Mansors  established 1906  now gone forever after threes days notice  to the public  supposedly   due to the economic downturn ..  I ask how can a company that has been in the trade for 103 years just go down like that  .  So much for training  retail managers at university level , nothing replaces that gut feel for the business  or having your own money in it .  Today we place far to much importance on the bottom line for the share holders,  who really don't give a dam about what business principals are  solong as there's a dollar in it

No one cares about the customers or the grass roots staff who actually serve the customers who buy their purchases, which pays for the huge salary packages and high stock returns. It's all about huge profits and satisfied share holders. The company probably bit the dust because of the huge salaries at the exec level, and payouts to share holders. So those grass roots staff on the ground floor will be out of jobs, loyal customers have misplaced their loyalty and will have to redirect it to another company. Like everything, the world is upside down. The execs forget where the money comes from. Consequently they go bust. Happy days. Cheers Chris

As you both have said, shareholders and exec salaries put a huge strain on these companies, it is a real shame to see some of the older ones go down the drain or overseas, in more prosperous economic times they probably could have survived. I notice travelling around a lot of the small businesses in country towns have closed down also, sadder time ahead I hope the turn around comes before too long in the future for everyone's sake. Berg

At least the fuel is still an almost respectable price. When I arrived in Cairns in July last year, diesel was almost $1.80 per litre. I'm guessing by the time I get back on the road it will be back up there again. All I can do is hope not. It's a good time to be on the road. Cheers Chris