it is bad but becoming complacent and adopting a "Gerald Ratner" attitude towards the customer is only just round the corner.and
'going nowhere'
You say it like it's a bad thing!
Everything revolves around fashion - you need to drive that, sharp minds, people in your organisation driving the direction, being innovative. Unfortunately if you are always selling to a price point then you really are at the mercy of your supplier and since most of his suppliers are already at the very cheap end then there is even less room to continually attract the customer.
For example I wear cheap Slazenger polo t-shirts (2 for £15). For a long while now SD aren't selling them in the right colours (all too dark and boring). Some don't even have the accents on the collar and sleeve which give it a little bit of extra attractiveness.
Instead I have turned to Vinted to get the colours I like.
Edited by Greenmantle on Monday 31st July 16:01
Edited by Greenmantle on Monday 31st July 16:02
Grrbang said:
where the hell do men get modern smartish discreet decent quality clothes from???).
With you on this! Plenty of options on the posh stuff but for everyday clobber, pickings are slim. M&S are OK but hit and miss depending on the time of year. Same for the supermarket stuff.
I travel a lot in southern and eastern Europe and there's a chain there called LC Waikiki - Turkish chain, I think. For at-home and weekday down the pub stuff, it's superb. Comfy, long lasting, half-stylish and not stupid money. Closest we have is Primark and I've yet to find anything they sell approaching comfortable.... or stylish (for blokes, anyway).
Any aspiring Mike Ashley's here - go take a look and bring the LC Waikiki concept (or them) to the UK.
StevieBee said:
With you on this!
Plenty of options on the posh stuff but for everyday clobber, pickings are slim. M&S are OK but hit and miss depending on the time of year. Same for the supermarket stuff.
I travel a lot in southern and eastern Europe and there's a chain there called LC Waikiki - Turkish chain, I think. For at-home and weekday down the pub stuff, it's superb. Comfy, long lasting, half-stylish and not stupid money. Closest we have is Primark and I've yet to find anything they sell approaching comfortable.... or stylish (for blokes, anyway).
Any aspiring Mike Ashley's here - go take a look and bring the LC Waikiki concept (or them) to the UK.
Reiss, m&s autograph, mango, Uniqlo, Massimo ditto.Plenty of options on the posh stuff but for everyday clobber, pickings are slim. M&S are OK but hit and miss depending on the time of year. Same for the supermarket stuff.
I travel a lot in southern and eastern Europe and there's a chain there called LC Waikiki - Turkish chain, I think. For at-home and weekday down the pub stuff, it's superb. Comfy, long lasting, half-stylish and not stupid money. Closest we have is Primark and I've yet to find anything they sell approaching comfortable.... or stylish (for blokes, anyway).
Any aspiring Mike Ashley's here - go take a look and bring the LC Waikiki concept (or them) to the UK.
Branded stuff, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Gant, Hackett - aka John lewis
More premium yet daks and John smedley (well for Londoners anyway).
Agree with what you're saying though - there does seem to be a lack of.
Always make a point of visiting a Gutteridge or Spada Roma when in Italy. Chain shops, boutique feel and service and very good on quality and price front.
boyse7en said:
You must be a different timezone as the two near me are horrible dark windowless buildings with so much stuff crammed in them that you knock stuff off all the rails as you try and squeeze through from the check-outs positioned at the back of the shop.
Similar experience to me and my local one. I went in there with some friends this weekend as we've a stag do and instead of dressing the stag up in obvious stag clothes one of the group thought it'd be more fun to give him a suitcase of Sports Direct clothes. He's a well dressed lad so would be more embarrassed at the subtlety of the awful clothes he's wearing so nobody knows he's on a stag and just assume he's a badly dressed chav. They had some trainers on the discount shelf that were a mismatched size 11.5 and 13. They were marked up with an extra 5% off but when I bought them (im sure my mate will appreciate them) the manager said the "extra 5%" was a mistake and it was actually 5% off the original price (£80) of the shoes. But that actually made them considerably more expensive than they £25 they were labelled up as on the discount rack. The manager couldn't quite grasp the logic of a discount actually making the product more expensive or the fact he was incredibly unlikely to find someone actually wanted a pair of Carlton badminton trainers and just happened to have size 11.5 and 13 feet in the correct order.
I genuinely have no idea how the place survives let alone turned a family into billionaires.
I've just bought a pair of flip-flops for £12 from Sports Direct.
My Saltrocks that look like Haivanas rub me, so I decided I'd like some of those fabric type ones. These are branded Gul - I presume Gul is now one of those defunct brands he's bought in.
We do well in there for running gear, cheap school shoes for the growing boy . . .
I wouldn't say it's a pleasant experience necessarily, but in terms of getting in and getting out with what you want relatively easily, it works for us.
We don't have any real alternatives any more, mind. The local Intersport shop closed down a good few years ago. There's an independent skate shop I thought about looking in, but I passed SD first.
I walked past Game whilst on my way there and it has signs up saying it's reopening in SD. I guess that's how he cuts the bottom line, but I'm not sure where they'll find the space?!
My Saltrocks that look like Haivanas rub me, so I decided I'd like some of those fabric type ones. These are branded Gul - I presume Gul is now one of those defunct brands he's bought in.
We do well in there for running gear, cheap school shoes for the growing boy . . .
I wouldn't say it's a pleasant experience necessarily, but in terms of getting in and getting out with what you want relatively easily, it works for us.
We don't have any real alternatives any more, mind. The local Intersport shop closed down a good few years ago. There's an independent skate shop I thought about looking in, but I passed SD first.
I walked past Game whilst on my way there and it has signs up saying it's reopening in SD. I guess that's how he cuts the bottom line, but I'm not sure where they'll find the space?!
Sports direct have upped their game hugely recently, loads of stores revamped not just selling end of line / grey import stuff actually selling the main Nike and brand range you would find in JD. Less of a jumble sale, much more organised trying to develop a market with running and other sports.
If its down to the SIL at the helm he appears to be doing a good job. Apparently the SIL Dad owns lots of the retail parks sports direct operate on or something like that.
If its down to the SIL at the helm he appears to be doing a good job. Apparently the SIL Dad owns lots of the retail parks sports direct operate on or something like that.
JimmyConwayNW said:
Sports direct have upped their game hugely recently, loads of stores revamped not just selling end of line / grey import stuff actually selling the main Nike and brand range you would find in JD. Less of a jumble sale, much more organised trying to develop a market with running and other sports.
If its down to the SIL at the helm he appears to be doing a good job. Apparently the SIL Dad owns lots of the retail parks sports direct operate on or something like that.
They've recently opened a new store in Cardiff and I nipped in a few weeks ago..it's huge and very impressive. Clean tidy and modern and spacious, not rammed in like previous stores. I was the only customer across 3 or 4 floors though when I worked formthem 20years ago there would be a queue of a few people waiting to come In.. big investment in a dying high street. If its down to the SIL at the helm he appears to be doing a good job. Apparently the SIL Dad owns lots of the retail parks sports direct operate on or something like that.
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