PC World/Currys/Dixons - same shop?

[RBS]

Just tried to visit all three websites and all came up with:

Site currently down for essential maintenance

To improve your shopping experience with Currys, we are further upgrading our website. Unfortunately this means that the website is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

DSG Retail Limited

Registrant type:
UK Public Limited Company, (Company number: 504877)

Registrant's address:
Maylands Avenue
Hemel Hempstead
Herts
HP2 7TG
United Kingdom

 

[MASSEY]

They must be i dont understand it myself.

In most shpping areas curry's and pc world are right next to each other they sell the same stuff aswel.

 

[akirk]

they certainly used to be all owned by the same company - DSG - assume that they still are?

In theory they are trying to position themselves differently:

Dixons - more gadget focused
Currys - more home focused
PC World - more IT focused

I assume that it works well for them - if the public see two brands side by side, compare prices / etc. and then choose to buy from one of them - then owning both those brands is pretty good!

Alasdair

 

[Faevilangel]

All of the above are owned by DSGI plc, which has just been renamed Dixons Retail PLC.

They are all hosted on the same servers and will run from the same system.

 

[DesignerNick]

In Coventry, PC World is actually inside Currys

 

[letterboxunlimited]

They are currently closing most stores and refinishing them as cobranded Currys / PCWorlds in one store. The stores also run offers which are not unlike Best Buys which are popping up all over the UK.

 

[RBS]

This trio smells of monopoly...

 

[LicensedToTrade]

In Coventry, PC World is actually inside Currys

Yeh I went into that branch last weekend, they used to be separate units but they just knocked the wall down and now it is a big pcworld/currys superstore. It looked pretty good actually, must have been 100 laptops on display. Great place to have a play with a laptop...bad place to buy one. It's dabs.com all the way for me (owned by BT by the way)

 

[RBS]

Its Google products search for me, always.

 

[DesignerNick]

Yeh I went into that branch last weekend, they used to be separate units but they just knocked the wall down and now it is a big pcworld/currys superstore. It looked pretty good actually, must have been 100 laptops on display. Great place to have a play with a laptop...bad place to buy one. It's dabs.com all the way for me (owned by BT by the way)

Ahh, when I went they must have been doing the work as PC World was stuck in a corner of Currys.

 

[LicensedToTrade]

Ahh, when I went they must have been doing the work as PC World was stuck in a corner of Currys.

Yeh a few weeks ago they were still finishing it off, but it looks great now. It is odd really, a complete shift for DSG to be merging into a single brand (which I believe they are doing). The vast majority of the paying public don't know that PC World/ Currys (and Dixons) are the same company so they have this illusion of being able to 'shop around'.

Another strange thing I noticed in that new Coventry store is the presence of low-end consumer electronics. They are running promotions like a toaster for £3.99 and that just isn't Currys. They have always been overpriced and relied on having excellent 'customer service' as added value (although I'm not sure everyone would agree ). Perhaps as the years have gone by the internet has progressively encroached on their turnover so much that they cannot sustain it anymore. A major shift might be coming soon if the large range of laptops is anything to go by, seems like they are positioning themselves towards a wider stock profile with less depth feeding from the same distribution hubs as their websites operate under. We shall see!

 

[crossdaz]

Just tried to visit all three websites and all came up with:

Site currently down for essential maintenance

To improve your shopping experience with Currys, we are further upgrading our website. Unfortunately this means that the website is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

DSG Retail Limited

Registrant type:
UK Public Limited Company, (Company number: 504877)

Registrant's address:
Maylands Avenue
Hemel Hempstead
Herts
HP2 7TG
United Kingdom

Yeah they own Pixmania too.

 

[RBS]

I smell monopoly even more. This is not right.

 

[I Love Spreadsheets]

Yep, they have always been the same company behind the scenes. PC World was originally an independent company that got purchased by Dixons.

Dixons stores dont exist on the high street anymore. They only stores that physically still exist are in Airport duty free zones. Dixons was basically made in to the online store for the group.

There does seem to be a move to merge Currys and PC World (They have just knocked down the dividing wall between the two in the Cardiff store). I believe it is an attempt to put themselves in better position to fight off the inevitable Best Buy invasion. (The new Currys/PC World format is very similar to Best Buy's)

 

[crossdaz]

I smell monopoly even more. This is not right.

They don't really have much of a monopoly to be honest. There are lots of retailers who sell the same stuff - the one that rhymes with vomit for instance.

There are plenty of alternatives that people don't always think of.
John Lewis, for instance, will give you a two year warranty on most electricals and up to 5 years on a TV. They won't give you the run-around if you have a problem either

US company BestBuy have opened a few stores in the UK and will be going on-line very soon. The big retailers like Tesco and Asda are also very competitive on electrical stuff too.

 

[RBS]

But still - too much in one pair of hands....

 

[I Love Spreadsheets]

Its not a monopoly but their business practices have been called in to question more than once or twice.

Roger Cook did a show on them years ago and discovered they were telling manufacturers they wouldn't sell their goods if local competition was able to sell for less then them. The result was distributors put pressure on independent companies to keep their prices higher.

You will also find that are European neighbours can buy the same products with 3 or 5 year manufacturer warranties. Dixons won't sell items with more than a 1 year warranty so they can sell their own extended warranties. Again they threatened suppliers that they wouldn't sell their goods if anyone in the UK was able to sell the same goods with 3 or 5 year warranties.

As you can guess I'm no fan of the Dixons group and I think sites like Amazon and new stores like Best Buy are good for us consumers. It can only loosen Dixons grip on the suppliers and the customers

 

[Bri]

dabs.com all the way for me (owned by BT by the way)

Now I didnt know that, use them a lot too.Micro direct is quite good as well.

 

[MH1]

I was in a Dixons store many years ago arguing with the manager about faulty goods, and finally got exchange items when the phone rang and he took the call informing him that they had took over Currys.

I had mentioned I would never buy from Dixons again and the muppet replied that with Currys againthey had 60% of the market in the bag, to which I replied that still left myself the other 40% to deal with.

Over 20 years later and I never have and never will purchase from this group of stores ever again, customer service means nothing to them IMO. Buy elsewhere.

 

[RBS]

Why would you want to buy from them anyway? I have never in my life found something cheaper in them compared to Google product search/ebay.

 

[crossdaz]

Over 20 years later and I never have and never will purchase from this group of stores ever again, customer service means nothing to them IMO. Buy elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see where they are in the next 20 years - the only thing they have going for them at the moment is a big car park. As more people start to shop on-line it makes you wonder how they will survive?

 

[RBS]

It will be interesting to see where they are in the next 20 years - the only thing they have going for them at the moment is a big car park. As more people start to shop on-line it makes you wonder how they will survive?

ON-LINE

 

[MASSEY]

Yeah there expensive.

I bought some ink when i was in a rush, £45

they sell it else where for like £15

I got robbed

 

[crossdaz]

ON-LINE

They are not surviving on-line now - it isn't going to get better for them.

 

[DesignerNick]

PC World have the name. Any non PC literate person would go there to buy things as they wouldn't know about ebuyer and dabs as they don't have fancy adverts on TV.

They prey on people like this and charging them £40 or so to install a stick of memory and people still pay it...

 

[LicensedToTrade]

PC World have the name. Any non PC literate person would go there to buy things as they wouldn't know about ebuyer and dabs as they don't have fancy adverts on TV.

They prey on people like this and charging them £40 or so to install a stick of memory and people still pay it...

It surprises me that dabs (BT) don't advertise more. They have a great range and some pretty competitive prices on the whole. A little advertising wouldn't do them any harm at all.

 

[paulears]

I've no idea why you're surprised by this.
B&Q and Screwfix are common names who everyone assumes are competitors, but despite wildy differing prices are both part of the Kingfisher Group.

How about the Arcadia Group - all these household names are the same company, and their staff get staff prices from all of them just by showing their card.

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[crossdaz]

I worked for Burton in a previous life once and they owned all them plus Debenhams and Principles (which has now gone to the wall).

Ties in with the time that Dixons took over Curry's in fact. Just shows what can happen in 20 years.

Arcadia is owned by an old lady in Monaco because her husband doesn't like paying tax

 

[LicensedToTrade]

I've no idea why you're surprised by this.
B&Q and Screwfix are common names who everyone assumes are competitors, but despite wildy differing prices are both part of the Kingfisher Group.

How about the Arcadia Group - all these household names are the same company, and their staff get staff prices from all of them just by showing their card.

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In fairness the kingfisher group and arcadia are probably the groups that are some of the most widely known by the general public. The former because Kingfisher are frequently in the news for acquisitions and the latter because it tells you on the back of a giftcard from any of those stores.

 

[dagaul101]

Yep thought it was well known that Pc World, Dixons and Currys were all under the same roof

 

[stugster]

I don't see the problem with it to be honest. Everyone knows they're much more expensive than anything you could buy online, and their sales people will be hounding and biting your ankles as soon as you walk in, offering to sell you insurance policies and finance that'll work out in their favour.

If you're stupid enough to part with your cash, walk on in to your favourite PC World or Currys.

 

[Submarine Washer]

All of the above are owned by DSGI plc, which has just been renamed Dixons Retail PLC.

They are all hosted on the same servers and will run from the same system.

Ratners, H Samuel & Zales is all the same geeza, just pitching to different folk in the social strata.

 

[S88MRG]

They are in direct competition with my business and I have to say on some products it is impossible for smaller independents to compete, as they buy in such bulk. The major problem is the service, we must get at least one call a week asking if we can install (or fix an install) of an appliance as one of these "superstores" wouldn't (whether it be because the flat was upstairs, previous appliance wasn't disconnected etc etc.)


Mike