imutual.co.uk

With over 11,000 visits to the initial thread and a further 22,000+ to Part 2 and 14,500+ to Part 3, this is obviously a theme that members are interested in/concerned about...

I am sure we are witnessing a quantum change on the high street which may have negative effects on the town and city high streets but devastating effects to the smaller towns and villages.

(Continued from this thread)

Boro Boy wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22 2019 1:06pm

I am sure we are witnessing a quantum change on the high street which may have negative effects on the town and city high streets but devastating effects to the smaller towns and villages.

You heard it here first folks.

More than concerned, I would say alarmed at the deterioration of the high street.

AAAlphaThunder wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22 2019 11:47pm

... I would say alarmed at the deterioration of the high street.

Why?

pabenny wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23 2019 6:42am

AAAlphaThunder wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22 2019 11:47pm

... I would say alarmed at the deterioration of the high street.

Why?

Not everyone has access to the internet or even credit. Sometimes you need something quickly or a cheap item you do not want to have to pay p and p for.

And if you buy from a shop you can see and feel the item. You can try on clothing. You do not end up sending stuff back which is not what you were expecting in way of fit, colour etc. You only buy what you want. And that is so much better than buying on spec on the internet for the environment. Some of the returned items will be passed on to discount shops but some are just destroyed or sent to landfill

pabenny wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23 2019 6:42am

AAAlphaThunder wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22 2019 11:47pm

... I would say alarmed at the deterioration of the high street.

Why?

All those independents that gave us variety, sparkle and colour are a thing of the past. Not everything can be sold on the internet. Plus there is a such thing as "personal service".

More than £1 in £6 of UK retail spend is now online. That proportion has been steadily growing for years because it’s quicker/cheaper/more convenient (even though, as Mrs Blythburgh notes, there are some who can’t/won’t shop online). There’s no reason to suggest that online shopping will stop growing, let alone decline – which means that the high street will continue to wane.

So talk of ‘saving’ the high street is futile and is likely to be as effective as Canute was at turning the waves. We should recognise that the retail landscape has changed for good and seek to reshape our town centres – shrinking shopping zones, repurposing retail property (eg for housing), redeveloping for other uses.

The supposed decline of the high street is not even new. Ten years ago we were noting the disappearance of Woolworths, Dolcis (and many other shoe shops), Ethel Austin, Adams Childenswear, Thresher, Zavvi, numerous card shops, Focus DIY, etc….

As for independents giving “variety, sparkle and colour”… many of those that actually did this are still there. And in fact there are a lot more of those – several towns near me have Sunday markets for independent craftspeople and traders. Strangely many of the bricks and mortar independents don’t bother to open when the market is on.

AAAlphaThunder wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23 2019 12:35pm

pabenny wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23 2019 6:42am

AAAlphaThunder wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22 2019 11:47pm

... I would say alarmed at the deterioration of the high street.

Why?

All those independents that gave us variety, sparkle and colour are a thing of the past. Not everything can be sold on the internet. Plus there is a such thing as "personal service".

Nobody has mentioned Service... It is this service and free advice, if you wish, that will vanish if the high street disappears...!

Lots of free advice available online.

blythburgh wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23 2019 11:12am

Not everyone has access to the internet or even credit.
Sometimes you need something quickly or a cheap item you do not want to have to pay p and p for.
And if you buy from a shop you can see and feel the item. ...

AAAlphaThunder wrote:personal service

Boro Boy wrote:service and free advice

All of these are reasons why some people, some of the time, shop on the high street. In fact, most people, most of the time, shop on the high street.

Boro Boy wrote:...if the high street disappears..

That isn't going to happen. It's just going to be (in fact is already) different to the high street of the 1990s. We need to get used to it.