 | Home > Off Topic > Halfords - What the Heck has happened to them???? |
 
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| ChrisJ Member Since: 12 Nov 2013 Location: Warwickshire Posts: 231   
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I must say my local Halfords is generally really good, always a good selection of paints, fillers, wax, shampoos etc as well as a good tool selection.
I generally use the local auto factors but it's nice to know they are there when the auto factors are closed. Maybe it's down to location at what they sell the most. |
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13th Dec 2014 1:28pm |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5111  
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I agree Halfords is the not the store it once was, not that in my opinion it was ever that brilliant! However in its better days it was owned by Boots PLC and Lucas Auto centres who are both experts in retail trading.
I think the rot started when its senior management team broke away and forced a management buy out to form Halfords Auto centres under its company name of Halfords Group plc. The company has a very odd board of directors who have the ethos of no individual or group of individuals dominates the Board's decision taking, a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Halfords have started to demand a 10% equity release on estimated profits earned from their suppliers paid upfront (a little like Tesco have done and what is now being investigated) this has forced some of its smaller suppliers to pull out from Halfords. Also their fascination with cyclists and Bikes in trying to obtain a monopoly in cycle sales is starting to show in its motor accessory side resulting in poor stocks and a limited market share. Whether Halfords will ever become the store it once was is doubtful especially as the DIY motorist is fast becoming obsolete as more and more cars have limited DIY service and repair capabilities. |
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13th Dec 2014 1:30pm |
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| Martin Site Admin Member Since: 02 Apr 2007 Location: Hook Norton Posts: 6611 
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More profit in tat and bikes than actual car parts. People who work on their own cars are diminishing rapidly.
 1988 90 Td5 NAS soft top
2015 D90 XS SW |
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13th Dec 2014 1:55pm |
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| Cheshire110 Member Since: 26 Jul 2013 Location: Cheshire/London Posts: 2760
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I've almost given up on them except for more consumer products.
having seen items in halyards 4-5x the price they are in CES thats the only place I'll go now. example: bought GB sticker, High vis jacket, beam deflectors and 5L conc. screen wash at CES then compared the price at halfords vs CES.. CES- £7.80 ish Halfords- £14.50 ish wipers for a defender (bosch) are less than £5 each at CES compared to over £11 at Halfords. pretty decent for bikes/helmets/car audio stuff though Cheers, David Land Rovers of all shapes S3 onwards… Daily is a 110 V8. |
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13th Dec 2014 4:03pm |
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| diesel_jim Member Since: 13 Oct 2008 Location: hiding Posts: 6102 
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Far better off to go to an "auto factors" place,
Catherine, nor sure where in Wilts you are, but in Swindon you can't get better than Car & truck (transfer ind est), Bramarc over in west swindon by the old Renault factory, or euro car parts in common platt ind est behind Dick Lovett BMW. Much better range of proper "car" (and truck) stuff; oils, durite electrical bits etc, and cheaper than Halfrauds, and staffed by people who know one end of a screwdriver from the other. |
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13th Dec 2014 6:08pm |
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| Venomator Member Since: 25 Aug 2014 Location: Peterborough Posts: 2087
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Our local Halfrauds (Peterborough) is always well stocked across the board and the staff are really lovely guys 'n gals...
I only use it because it is convenient and easy to get to and from, plus I have not yet explored the land of Motor Factors in the area yet...  Rog... 
The GREEN One... MY2016 Urban Truck Build Thread - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic40548....al[/color] |
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13th Dec 2014 6:22pm |
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| Ellisboy Member Since: 13 Oct 2013 Location: Deep South Posts: 539 
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Their spanners are good quality.
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13th Dec 2014 7:37pm |
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| bpman Member Since: 21 May 2008 Location: Oslo Posts: 8069 
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They pretty much vary store to store, Salisbury store is ok but there's a euro car parts store too
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13th Dec 2014 8:30pm |
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| Rickydodah Member Since: 14 Jul 2014 Location: East Sussex Posts: 1091 |
If you research the management hierarchy of the company, those managers who were asked to leave when the company was floated have by the later aquisitions regained those managers. Irony. The local branch is pretty good but cycles appear to be taking over looking at the amount of floor space given over to bikes. In my opinion they have little direction and do not fully understand their business and demographic, still. Pretty much why those who were 'asked' to leave were asked all those years ago.
 I started with nothing and still have most of it left! |
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13th Dec 2014 10:45pm |
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| shazzy90 Member Since: 17 Dec 2010 Location: tyneside Posts: 489 |
they are shirt and would not buy owt from them as I find everything overpriced and the staff on low wage do not have a Scooby about lego sets never mind cars, I once bought a bike from them and paid for assemble , as it was a xmas present, the pedals fell off on boxing day ,and it took me more time trying to resolve the problem than the price of the bike,i do agree that the spanners and sockets are good but the staff are xxxx as with most stores like this need I mention bq I once asked a member of staff where to find a box of one inch sevens and he replied we do not sell these have you tried the local fishing tackle shop
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13th Dec 2014 11:12pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971 
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I think we're fortunate in not having one.
Instead we have a shop that isn't a massive chain and has really helpful staff (in my experience at least) that does most of the Halfords type stuff. When I broke the mirror on my Civic I rang them up and they had a spare in stock for £10, they put it behind the counter for me and it was a 30 second pop in, pay and leave job which was exactly what I was looking for. I've had similar experiences since and would highly recommend Wheelspeed in Fakenham if anyone's ever in the area. A friend fairly recently wanted some audio stuff for his Discovery, travelled to the nearest Halfords to find they didn't have what he wanted in stock, came back to Fakenham Auto Electrics and found they had what he wanted in stock for less than Halfords wanted. OK so you might have to choose which of the two you want to go to to get the full range of Halfords stuff, but you do better as a result. Decent quality Defender batteries for £58+vat? I recently bought a pair of heavy duty Varta batteries about 50% bigger than the Defender for not much more than £100, a fortnight ago we had a new alternator on a JCB for less than £50 and they're just down the road and have it all in stock. |
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14th Dec 2014 1:06am |
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