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Nostalgia is a funny old thing. People’s shock at the news Woolworths is in serious trouble is bizarre, but very British.

How on earth could 99-year-old high street national institution Woolworths be in trouble? How can this have been allowed to happen? Don’t kids buy pick ‘n’ mix anymore?

Without getting into the real financial mess behind Woolworths’ woes and its £100m pensions deficit, is it really a surprise a shop which has no real USP other than a tired brand is struggling?

Almost all its core audience know they can buy the same products for less at Tesco or online, or visit a specialist niche retailer offering wider choice, superior service and increasingly sexier shopping environment.

Like fellow dinosaur WH Smith, there’s no longer a compelling reason to shop at Woolworths where choice is limited, price is either high or representative of low quality. Both shops' only value are their prime locations making them convenient to visit for low cost urgent buys and of interest for a buy-out.

Aside from the redundancies and knock-on blow to suppliers (and that's a big aside), does it matter it if these dinosaurs become extinct?

It shouldn’t. Red phone boxes and routemaster buses, though, now that’s a scandal...

Alex Tew, founder of the MillionDollarHomepage.com, has released 1,000 limited prints of his masterpiece to mark its third anniversary.

The iconic site made then 21-year-old student Tew his fortune and captured global attention. A constant point of reference in the web's development, MillionDollarHomepage is also increasingly regarded as a work of art.

“I’ve had lots of requests for them,” said Alex speaking exclusively to Smarta. “I’ve been meaning to do them for ages so I thought it’d be neat to do it to mark the third anniversary.”

Alex is also looking to the future, however, and is busy working on a secret project. He wouldn’t tell us what (wouldn’t be a secret then, would it?), but has promised to as soon as he can.

In the meantime, snap up your signed MDH print here.

For social use, unless you’re a hardened stalker, you don’t go approaching or messaging people on Facebook who you don’t already know. It’s all about communicating with those you do. Or a frantic pursuit of collecting people you've had the vaguest connection to, anyway – could we win gold in this?

For business though I want to contact people I haven’t met or who won’t remember me. I want to introduce myself, tell them what I do and see if there’s a way we can work together. However, the only way to do this is to cold message and, well, it all feels a little intrusive.

I know Facebook isn't a business network but there's some damn useful people on there, some of whom happily use it for business. Some don't, though - so how do you tell?

Do you mind being messaged cold? Or should business talk be kept to business networking sites?

It’s arguably the biggest challenge of web 2.0 – how do you start charging for something you’ve so far given away for free?

The almost universal approach to date has been that you don’t; instead you find other revenue streams (usually advertising) that allow you to keep offering the core service without charging.

After all, for social networks and free entertainment sites constantly courting the attention of promiscuous web customers used to getting what they want for free, suddenly charging would be seen as the ultimate turn-off.

It’s a bit different for b-2-b though, where you inevitably expect to pay for any service with real value. That’s not to say, of course, that going from a free model to a paid-for one doesn’t hold its risks: you’re opening yourself up to a competitor offering what you do for free, for a start.

It was interest then that I received the following email when placing a job ad on a site I’d used gratis for several years:

“Matt, the position is now live on our site... It’s also worth letting you know that we have moved to a fee paying structure this year – due to increased traffic on the website and the time required to manage it. I’ve attached a rate card for you to see. Please note that we’re offering two free adverts before we start to charge, so do enjoy another free posting with us. On saying that, we continue to post all internship / work experience positions for free.”

So I’ve now got to pay for a service I got for free. But you know what? Providing I still get value, I don’t really mind.

The site, Gorkana, has earned my respect over the years by providing a great service for free. Its rates introduced also mean it's still more economical than competitors and, once compared to the cost of advertising in a national newspaper or with a recruitment agent, I’m still getting a good deal.

Plus they’re softening the blow by communicating clearly and staggering the process with two more free placements. I.e. they’re continuing to demonstrate the quality of their service before asking me to pay for it.

Time will tell if Gorkana’s got it right or wrong for charging, but for me it feels fair and surely that should the barometer for others to follow when it comes to pricing models?

Have you been mugged for your Oyster card? If you have, Transport for London (TfL) knows how you feel.

What exactly was TfL thinking about five years ago when it brokered the deal with Transys, the supplier consortium that manages its Oyster card system?

Let’s forget the software crashes, allegations of hacking, corrupted cards and security concerns. Transys paid for that this week when TfL cancelled its £100m contract.

Yet, bizarrely, it could be TfL that ends up ruing the split most. Guess who owns the Oyster brand TfL has spent five years marketing and covering the Capital’s transport network with? Yep, you guessed it, Transys.

So after giving out 17 million Oyster cards since 2003, TfL is now locked in talks with Transys over ‘how to ensure the continuation of the brand’. I’m sure a deal will be struck, mainly because it’s too palatable for one not to be, but it’s clear who holds all the, er, cards – and it isn’t TfL.

Perhaps TfL’s chiefs need to take a trip up the Victoria Line to Kings Cross, turn right upon exit and pay a visit to the British Library Business & IP Centre and read up on how to protect their intellectual property.

Needless to say, if you’re thinking of spending the next five years pushing a brand and banging out 17 million related products, make sure you own it!

Image: Flickr

What’s the first thing us Brits do in a crisis? Make a brew, of course.

That could be the explanation behind a healthy jump in profits at tea and coffee specialist Whittard of Chelsea, which appears to be making rich trade as a result of the economic downturn.

It seems caffeine addicts are saving their pennies by getting their fixes at home instead of the high street. Sales of coffee are up 15% on last year at Whittard, while coffee-making equipment is up 11%, cafetieres 7% and milk frothers 4%.

Whittard is just the latest credit crunch winner. Ryanair reported a 19% rise in passengers in July, while Travelodge and Haven have seen a jump in bookings from holiday seekers unable to afford foreign holidays this year.

Budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are booming, while DVD sales and pizza delivery are also on the up as 'nights in' become the new 'nights out'.

It seems the UK consumer is prepared to economise however they can – Superdrug has even reported a 15% rise in condom sales!

Image: Flickr

How come domestic energy suppliers have to publish their tariffs, but business suppliers don't? Why do domestic contracts allow people to switch every 28 days, businesses have to sign-up for inflexible long-term deals?

Two very valid questions posed by the British Chambers of Commerce, which is campaigning for new measures to help businesses deal with exploitative energy companies.

Well done to the BCC for flagging this. More than 32,000 businesses every year phone energy regulator Ofgem, seeking help and advice with their bills and providers.

David Frost, director general of the BCC, says: “With the economy slowing and energy bills on the rise it is totally unacceptable that hard-pressed businesses are left so open to exploitation.”

Here, here – let’s hope the BCC isn't wasting its energy and Ofgem and the government are listening.

Image: Flickr

Need a holiday? Hell yes! Feel like you’re able to take one? Hell no!

I hear entrepreneurs say this all the time. The ambitious highfliers running fast-growth companies haven’t got a gap in their diaries for a frapacuino in the sun let alone a whole week, while the sole traders and micro businesses are working on such limited resources they’ve often resigned themselves to a life without breaks.

Now we all know only life coaches believe in ‘escaping the rat race or 9-to-5’, but surely one of the chief motivations to start your business was to enjoy your life more than if you worked for someone else – at what point does this get lost?

In the middle of an economic downturn when the pressure is on, margins are squeezed and you’re livelihood is at stake, is the probably the very real answer.

However, there comes a point where not taking a break can be bad for your business. Mainly because it’s bad for you.

The Shaw Trust a charity which has launched a free online resource to help employers reduce mental illness in the workplace, says stress and mental health problems are on the increase as a result of increasingly pressured working conditions.

If anything, it’s worse for you lot at the top carrying the burden of the whole company’s survival and your employees’ welfare.

Swanning off to the Bahamas for a month while they worry about redundancies mightn't be too sensible, but taking a few days off to recharge your batteries, look at the bigger picture and come back refreshed with a host of new ideas to the take the company forward could help everyone.

Glasses Direct founder Jamie Murray Wells has ended his search for a CEO, appointing Advertising.com’s UK MD Kevin Cornils.

Back in March, Jamie announced that he intended to step away to the role of executive chairman and partner with a CEO to “help me lead the company as we continue to establish the brand as a global leader”.

Launched in 2004, the company’s budget online specs were an immediate hit with everyone but its high street competitors who tried in vain to shut it down and promptly saw its founder scoop a host of entrepreneur awards.

Despite raising £6m from VCs and driving turnover in the millions, the company has yet to hit profitability and has seen a number of copycat competitors launch in its space. This, the fact he’s still only 25, and a tabloid snapping Jamie out on the town with on-off girlfriend of Prince William, Kate Middleton, led to a few rumours the move confirmed today wasn’t all his own choice.

Blog Smarta’s no celebrity gossip column so doesn’t wish to comment. Instead, we’ll consider that perhaps Jamie’s simply realised inside four years what it takes many entrepreneurs a lot longer to fathom: he can’t do everything and is better off concentrating on his strengths.

If that’s the case, Cornils sounds a shrewd appointment. With a track record of web successes, he most recently joined Buy.at to work with the founding partners, taking it to the US and tripling it in size before selling to AOL’s Advertising.com.

With a site redesign, fresh branding (see above) and some cool new features including a virtual mirror that lets Glasses Direct customers upload photos and ‘try on’ different specs all imminent, the company now looks geared to embark on the next phase of its growth.

The new football season kicks-off this weekend, a boon period for sports retailers as supporters scramble to get kitted out in their club’s latest replica strip. Today you could barely get through the doors of Lillywhites in Piccadilly Circus (so much for the credit crunch) for the hoards of Manchester United and Liverpool (don’t get me started) kit-clutching shoppers.

The relative haven of the clearance corner, where last season’s strips are being knocked out for a fiver just 12 weeks since they commanded £35+ pricetags, tells you everything about the pace of retail change and the mark-up to be had on items of questionable quality and ethics.

That’s a different a story, though. I was more taken by the breakdown of the sale stock. Someone in Lillywhites’ buying department must have seriously overestimated the number of Birmingham City fans in London. Or, as I can safely vouch being one of what is a rare breed, the whole world. Around 80% of the sale stock were Birmingham shirts. I've seen fewer at away games.

While I can understand perfectly, having watched yet another season of dour relegation football, why the shirts hadn’t sold, I'm confused why so many were overed ordered. Did someone mistakenly slip a zero on end of the order? Two zeros?!

Product buying is a problem that blights many early retailers, yet it’s rarely spoken about as an essential skill for running a business. You hear plenty of advice about making sure your business has USPs, a target customer, markets itself correctly, drives sales etc, but rarely is the focus on buying, let alone margin.

Negative cashflow kills more new businesses than anything else. In retail it’s almost always caused by overstocking.

I was chatting about the problem recently to John Spooner, former MD of Monsoon and manager at Liberty. He's seen it all before. Start-ups commit all their money to three months of stock then can’t afford to replace what sells and end up trying to flog-off cheap the stuff that doesn’t.

The key, he says, is always keep money in reserve and try to have as many suppliers as possible who’ll do repeat orders instead of just bulk. Ideally, you shouldn't commit more than 50% of sales forward.

Spooner also says new businesses should keep product ranges simple. Don’t get carried away at trade sales and don’t feel obliged to offer a lot choice. Start with core products you know will sell then slowly test and introduce new lines.

Lillywhites, owned by giant Sports Direct? Now they should just know better!

Image: Flickr