Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
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Historically, SDRY has always had a reputation for carrying ridiculous amounts of SKU's in its' warehouses. Some of that was usually attributed to JD's passion for buying way too much. But yes, the most recent management were failing in a number of fundamental areas largely down to the fact that they weren't proper retailers. There are so many things to address, but I am confident that with some quality hires, things will find a way of achieving some prudent retail discipline. To this end, I hope JD gets on with finding someone who is experienced at clearing up messes, as this clearly is.
I referenced Susanne Harlow at Jack Wills recently. I couldn't see why Templeman had shipped her in from Debenhams to head up a 'preppy' style fashion retailer. Obviously its gone t*ts up. She has now been fired by Mike Ashley. Also, news from Karen Millen (another one down the plughole) is that CEO Beth Butterwick has 'left the business'.
Tough times. But some of these problems seem very self inflicted. Harlow to Jack Wills being an example. Sutherland joining SDRY obviously... I hope that between JD and Peter Williams (who is well connected) don't just grab a name that is suddenly available from a previous disaster (Sutherland again).
My understanding of SDRY is that it is quite insular, not least because it's based in Cheltenham. That doesn't help when it comes to being able to identify the right talent for the many roles of a business this size. Thats why I want to see someone come onboard that is from a relevant, successful brand, that gets the current consumer habits, that has an international knowledge of the key markets. They also need to have an incredible network in order to take advantage of the talent coming out of these other struggling retailers, as there's going to be some good people being displaced right now. Peter Williams says they have a recruiter working on it. I hope they're making progress.
" some crazy things were going on.."
My fav....
" When I first returned at the beginning of April 2019, there was a large amount of stock available in our warehouses but not accessible to customers. By releasing this stock, it will potentially more than double the choice online. This has moved us from a potential of 60,000 SKUs (Stock Keeping Unit) online in early spring to a potential of 140,000 SKUs by the end of the summer. This stock that had previously been in a warehouse has now been achieving full price sales "
I think the timescale for recovery has been set and there is no plan to do so overnight. 2019 is really now just a "get the basics right, get the design teams working well, and not throw out over ambitious expectations " and prepare for the new designs to be launched in 2020.
The top takings stores will get the extra staff hours and attention first ....and work down from there
For sure, the basics of retailing were slipping at Superdry stores (Regent St has been discussed in this respect). Yes, some fairly low hanging fruit here. But, let's not overlook some of the issues here. There is a vacuum of leadership at the highest levels of sdry following the exit of the Global Retail director and also the COO to name two. There is obviously a limit to what JD can affect at the coal face, so to speak, under these circumstances. Furthermore, simple as they maybe, they do need communicating (leadership) and executing (manpower). In these difficult times, the available hours for improving the layout, merchandising, general store standards and service, are pressured. JD can't just click his fingers and it happen.
Regarding the '17% sales increase', I wouldn't get carried away. There's not much context.
I am pretty confident that just by doing basic stuff , getting moving items out in front and on the website ...clearing old stuck up inventory they will generate significant improvement to cash flow and bottom line and we are looking at 700-800 p very soon
and if they can revitalise the brand and get designs right then upside will be in multiples....the earlier management went wring on both and to make things worse piled up too much inventory and wasted money like anything... as Julian mentioned... 3 warehouses in USA where 1 was more than necessary, too much stock stuck in warehouses blocked cash in inventory and paying for the godown rent..., airlifting goods (who can afford that?) some crazy things were going on....
hopefully all that is being fixed in the background as we speak. anyone been to their store recently or website and can share their experience will be great ....
Good news, Hash.
I reported earlier that I had seen the improvement in the Regent St store. Same as you noticed.
Of course, these things take time to filter through and Brexit is enough to choke off anything.
But surely the only way from now on is up. Oh, please!!!!
interesting that the share is near all time lows....
I see some distinct improvements in the retail...visted local store...could notice immediately that its far better organised then I last visited few months ago to check it out. could see more lines added and I could actually see customers buying at the till. so far busier. sale was on but on a much smaller part of the store.. and actually more people browsing through non sale stuff.....
lines up with what Julian said in the final results conference call.. the earlier management had taken eye of the ball and a lot of value is to be attained by doing very simple things correctly i.e. getting the store layout display right, having moving items up front... having more lines in the store but not crowding it too much and keep it organised.... he said just by doing these simple things they got 17% increase in sales in the flagship regent street store.. I think thats being replicated in my local store and I guess across all stores...even if they can increase retail store sales by 5% that would have dramatic impact on share price. will wait to see the impact.
for these reason I added up a bit when they went below 380 and am still bullish inspite of being in the red right now.....
its small but not token. the daily volumes today was around 250k so 50 k is significant. I think what happens is that when price goes down c=volumes f=go down with it indicating its bottoming out.
if someone were to buy 2m shares that would drive price to 5-6 GBP.......
50000 shares is a bit of a token effort, if he bought 2m shares, that would give me a bit of confidence in his ability to turn the tide
that got the price going to 415... i think he should buy more . they are so cheap.... i am invested long term and though my average price is quite high i am still very positive and and i do top up whenever it goes below 420 p...
so currently a net buyer....
JD purchases 50,000 shares.