UK vint-sellers heads-up **Allders Shop Fittings**

N

noir_boudoir

Registered Guest
The one hundred and forty-three year old British department chain store, Allders is going out of business.
The company is being broken up, and some of the stores sold on to competitors. Hundreds of people are losing their jobs. :(:(

:sniff:



They're selling off their shop fittings.
(tentative :) )

They have corners of each ladies' clothing floor, where they've got mannis and racks piled up for sale. If you like the price, you can have a 'SOLD' sticker slapped on one, and go and fetch it later.

The price might be tricky. It's way more than one has to pay in the states, as far as I can tell, and they are used, but they are nifty little mannis, some are almost brand new, and if you live near an Allders store that is closing, you save on postage... (although I'm going to have to splurge £8 on a taxi to fetch mine). Think of it as helping out the pension fund (we hope)!

There are about 55 stores nationwide. I think if you live near one, you'll have the best idea if it has 'closing down' going on.
Confusingly, while the administrators' site lists 10 that are definitely going, my local (Oxford) is not on it, but it is currently selling everything including the kitchen sink too.
Here's the list: Bolton, Chelmsford, Horsham, Ipswich, Kingston, Leeds (the old Lewis's store on the Headrow), Oxford St London (always a poor cousin to the ones around it, alas), Reading, Romford, York Clifton Moor.

The fittings they have are:

Heavy metal racks for clothing display on hangers.
All sorts of shelves.

Full size men's mannis, headless.
Full size men's mannis with molded heads (a few)

Full size women's mannis, headless and a few with molded heads (no wigs), varied ages, teeny sizes.
Prices for these range from £100-250 (the full mannis with heads and big bases are the top whack)

Shapely torsos with arms and heavy base (on an adjustable pole) - I reserved a damaged one of these for £75, mostly £100
Hanging torsos, similarly fully molded heavy plaster - about £75
Torsos on short bases, also £75-100.
Half torsos for lingerie display, also solid-ish plaster, £50 each.
Baby shapes with padded cloth and wire adjustable arms - £40 or 50 (I can't remember)
And a few child mannis, though I didn't see the prices.

So not the cheapest, but possibly convenient, and you might find tolerable damage on one (as I did) to justify a discount. Although I didn't feel comfortable bargaining too much when these people are losing their jobs. :no:

They might be specifying these prices right up until the stores close (20th March) and in fact, the mannis are being bought up quite fast, possibly by other shops. A lot, as I said, were bought last year.

Unfortunately cruising around our store revealed that all fittings are fairly recent, and there's nothing vintage going begging. But it may depend on the store, so go check.

Extracting a silver lining (and looking forward to having *arms* to display a few things with)

Lin

ps. I can always bag them in other people's names at Oxford when I go and collect mine.
 
ooh, that is tempting. am becoming some kind of mannequin collector (hardly surprising, i seem to collect pretty much everything without realising!)

not sure what our local branch has to offer as it's pretty small but will wander down tomorrow to have a look. it's racking and storage i really need - don't suppose you noticed what kind of money they were asking for the rails lin?
 
My local is the Oxford Street branch (which has only been open about a year I think, certainly not long anyway), my mum has a fabulous one in Bromley which I know is being bought by Primark but it's not on that list. When Indy & I got married we asked for gift vouchers for Allders because neither of us had so much as a teaspoon between us.
 
Thanks Lin - but I have enough trouble keeping Madeline under control, without getting her a friend to play with!!! ;)
 
I know! I have *very*, *very* little room, and I'm a bit worried about having TWO disembodied torsos sharing my main room (the dress form might get an inferiority complex). But the new one is very dismantleable, which is my priority.

Harriet, they were asking £100-200 for the large racks I was looking at, but these were the big glossy stainless steel ones that you'd fit, say, 5-8 lines of tops on. I think also they're pricing to sell in a very advantageous location for all the other shops to come and cherry-pick.

They may have smaller options - I didn't look too closely, but they did have a mixture of the wheelable ones and the stable ones. Also, as the stock goes, more will end up in the 'fixtures' area, so it's worth scouting what's being used in the non-boutique bays (where, say, stuff from Wallis or Jaeger may just be shipped to the other local store) and going back again later when it's likely to be out.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the impression that they'd be doing huge price-cutting in the run up to closing. They'll just sell what they can like this, and the rest will go to wholesale resellers after the close.

Of course, if you walk in and say 'I'll take 5' I bet you get a good deal.

Anna, I know that store well! It's near-ish the Marble Arch Oxford bus stop, so many's the time I've legged it in there to use the nice loos (the coach ones can be pretty gross).

L
 
I got a mirror from a jewelry/makeup counter when the Cherry & Webb shops closed up in the metro Boston area. I absolutely love it. People always think i paid 2 arms and 2 legs because of the clean. modern looks of it. Don't underestimate store fixtures for re-creating that high ticket spare modern decor look. I don't have a sparse modern decor look but a little goes a long way :)

I wish I would have bought two. But it was a case where a lady was hemming and hawwing over one, so i grabbed the other, and she thought I must be on to something so she grabbed the one she was looking at. I should have held out and waited for her to go, but didn't want to risk not getting either of them.

Chris
 
"But it was a case where a lady was hemming and hawwing over one, so i grabbed the other, and she thought I must be on to something so she grabbed the one she was looking at" :clapping: i just had to say how much i understand that feeling chris! i think that accounts for about a quarter of my stuff.. or not wanting to out something down until they've walked away as you feel like they are waiting to snatch it (which then makes it doubly desirable to me!!)

thanks lin, i think the £100 ones might be a bit too big for my space (attic + slopy ceilings = problematic!) but may have a look in your branch if i'm that way before closing - my local (small) branch has been bought up by debenhams and isn't closing, apparently.
 
Yeah, I mean the reason why I went for these is the wider-than-usual variety in shapes and stands that they have.

Tell you what, I'll see if I can take a few snaps when I go and collect mine, than I can go and get a sticker slapped on one for you if you think one of the smaller ones might fit the bill.
L
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top