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[Carl Christensen" (by way of Sam Michel)]

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samwebmedia [dot] com

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Subject: UKNM: BarclaySquare - from bad to worse ?

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BarclaySquare can't get the tenants, so they create some of their own 

 

The latest site rejig at www.barclaysquare.com has

some new tenants  :-

On-line Hi Fi Store

2001 Domestic Appliances

Discount TV and Video 

 

Hardly household names, and no wonder - they are all facades owned entirely by

Barclays 

 

Are Barclays re-inventing their business model and becoming the retailer, much

like the Sainsburys and Tescos of this world dabbling with banking, or have

they just got it hopelessly wrong ?

 

Behind-the-scenes fulfilment of the TVs and fridges is handled by

<http://www.hed.co.uk/>Home Electrical Direct (HED) whose helpline operator

(0870 6060290)  confirmed that "BarclaySquare *is* the merchant and takes the

money - they just choose to use HED for fulfilment."

 

Why partner with HED (�250,000 turnover last year)?  It reeks of a last resort

- and Barclays loses out on price with HED whose own no-frills site at

<http://www.hed.co.uk>www.hed.co.uk focuses entirely on discount prices,

invariably cheaper than Barclays'  three new facades

 

Barclays has been talking to major market-leading electrical retailers for a

long time, trying to get them onto BarclaySquare, without success. The major

retail brands simply don't need BarclaySquare. 

 

You don't see any bank owning a shopping "mall" in the real world, and it has

always puzzled me what a bank is doing owning a virtual shopping mall. It is

one thing Barclays owning an online shopping mall, but selling fridges and TVs

?

 

 

Carl Christensen

Marketing Director

Domino Systems