Comments on: Robbs and Joplings owner Vergo Retail in administration

By: Soult's Retail View» Blog Archive » Robbs is saved – so what happens now?

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:42:11 +0000

[...] from David Thompson’s 19-strong Vergo chain to have been saved following the company’s collapse into administration. There is no news on the future of Joplings in Sunderland or any of the other shops in the south [...]

By: Graham Soult

Graham Soult — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:15:03 +0000

Hi BS, your assessment accords very closely to my own thoughts! I think Beales have got a bargain with Robbs really, but hope that someone else will step in and rescue Joplings too. Sunderland’s the wrong location for a Beales, unfortunately – too ‘big city’

By: BS

BS — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:24:09 +0000

From what Ive heard I get the impression that Joplings, as well as Lewis’s was not profitable in the past few years. Lewis’s was hit by a shift in Liverpool’s retail Centre and was profitable before L1 opened, as has Derrys in Plymouth. Joplings got hit badly by the recession and as with Lewis’s hasnt been profitable in the past 2 years. Thats my guess anyway. I think Robbs lack of profitablity this year is a blip and has been profitable most of the time in the past 3 years.

By: Soult's Retail View» Blog Archive » Beales pursues Robbs takeover, while The Range owner eyes other stores

Mon, 31 May 2010 22:16:34 +0000

[...] the uncertainty over the future of the Vergo Retail store empire continues, potential suitors for some of the stores are starting to emerge. Here are the latest [...]

By: CP

CP — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:06:18 +0000

Was the whole Vergo empire built on sand?

It was stated that Mr Thompson bought Robbs and Joplings (together with Lewis’s) back from the receivers of the failed Owen Owen because the first two were profitable.
These latest figures suggest the much larger Lewis’s losses must have dragged down any profits from the other two.
Could Vergo ever have worked in these circumstances?

As for buying more loss making stores from the Co-op…turnover is vanity.

Lets hope Beales do buy Robbs and provide some much needed stability for this iconic store, its staff and concession holders and suppliers.

By: Soult's Retail View» Blog Archive » Beales “lodges formal notice of interest” in buying Robbs

Fri, 21 May 2010 11:41:30 +0000

[...] As I reported before, a sticking point to any takeover could be Buccleuch Group’s own, medium-term development plans for the Robbs site. However, it’s hard to imagine Buccleuch turning down the opportunity to secure Beales as a tenant, given the investment and long-term commitment to Hexham that would surely follow – a much more satisfactory scenario than has been the case under Vergo Retail’s tenancy. [...]

By: Soult's Retail View» Blog Archive » Could Beales – or someone else – yet save Robbs?

Tue, 18 May 2010 23:28:22 +0000

[...] I appended to my blog post last week, Robbs is one of nine loss-making Vergo Retail stores already earmarked for closure, while a buyer [...]

By: Bal

Bal — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:08:50 +0000

My company also has been affected by Vergo going into administration. Just days before the announcement was made, a cheque owed to us from them bounced from their concession trust account. No one is being clear as to our position or what happens next! I don’t understand how people are still trading within their stores!

By: joh taylor

joh taylor — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:04:01 +0000

Regarding the concessions losing all thier money.A lot of the concsessions(my business included)have agreements stating that the money was to go into a trust fund thus safegarding our monies.This ahs not happened in fact we had a recent cheque that was stopped abd this was coming from the trust fund.does anyone know if this is legal? Or is anyone in the same situation