Based on what? they were selling cheap costume jewellery to the working and lower middle class, both of which were exceptionally squeezed by the 10 years of tha

Based on what? they were selling cheap costume jewellery to the working and lower middle class, both of which were exceptionally squeezed by the 10 years of thatcher that had just ended. Luxuries are typically the first thing to go for those close to poverty in a recession. I would argue that Ratners were uniquely placed to suffer the worst in a recession, and that they hadn't collapsed during the aftermath of Black Monday is the bigger surprise.