Member Info for QueenElvis

Lol my typing is going to pot - original and tongues I should have typed.

al00 thanks for that comment because I haven't seen these dark chocolate ginger cookies but I'll certainly keep an eye out for them now that you have mentioned them. The hot chocolate comes in oringal, milk, mint, white, chilli and a few other flavours which I'll try out this winter. Ginger is a good remedy for morning sickness now that'll set some tonuges wagging no doubt.

Thanks for that info. I don't think I have mine yet. I leave what looks like junk mail till the end of the week to open but I'll let you know if I had to chase up the nominees holders again like last year. Now you have your discount vouchers, you could sell your 800 (is it) or so of these but you will probably find the broker's charges for a paper trade mean that it would be pointless. Hang around for the Queen Elvis takeover. Enjoy the sun and have a super weekend. ATB

I only have two or three discount vouchers left from the double issue I got so having just opened one of the half price milk/white/dark boxes at £5, I am going to go for the 5 boxes at £20 tomorrow and use one of my £5 off discount vouchers. The sell by date is end of February so should be okay re. Christmas pressies for the school staff etc. I see all this sell by, use by, display until stuff is being looked at. The executry I spoke of has, I think. been wound up now with all the BP, Shell and BT shares being transferred over rather than sold but I really don't know. I was relieved of my proxy share dealing duties after that Lloyds buy but I really don't know the score. My own position with Lloyds is all I can voucher for and it is not too healthy atm. However, as a famous LSE poster said it is a rose which will bloom again. Busy day today so off to bed. I was right about Bohemian Rhapsody rereleased being the Christmas no 1 in 1991 but it was a double A side with Those Were The Days of Our Lives which is probably my fav Queen song though I'm not a big fan. ATB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWMqyzvfU_Q

Was going to try to head to Edinburgh tomorrow during the day for this * as it is also doors open day this weekend in Edinburgh giving free access to many fine buildings there. Sunday trying to head to Dumfries and Galloway for their doors open i.e. Camera Obscura etc. All this petrol consumption and the BP share price still in the doldrums. Sigh Tsk. Had a laugh at your diversification advice. Had a look at Encore at 43 ish - quite a drop from £1.50, Lloyds from 69p, RBS from 40 something and Condor Resources now sub 6 from 7.10. If only we had an idea what to diverify into (not sure that's grammatically correct) but you know what I mean). Thorntons Chocolate Kabin Thorntons Chocolate Kabin is finally here! As our 100th birthday celebrations continue, we are more than a little excited to bring you the Thorntons Chocolate Kabin, where hidden inside is a Golden Key to our chocolate factory, where you can become a real life Willy Wonka for a day! Thorntons first ever store in Sheffield in 1911 was called the Chocolate Kabin and when you step inside this wonderful little chocolate shop, you’ll be transported into a chocolate heaven. Try your hand on the chocolate lucky dip, watch the choc-filled truck drop off its delicious delivery onto the chocolate conveyor belt and watch as it makes its way into the super duper chocolate scooper, where you can grab yourself a chocolate treat. When you leave the kabin don’t forget to make any donation you can to the live mechanical chocolatier, who will reward you with a chocolate, with all the proceeds going to the NSPCC. The Chocolate Kabin will be visiting: Covent Garden, London on Friday 2nd September Liverpool One Shopping Centre on Saturday 10th September Nottingham off Market Square on Saturday 17th September Edinburgh Castle Street on Saturday 24th September Sheffield Fargate on Saturday 1st October If you see the kabin let us know what you think and upload your photos to www.facebook.com/thorntonschocs

I don't think I can keep up with your long posts!Flying visit only http://www.gigsandfestivals.co.uk/news/gigs/457-avril-lavigne-september-uk-tour-dates-announced. Have to be at a wedding celebration tomorrow evening. Not a big fan of Freddie nor Queen. I bought 4 of my nephews a Queen CD for their Christmas the year Freddie died which I think was 1991 becasue I lost somebody very close that year too. I am sure B Rhapsody rereleased was the Christmas no one and possibly one of the albums too that year. Anyhow the verdict from the nephews on their young aunty's gift was a bit lukewarm. Do you think Thorntons should do these Christmas pop up stores like HMV. In the three branches I have been in of late, all the advent caldendars and other Christmas goodies were already on the shelves. I don't use the train much but I'd definitely keep the branches in the train stations from what I wtinessed. . Speak to you in a few weeks or so and see where this is. ATVVB

I see the notice of the AGM and the Financial Report have been flagged up on here since our chat today. I was having a read over one of your posts from Sunday again when you said "This IMHO is destined to become a niche online retailer with a couple of shopping centre stores and a handful of franchised outlets" I know there are plans to close 180 stores which is obviously in some measure down to the supermarkets and other stores stocking Thorntons lines now but, at the moment, there are still over 380 stores in the UK and Ireland so I think it will be some time before we are down to a couple of shopping centre stores and a handful of franchises.http://www.thorntons.co.uk/pages/category/category.asp?ctgry=Investor%20Information_About%20Thorntons_Retail&cookie%5Ftest=1 Shouldn't need to point out to you that I am also entitled to express an opinion even if it differs slightly from you own. It's a shame that you are so far from a branch in the deep south but the stores have always been more concentrated in the Midlands and north. ATVB

I think I understand your sense of humour and you understand mine even if others cannot LOL.. I only have a few companies in my portfolio and cannot find the time to read let alone contribute to the boards of companies I am in far less the companies I am not in and on other fora too and, to that extent, I struggle to understand the motives of some other posters on these boards so no doubt you must too. I don't watch the share price here every day so would not be aware of every .5p move. However, it has been pretty steady at the current price for a good number of weeks now. I am quite content with my average here now if a little disappointed with the final dividend. I don't think the Portas report will be of major importance to Thorntons as it has already decided to go down the franchise route - except, of course, that the franchises locations could be on the High Street. Her report though will be of more relevance to HMV whose stores are sited mainly on the High Street rather than in out of town locations which could ironically prove to be its major strength as it competes for business on the electronic stuff. I tend to take for granted the free parking I enjoy at most of the locations I shop at but do realise that free parking is not universal. It has been hovering more in the sixes than the fives but who knows where it will settle. Unfortunately, I have not been as lucky as you with Lloyds as it slumped for me with no divi a lot faster than HMV as did RBS and Encore. I thank my lucky stars that I sold TCG with a small profit in April but I did quite well with SXX and Solg although, like you, I am not convinced that Aim stocks are for me. Still buying the Halloween treats in my local branch and noticed that a half price box was on offer at £5 or 5 boxes for £20 which seemed to be selling well in my most local small branch which I think is doomed when the lease comes up for renewal. Concert shortly. ATB

Report half way completed according to the penultimate paragraph here http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/stratford-city-open-for-business-2356440.html

Planning Policy is Key:viewpoint THIS has been a very worrying summer for the high street and neighbourhood retailing sector, with a wave of closures at high- profile names like HMV and Thornton’s helping to swell the number of stores closing each day to 20. This has left almost 15% of high street premises empty. That’s why Mary Portas’s appointment to conduct a review of UK high streets has been so crucial. As part of her review, she will have to balance the impacts of poor retailing performance and outdated management, the rise of internet retailing, the prevailing squeeze on household incomes and the crucial loss of consumer confidence. Couple this with other consumer concerns surrounding issues like parking, and it’s clear that this is no easy task. Despite all of these variables, however, there is one overriding problem that must not be ignored. This is the dramatic increase in retail investment located out of town. Despite the fact that current planning policy requires councils to explicitly favour “town centre first” development, more than 80% of the 40m sq ft of new retail floor space in the pipeline will be located out of town. Out-of-town development draws trade out of town centres, so traditional high streets suffer at the expense of the big sheds, and over time these smaller retailers become unviable. Almost one in six shops on the high street are now closing their doors, while supermarkets continue in their goal to offer everything under one roof, competing viciously with each other as everyone else suffers. The move out of town also kills the diversity and uniqueness of our high streets. Our own research this year showed that only 15% of the public feel a sense of identity with their local high street. That’s a sad indictment of our communities and it needs to change. Mary Portas’s report will be a major opportunity to promote the importance of the high street, but it’s the less sexy, less media- friendly planning policy and the decisions made by councils that will deliver healthy high streets. Read More http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2011/09/21/viewpoint-planning-policy-is-key-to-revival-of-uk-high-street-92534-29457066/#ixzz1YfXSG2Cs

Look Methuselah (there is a poster on LSE with that username who called the HMV board on here the most vitrilolic after exchanges betweeen those burnt out banned posters that other BP proponent Netley Lucas and that pal of yours who used to post on here CO2) talking of methuselah - how's your Lloyds doing - worse than here? Anyhow old boy, don't you be jumping to conclusions about the size of my holdings. Your miniscule paper holding here would doubtless have seemed like a lot back in nineteen canteen but in today's terms ..... I bought in here at over a pound last March I think. My average is way below that as I bought oodles more a few weeks ago. I need to dash - special day. Plane down to one of your locations today. Avril Lavigne concert at HMV Hammersmith. Go buy yourself the new Doris Day album ATB. P

"You're probably from one of those horrid 'sink' council estates." Yes I am! All my grandparents were dead before I arrived. Both my father and my spouse died in their forties. But give me qualitiy over quantity any day. You might have longevity but I have a divi that's more than 10 times the size of yours! You may be a veteran shareholder here and elsewhere but the price is up to day and the persopn who has just bought 16,000 of these obviously thinks I have more of a point than you but ATB.

P ee Oh I wouldn't hold this just for the discount vouchers unless you can use them up very quickly instead of spread over a whole year. At your age, you might not live till next October! You might want to read some of the recent posts on iii regarding this as they are a bit more positive than yours. You have been proved wrong too regarding the divi which was retained LOL. What's all this about naked frolics? I merely meant that if you bought a chocolate fountain, you might have to eat it alfresco if you didn't buy it in one of these indoor mall branches. People have vivid imaginations on these boards. I was reading some guy on the HMV board on iii claiming that chocolate was a substitute for s e x and for the hormonally challenged. He also misspelt chocolate in an unusal way and that brazen and vulgar woman Olive over there who seems to hold shares in a few things I have shares in was going on about chocolate body paint. Anyhow ask yourself - whilst you were keeping quiet on here the price was holding up well but it's slipping since you put your very unbalanced viewpoint on here to me. For that reason, I am sorry that I engaged you and gave you a platform. P ee ATB

I should have added to that post earlier that the ice cream came cones came with chocolate sticks included and all purchases were made with the benefit of a discount voucher.

P ee I have read many deramping posts in my time but I think yours on here last evening may just take the biscuit. Looks like you may be trying to keep the price down so that you can buy more at a keen price. Ah I've seen it all before. I myself bought a few more a couple of weeks ago at what appears to have been the bottom imo. The corporate gifts section continues to go from strength to strength, debt is down, savings from outsourcing of warehousing and transportation to DHL will deliver savings each year, franchises will take the place of some stores and Thorntons are starting to appear everywhere i.e. Pound shops ( sold at more than a pound) and the supermarkets. I have read your posts and can see that you are not the sort of person who would visit a Poundshop as it would require you to mix with the great mass of the unwashed as you put it but you must be aware that other mortals will not share this agoraphobic fear of yours. If you were born in 1957 then it is very likely that you will no longer have the teeth to enjoy this company's fine toffees in which case I would advise you to stick to the soft fudge. Also you sound, if you don't mind me saying so, like somebody who would no longer have the usual vigour to enoy a chocolate fountain made of marshmallows and an assortment of other teats smothered in chocolate sauce as this would involve going alfresco - a pleasure which has no doubt passed you by. Whilst on a family outing recently, I popped into the busy Thorntons branch within the train station and, as I was feeling rather hot, I sampled the mint ice cream whilst those with me tried the toffee and chocolate although there were numerous other flavours. Delicious was the verdict. I do know that your post to me last evening was below par as I have read your posts on many many other boards and , if I may say, your post to young Pebbles on here was very thoughtful and spoken like a true veteren. Apologies for any spelling or typographical errors on here as I use no spell checker ATB and very glad that it is not all P ee

Been keeping my eye on this for the past few weeks but when will it break into the fifties.