Dr. Martens Share Discussion Threads

[piratesteve] 10/5/2024 19:26

Teach me. Why are you saying the drop will be substantial? Also, would you please quantify 'substantial'? Many thanks

[clocktower] 10/5/2024 07:11

Very ominous the CFO starting on the 13th May.

I wonder how long it will be before the company drops out of the FTSE 250 at it’s recent rvate of decline, and if it does, I guess the drop will be substantial.

DYOR

[the white house] 29/4/2024 11:02

Current leader in worst post of the year. Congratulations

[clocktower] 29/4/2024 08:33

Thanks for clearly that up.

This is just like the Titanic, heading for the rocks but some in denial that it will sink.

[darrin1471] 26/4/2024 11:54

Dr Martens is suing the rapidly-growing Chinese marketplace Temu, accusing them of trademark infringement.

The British footwear retailer alleges that Temu engaged in paid advertising with Google to promote boots sold on its platform, targeting keywords like “Dr. Martens” and “Airwair” in specific markets.

The Times reports that this strategy effectively placed Temu’s knock off products ahead of Dr. Martens’ in search engine results.

Google’s advertising policies specify that it prohibits ads that violate trademark rights, yet the tech giant does not prevent advertisers fromusing trademarks as keywords.

Last week Dr Martens, filed the complaint in the High Court, having previously sued fast-fashion giant Shein in 2021 for what it characterised as a “clear intent to sell counterfeits.”

[castleford tiger] 26/4/2024 10:08

there is something going on yes

[clocktower] 26/4/2024 08:07

Am I mistaken in thinking I read somewhere that the company was taking legal action against a Chinese business for some form of copyright infringement?

[darrin1471] 22/4/2024 12:36

Said an anonymous hedge fund looking for someone to buy his holding more like.

[woozle1] 22/4/2024 09:48

The highly reliable source!

Dr Martens is being circled by various firms looking to snap up the embattled footwear retailer.

An anonymous hedge fund investor told This is Money: “We met with management and there’s something in the offing.”

[yorek] 22/4/2024 09:31

"Dr Martens faces potential takeover as firms circle"https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2024/04/dr-martens-foreign-takeover/?utm_source=Retail+Gazette+Subscribers+2024&utm_campaign=a7014b1769-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_04_22_07_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-a7014b1769-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

[clocktower] 22/4/2024 07:15

So confirmed the appointment of part of a failing team that they say is responsible for doubling brand sales in the past but clearly has no clue about making a sizeable profit from the them.

[castleford tiger] 18/4/2024 16:32

one of the biggest problems is that the product now made outside the UK ( most of it) is not so good.

take a deep dive and have a look.

best
tiger

[clocktower] 18/4/2024 14:41

Well your buying a pig in a poke, as you really are just assuming this will recover because everyone buys shoes/sandels/boots - footwear in general, rather than considering the plan the company was working too, which has got them into the mess that has over the last 12/18 months shown it's head. It is going to cost a considerable sum to try to correct the situation, and it will be huge wrote downs, from all sections.

How much stock is purchased from the far east, what percentage is made in Europe, what effect will it have on staffing and will there be large redundancies?

[g2theary] 18/4/2024 09:15

I've added today in for the short term bounce and possible hostile takeover which will be over a billion MCAP :)

[woozle1] 18/4/2024 09:00

It was a strange warning and looked like an attempt to kitchen sink all the bad news for the new CEO (certainly any incoming CEO would not want to be landed with the outgoing CEO's errors). A comment in the Times was interesting, describing Kenny Wilson as starstruck by the US and hence the over-expansion.

The facts are EMEA and APAC,(the latter is the largest market for shoes globally) are doing well. Japan is a good market for DTC because such a large proportion of the population lives in the largest cities and winters are cold. I expect Docs to continue to do well there.

The US is not because wholesalers (read dept stores) are not ordering. It seems strange, therefore, that they loaded up with even more new stock. It may be that Docs was already committed to these orders and could not avoid this issue. Or that there is not a big market for boots on the West Coast (see below).  

In the 2024 H1 the company said "Our inventory is too high and will now right size
through FY25". Well, that statement looks wide of the mark.

Most branded products rely on some form of wholesale in the US as it is not feasible to cover the smaller metros economically. That's a simple fact of doing business in the US and even companies like GAW make a very large proportion of their sales through this channel.

The US is the largest economy as measured by GDP per capita. However, the decision to over-expand on the West Coast looks like a mistake and that the LA DC was poorly conceived. Warmer temps will dull the appetite for heavier boots and maybe they are selling more sandals there. I suspect this DC is draining the US performance and I would not be surprised if it shut down. Geography may be a dull word to brand consultants but it matters. I would hope that Permira makes this argument.

I own from £1 and will buy more. I think this is a relevant brand that has been around a long time (unlike Super Dry) and so long as the company continues to nurture it (and not indulge in massive discounting) I see no reason that it can not recover. And the balance sheet is in reasonable shape and should allow them to ride out this patch.

[kaos3] 18/4/2024 07:01

i wonder why california... there is no money there but for a few... and they do not buy dr martens in loads. every person needs just so many pairs

california is posh on the surface but in huge debts, smart people are leaving, those who can not afford to leave .... they stay and they will not be buying

also wages and taxes are huge /compared/, real estate is expensive etc...

retailers closing their stores

which tells me all about the current dr martens management and its attitude... and results show

the only positive why california is probably logistics ... port entry....

[papillon] 18/4/2024 02:22

free stock charts from uk.advfn.com


DOCS log chart. Great way for long term holders to lose money!

[clocktower] 17/4/2024 22:11

On a post here many months ago, I pointed out about how they had pulled out of the traditional steel toe protective workwear and in doing so lost their traditional custom builder merchant outlet, and it is those sorts of decisions that start to undermine the business, as they became reliant of fashion items.

The management need to be removed immediately as they got the business into the mess it is now in.

[clocktower] 17/4/2024 22:01

The only hope for the company over then next couple of years, is to be decisive and withdraw from the USA.

I know they will not have the balls to make such a drastic decision, so either someone buys the business thinking they can turn it around, and like the Bodyshop, it has had it’s day and whoever takes it on will suffer the same sort of fate, until such time that all that remains is the brand value and maybe the core UK production facility.

The question is at what price with a bidder enter?

Let’s look at SDY over 19 million items of excess stock is still being cleared, Doc’s are stock piling to what end?

If wholesale buyers know they have piles of excess stock, the only way they will take it off their hands is at a huge discount and possible extended payment terms, in fact if the company had any sense, rather than take on storage that will result in extra distribution costs in the longer term, they would be better off offering to supply their wholesale customers with stock on very generous payment terms, so they in turn can offer their customers a wide choice of styles and sizes, which in normal circumstances they would be unlikely to have such a large stock holding.

On top of that the company should offer promotional support to retailers on a $ for $ basis, to ensure they market Doc’s in all advertising and window displays, and run competitions for things like best window displays.

I could continue with a long list of other actions that could put the company in a f are better place than they now find themselves in due to their failure to take steps much earlier, and that can be put down to the sales/ marketing leadership not taking a leadership role.

[ny boy] 17/4/2024 16:00

Retailers are all struggling but one trick ponies need to find a way to survive, it’s grim, unemployment will rise into year end

[huckers] 17/4/2024 12:02

iTisOnlyMoney. Thanks for all that, appreciated. I'll keep watching and reading the board.

[itisonlymoney] 17/4/2024 11:50

darrin, thanks for the detail on the new ceo. Btw, does that look like the profile for a good fashion brand ceo? Big salary maybe. I have doubts. a senior director for apple retail - he's had lots of people around him to generate any success there. snr directors like to take all the credit if things go well, but out on their own, they often fail, so he's an unknown quantity at this point. does anyone here know how he did at wolf olins?

huckers, I've asked the same question. my instinct atm is that this fifth profit warning and the change of leadership (a necessary move) with an untested ceo who has apparently been on the board (as a non-exec rather than ops management) throughout this car crash, creates massive uncertainty on top of the forecast for much lower profits. there's nothing but shifting sand under the strategy and the forecasts, plus the global environment does not look good - major european war which it looks like russia will now win, and the prospect of a middle eastern war.

Docs has a high valuation based on its brand appeal but the retail market is not validating that appeal by buying the boots in huge numbers, so i think the share price has to reflect actual profit without a brand premium. that's my thinking and that leads me to guess that the share price is going steadily down for sometime now. i haven't got the confidence in that prediction to actually short the shares though, because there's no telling when a bid for the company could come. right now i'm watching. if the share price gets to 30p, i will almost certainly be a buyer.

[huckers] 17/4/2024 10:21

Opinions sought. Is this a buy at some point? And if so at what price?

[disc0dave46] 17/4/2024 10:04

Tiger"I am not sure they will do as well as that as trade was dropping at Xmas."They've said DTC improved Q4 and they are in line with guidance and consensus expectations - guess we will know next month but would expect no new surprises for FY24 (it can't get much worse can it, lol).All the best