Published prior to March 2014
3 "managers" means only 2 in on each day of the week allowing for days off. If there is a holiday or sickness this means 6 or 7 day working and long hours. Small businesses don't usually trade 80 hrs a week over 7 days. This becomes nearly 90 hrs adding on opening and closing routines. Key holding is the only answer but the whole saga of responsibility pay then arises. This is partly why team leaders existed in the first place at Homebase and many other retailers. Paying extra money to keyhold per shift assumes willingness on the part of the staff and that HB is willing to pay extra in the first place!
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Published prior to March 2014
I would imagine you would have something in the place of team leaders unless you are planning to reduce the general staff numbers - less staff = less teams = less teamleaders. Best to wait and see i feel because unless it is actual policy then this is all guesswork, I guess - sorry for the pun but its getting a bit intense here : - )
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Published prior to March 2014
Visited my local store and saw very few staff, no one on the tills - the sevice desk was manned by one girl and this doubled up as a till, I might add while I was paying the phone was constantly ringing and the poor girl couldn't do both things oh and a couple of lads moving a box display thingy around the store and thats it?
I wondered what you all mean by teams - they must be very small teams and if thats the case no wonder they want to remove all these teamleader roles - we might find prices drop once all these needless roles are removed. As a customer I want to find what I want at a price thats is sensible and have help thats knows a bit about what they are selling - my local store fails on most of that - unlike The Range.
Before you have a go at me The Range is a further 6 miles from my local Homebase which is nearest to me but thats its only good point.
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Published prior to March 2014
Can you really see store manager or cem doing late nights get real!
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Published prior to March 2014
you only need one manager to open the store and lock it up. you have 3 managers, ok one is a team leader forget that, one opens at 7 the other does latenight so starts 11 or 12 and ends at 8 in the evening so shuts the store. this leaves one spare for either day off. the holidays will be a problem so a temp cover will be needed for that and no 2 managers will be allowed off at the sametime. How do you think small businesses and little shops work then - i know because i have worked in them - you have keyholders.
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Published prior to March 2014
So whats gone wrong with Homebase?. As an ex homebase staff member working for another retail company you can put it down to a few things.
1.Price.
2.Poor stock levels.
3.Poor delivery times.
These could easily corrected.
1.Price just look at Argos prices for the same goods,The Range,Dunelm,B&M. why would anyone go to Homebase.
2. Stock levels you go to Homebase see an item you want to buy AND sorry we dont have we can get it for you. You cant sell whatbyou havent got can you.
3.Delivery dates Just go to Homebase customer reviews that says it all.
THREE simple things which anyone can put right OHTERWISE its HOMEBASE R.I.P
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Published prior to March 2014
Why do HRG bother with all this chopping and changing just sell it off or shut the lot. The team leader training packs mean nothing - its simply a case of making the company look good by having virtually everyone thinking they may progress up the ranks - the truth is if you want management you have to join at that level or join the graduate program or be head-hunted from some other employer - you are daft if you think you will get anywhere at todays HB
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Published prior to March 2014
Anon has never worked in the operations department then. Ignore this joker. He has no idea what he is talking about!
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Published prior to March 2014
Tbh all team leaders are required as an otl unfortunately I don't just sit around waiting for audit and stocktake like previous comment, I do a lot more than that and so do every other otl, team leaders are a robust part of Homebase , they all have there levels of expertise. Unfortunately there is changes and closures in Homebase and every other company tesco, sainsburys morrisons , b&q so it's nothing new, all businesses need change and restructure to survive but it's the shame us little peeps are the ones whom are suffering .
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Published prior to March 2014
So thats shopfloor tl, service tl, repen tl and CServices tl to go but not Ops tl - Ops TL is not needed as they are only really used during stock take every 2 years or so and audits - which could be done by a roving Ops person covering several stores - better to get rid of all TL's and have a new post Assistant Manager instead. The company could do away with a lot of tasks by stopping; random erratic price changes - some price changes for as little as 1p up or down and back again the next day. The utter fuss over layout and EPU changes - at times too many have to put in place with little or no overtime to get them done - some of which don't work; the silly situation of low levelling stock when the stores own IT system should and could reorder stock when items are sold automatically - a simple report daily or weekly of unavailable items could be printed off so gaps can be sorted out and various other time wasting boring tasks could go too. Go in to the range or B@M and you dont see any of the HB nonsence!
The fact is HB needs to decide what it actual is - is it a general homeware store or get rid of everything and have big ticket showrooms only.
In fact as the showroom is the single biggest money generator in store and can easily hit targets with only a small number of customers sales this makes sense.
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Published prior to March 2014
I am all for informed comment but some of the falsehoods stated on here are nothing but malicious generated by people with little else to do but stir up.
Robin Dasgupp which is the shortened version of the name of my old boss in Texas who was an excellent guy has stated many times x store is closing when it is complete rubbish.
looking at this thread
20/12/12 Merton is closing,
24/10/14 Back again for another crack, Merton , Reigate Streatham are closing
29/10/14 back again, this time Merton Lewis ( actually its Lewes) East Grinstead, Streatham are closing
28/1/15 back again telling us this tim that Merton and Lewis ( still can't get the spelling right Lewes) are in consultation,
For Robin's information , Merton, Lewes, Streatham, East Grinstead and Reigate are all still trading , NONE are in consultation no matter how many times you write it. So get your facts correct before worrying people. Streatham, East Grinstead and Reigate are all getting Argos/Habitat investment.
Not that close to others , but I know Folkestone and Canterbury are still trading despite them being on Robin list .
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Published prior to March 2014
It would be impossible to have a store with just store store manager,cem,and ops team leader.therewould be no one to do the open and close.and you would have just one manager per weekend which would be anti customer friendly.
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Published prior to March 2014
If they phasing out team leader , what is reasoning of the whole team leader, training packs????
Unless people got actual knowledge and actually know what's going on, why are people taking pleasure of scaremongering people, has no one thought this is people's lives your talking about .
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Published prior to March 2014
With the cut backs on staff the use of team leaders and middle managment especially in specific roles are being made redundant, the new structure will only include the new cem role and store manager with the exception of the ops tl. All other roles are to be phased out.
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Published prior to March 2014
All senior management had a meeting yesterday and today and there will be more changes and closures coming up.....more revealed by end of the week as they are being very tight lipped about it..this one seems to not have slipped the net.
Why they can't have the common dececency to just let the staff know so they are prepared is beyond me, people work to provide for their familys, keep a roof over their head or keep themselves mentally stable.
Instead of keepingt everything hush hush until the last minute it should only be morally right like Tesco and to let the stores know they are going to be shut.
As said end of this week will either see the announcment of more store closures or the whole company being sold.
Only time will tell
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Published prior to March 2014
Well its not panic about the store closures its making everyone aware of the situation - no store can be considered safe (forget what your manager may say he doesn't know for sure either - its only the head office that knows). The company may well be sold off so its best to look at employment there as a temp job. But to be fair there are lots of shops closing or facing hugh changes in light of online retail. I know of a couple locally that are either now shut or will do so in the next few weeks and these are indis not chains like HB. HB will close more stores that we know, Its also looking to place Argos stores in with HB stores and also in Sainsbury stores as a trial. Lets be clear if you can go online to order stuff then shops as you know them are redundant. If you follow this line of thought do you need a HB store to collect your goods from - why not a third party unit/office/building that could cover several online retailers and even share some transport costs too.
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Published prior to March 2014
store at bridgemead is in its death throes..most stock sold off.discounts everywhere..shame. have shopped here for years and always had great service and a smile.most staff are taking redundancy..with 2 other stores locally , could they not have transferred ? sums up how the company is going.
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Published prior to March 2014
Nothing has been announced as yet. So why panic people?
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Published prior to March 2014
So as mentioned earlier the first of the closures of 2015 have been announced and the consultation periods started.Canterbury,Lewis,Merton and High Wycombe London Rd.
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Published prior to March 2014
Selling off stores amy have a short life - in terms of supply and demand. There is talk of Argos pop up shops in HB stores meaning some Argos stores may close - the arguement is that the High street Argos store have limited or no free parking whereas pretty much all Hb stores have free parking, this could mean some HB's becoming Argos or a simple click and collect version of both Argos and HB together. Of course if HB is sold off this puts this proposition at risk. If other retailers like BHS or Tesco start off loading stores then it may become harder to sell on a store as there will be more units on sale so they may run them until the lease is up and just shut them down and left empty. Retail is changing with the move from stores full of stock to regional depots dropping off orders to collection points (the present shops). But Aldi and Lidl buck this notion - no online ordering or delivery service but they push on price as do the pound retailers.
So retail could fall into 2 very different camps - cheap price goods in stores "come and get it" or the other group, costlier goods ordered and collected as "per customer ordered" pick up points.
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Published prior to March 2014
As predicted by many observers HB have no qualms in closing stores that they have previously announced as " Safe". Ayr is now to close. As recently as last October the local area was assured there were no plans to close. The key words in the announcement are usually "at this time". Shows how dynamic the situation is. No store however large,profitable or invested in is protected from the harsh commercial reality of a rapidly changing retail world. Coming next.....how difficult will it be to sell once the supermarkets and BHS start off loading excess space??
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Published prior to March 2014
Just being to acc still stock left me sad that going very upset clos down sale
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Published prior to March 2014
I thing get out off hand head office sort them.out tell staff going on it joke
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Published prior to March 2014
Boston store closing on March 7
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Published prior to March 2014
Anyone know how much notice they had at the store, was it the lease, poor sales or something else?
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Published prior to March 2014
After speaking with a source in the head office based in Milton Keynes I can confirm that another 4 stores are set to close in the area around Bedford, this includes one of the Bedford stores, it would be unfair for me to say which ones but they Will be released early april.
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Published prior to March 2014
By Want A Habitat Near Me
Drove past the Wellingborough store today and saw Closing Down Sale signs all over it
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Published prior to March 2014
Minworth store will close on 7th March
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Published prior to March 2014
Just seen closing down sale in paper for dunstable homebase. I guess one would close either Luton or Dunstable being fairly close to each other. Worked luton store for 5 years before being made redundent at manager level.
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Published prior to March 2014
Can you tell me when this store is scheduled to close please
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Published prior to March 2014
Had a meeting with my store manager this week (huddle) and it was one of those meetings! Listening to what he said, thinking back to last years Liberation Huddle about not just making a profit but profit plus 6% (unclear if this was store or company wide) and listening to stores being the "right fit" plus a whole host of targets - core sales showroom and so on - there is a whole range of excuses sorry reasons for closing a store - let alone lease issues value and so on.
I think the number to go will be very high and instead of saying 100-150 to go they say it in smaller numbers - a bitter pill goes down better in pieces.
There is a lot of stuff going around and if its all scare stories why have HRG not dispelled the rumours.
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Published prior to March 2014
Battersea is being sold for FIFTY SEVEN MILLION s as its prime location as was Kensington. Canterbury closing is nothing to do with snobbery its to do with cold business facts.Please read the reasons why stores are being closed and you will understand the business case.No business can afford to keep units open for sentimental reasons.
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Published prior to March 2014
Only 7 days into the new year and its started already, the Homebase Store in Redruth, was told yesterday that the store was to be sold and would close as soon as the contents were finalised with the landlords, this was close on the hills of the St Austell store just before Christmas and the Liskeards store being sold to B&M in December, so that leaves only 2 stores in Cornwall, I wonder how long it takes for someone to work out the costs of servicing these stores is not worth it and they will close, With sales way down in most stores since December it will all add to the final demise of this once good company now being run down at the cost of loyal staff, without the massive pay off contracts that have been set up for the hatchet men at the Base, my thoughts are with the store teams
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Published prior to March 2014
It is of no surprise to see so many of the ex-Texas stores, which were often in less prime locations, closing. It would be interesting to know just how many of these stores still trade. I have said all along that when Homebase (under Sainsbury's at the time) purchased 300 Texas stores they had less than 100 Homebase stores and were very successful, and I have no doubt that the chain will return to under 100 stores within the next 2 to 3 years.
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Published prior to March 2014
I think robin should keep his mouth shut unless he knows the facts. As for his views on canterbury that is just being snobby and arrogant. Battersea is closing and that was a good a model you could get.
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Published prior to March 2014
Wonder what his tune will be after this weeks conference call?
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Published prior to March 2014
The stores that close will be announced in the next few weeks once the Christmas and new Year trade has been assessed. You have to remember also that its the "fit" of the store that is also a consideration.This is why stores like Canterbury will shut.This type of unit does not and will never fit the new model.Its hoped that some of the staff i existing stores will be transferred to fit into the new vacancies that will be required with the roll out of Liberation 3 although some may have to accept reduced flexi hours.This is the evoloution that is needed to take the business to the next level.
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Published prior to March 2014
Agree Mr H O mebase, the length of the lease doesnot mean anything , however the lease can only be sold or transferred with the landlords consent.
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Published prior to March 2014
30 years on a lease is unusual, but still will not stop a closure if the Comany involved is intent on getting rid of stores. It is a saleable commodity and there are numerous examples of HB selling long leases to a 3 rd party. All stores/leases have a market price so beware....do not believe anyone if they try to reassure you about the future.
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Published prior to March 2014
In the last 12 months we've had rumours that about 10 stores in the kent area are closing.its just speculation and totally unhelpful and unsettling to all the staff at these stores. Though head office need to come out and stop being so sly and start telling the truth.but then again all they think about is themselves not the wellbeing of their staff.
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Published prior to March 2014
dunno about your area but its possible unless you know different for that to be true, if so then closing the store will be more tricky - not impossible. Watch out for staff movements to other stores - full timers and management as rats leave the sinking ship first!
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Published prior to March 2014
The manager of newtownabbey is telling staff they have a thirty year lease!! This store has never made a profit and no wonder, its run by morons!
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Published prior to March 2014
If Folkestone is closing then why are their plans to put in an Argos concession inside the Folkestone store. My view is Dover is likely to go.
As for Canterbury would be really surprised as although the location is poor, the rent is cheap and the store gets a lot of custom. Shame if Canterbury does go given it means the nearest store is either Westwood Cross which is for sale according to a property website or Dover. Ashford has already shut and I'd be surprised given how busy Canterbury is in general that Homebase would go from Canterbury. Good luck to the staff though. DIY isn't the problem as Wickes and Howdens and Screwfix and B and Q still make money, the problem is with Homebase senior management. Homebase still feels as if it is a subsidary of Sainsbury when it has long ceased to be the case.
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Published prior to March 2014
Is H/B Kenavon Drive Reading closing, redevelopment work is to be carried out in that area
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Published prior to March 2014
Another downsizing option now being accelerated. Planning applications being sought to share space within existing HB units with ARGOS. Examples include Plymouth,Norwich,Ashbourne.not sure how this will affect staff and Mangenent levels or what a 20,000sq ft HB ( or much less is some cases) will look like.
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Published prior to March 2014
worked for HB for about three years and back in the day, the new kitchen/bathroom was meant to be the great white hope as the old markets where failing. Their always was bullying/sexism/discrimination in that time but thats another story,. All things end and unfortunately, there are no jobs for life- always try to keep moving forward.
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Published prior to March 2014
Showroom sales at homebase where strong last week. I can't see it lasting long. Announcement role out today and tomorrow about more confirmed closures. This will yet again put people off from shopping their big ticket projects from homebase and may encourage refunds. Hope I'm wrong. Homebase if you survive this peak please revise your pricing structure. Your way out vs others. Yes you can price match but you are targeted on your price matching. How can you target a price match as your not in control of competitors pricing???
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Published prior to March 2014
Can't speak for every store but I know many are finding it tough to meet targets. As for poor consultants - a poor consultant is one that sells very little - they are the ones who are classed under performing and 'leave'.
This time of year is tough anyway and Peak will be hard due to the rivals all fighting for a share of the Jan sales. But this year HB have the added issue of company stability in the eyes of the public - buying a kitchen from a company that might close or be sold on??
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Published prior to March 2014
Mr H Omebase,, you are prob right!.
Anon and Spider, not sure your view is held by the public as showroom seem to every busy with the money coming in. Don't see many poor consultants !
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Published prior to March 2014
RE Bedford
Managers will always tell you what it takes to keep you on board - I'm not saying they lie, but they don't always tell you everything and if you have been pressured into keep your mouth shut - well there you go.
I do know the showroom targets for this and next week are pretty silly - no one but no one will buy a kitchen pre christmas unless you get 'special' discounts QPMs and a whole range of price matching - not easy these days.
The targets are setting up stores to fail - stores that would otherwise be good to keep and give good service and work well even when pressed to do daft stuff by the Base.
Stores that might until now think themselves safe?
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Published prior to March 2014
By Whisper...my info came from a current RM but you are right to say I should have checked....he may be sending out disinformation to panic the troops on his Region. Just one method of trying to "motivate" his team no doubt! Or he knows more than both of us......MD Family member.....I hope you are wrong but I fear you are right. Your view validates my own opinions of the last 12 months...and the evidence from countless Store Managers who have been forced to leave voluntarily or not during that time. The good news is that other retailers are picking up lots of very good Managers and cannot believe how unprofessionally HB has treated them. One said to me he should have left years ago and advises others to leave now....don't wait for redundancy. The good jobs might have all gone.
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