Re: Bummer....
The suggestion was made in a comment on a Maplin story a week or so ago.
Maplin is in deep doodoo because they no longer fill a need. You can buy, better, newer and cheaper from any number of outlets - whether it’s Amazon, Ebay or even Tesco.
But the suggestion which I think could have some success for Maplin would be to turn the stores into hacking/making spaces. You need an arduino controller? A stepper motor? No problem, we can sell one to you right now.
My nephew wants to learn how to code. I never learned, so I’m not a great teacher. There are no coding clubs near us, but there are several Maplin branches. We would happily pay for coding lessons or to make a robot in their space.
There is clearly a total lack of imagination with Maplin’s owners, management and administrators.
On a related subject - with all the fast casual restaurants closing down (like Prezzo) what nobody is saying is the reason for such poor performance: lousy management.
Recent trip to a nearby Prezzo, the heating was broken. When it was just above freezing outside. The heating has been playing up at that same branch for YEARS.
Guess what.... the area manager works out of a different branch. Because if he worked in the cold one, it would have been fixed by now. They treat customers badly, don’t know how to give out free ice for drinks and practice the most onerous portion control imaginable.
They may have too many branches, but there is nobody LEADING the business. They have no idea about looking after customers. The same lack of care is repeated in EVERY branch.
But this is what happens when the founder of a business leaves or dies and it’s sold to private equity. No vision. No leadership. Just asset stripping.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
