To think this is why the high street is failing?

Bar the fact that we shouldn’t have to! We don’t work there, if shops aren’t prepared to provide a decent service, then it’s on them if they find themselves without customers.

It was a sad day when that place closed. Went there for years (always got the quiche and mixed salad!). They didn’t want to pass on the increased costs to their customers, so made the decision to close.
Neal Street East (though that went yonks ago), the Tea Shop, sure there’s others - it used to be such a lovely and different/interesting street

Realistically, I think the "old" High Street is long gone and can't be saved. People saying we need better public transport don't appreciate that people won't use buses that are too often unreliable and time wasting. They either want to use a car or will shop online. We've had retail parks and out of town supermarkets for a few decades now, and we've had online shopping for a decade or more. The genie is out of the bottle and won't be going back!

Town centres need to be repurposed to be where people live, i.e. we need to convert huge areas of the 80s/90s shops into residential. That will rejuvenate town centres and encourage smaller scale shops aimed at those living there. Alongside that, cafes and restaurants to cater for the younger generations alongside night clubs etc. Even better are the historic or picturesque towns which need to capitalise on the tourist/attraction market, even if only day trippers.

We'll never have enough people going into town by bus to keep big department stores and fashion shops viable - maybe in the biggest city centres like London, Manchester, etc., but not in smaller cities and most towns.

People need to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to move forward and not keep harping back to the old days.

University towns will probably be more viable as lots of student flat blocks are being built/converted in them, which makes smaller shops, cafes and restaurants viable. Students won't generally be driving to out of town shopping malls every week, so "need" local amenities including shops.

I think this is what is driving "anti car" policies for town centres, particularly those with universities. People with cars need to drive to out of town retail parks and supermarkets. Leave the town centres for people who live in town centres. Those without cars will have to use buses to go either to the town centre or the retail park/supermarket.

Plus (last rant, I promise lol) the proliferation of online shopping generates so much data it's mind boggling and is one of the world's most valuable commodities. In addition it's fertile ground for cybercrime. I don't shop online at all if I can help it now.

I can do it but there is always an issue. Always. It’s stressful and annoying. So I choose not and don’t do high street shopping anymore.

All those saying “ oh it’s much easier to shop online and I’ve not been into town in 15 years”…. These are the same people who love working from home and don’t answer the door, aren’t they? 😁
Some of us need to speak to other humans on a day to day basis. Just normal friendly interaction, nothing fancy.
Im lucky in that I still have a butcher, been going there over a decade and it’s a pleasure to pop in and have a bit of a chat while I’m buying something.
I love WearyAuldWomans story about the offer of a hug- that’s so nice.

Another point is that there are no ethics in the rampant consumerism at the crux of the world economy. Online shopping is hideously bad for the environment, from the source of goods, especially fast fashion and technology which update so fast at the cost of resources and how the end products are sourced and manufactured, which often involves slave labour in other countries. It impacts health, well-being and contributes to land fill. Transportation and manufacturing and to-ing and fro-ing also impacts traffic infrastructure.

"Green taxes" and carbon credits etc are a good way of milking more money out if corporations but the costs are passed onto the consumer. We then have the catch 22 of people working in these industries not being able to afford the fruits of their labours due to COL crisis and wage stagnation. Fewer consumers, more unemployed, less money to go round at the bottom of the pile.

End result decimated towns, higher crime, "going shopping" is less and less attractive etc etc - it looks like the ultimate zero sum game to me.

Even the secondhand market is being "gentrified" and pricing out those that relied on it because they couldn't afford new good quality stuff. So now they have to go to Primark and online for fast fashion.

Our version of capitalism is actually the world's biggest pyramid schemes - and those are illegal for a reason.....

In my small Somerset town a lot of shops only take cash, this is incredibly annoying as I don't have cash on me and the cash point is rarely working.
Why go out for a miserable shopping experience when you have every shop on your computer.
I shop from places that I know have clothes that fit me. I hate changing rooms and the whole experience.
The only shops I will go to are things like kitchen shops, framing shops, antique shops and IKEA.

I leave the house at 7 and get home at 6 5 days a week. The last thing I want to do at the weekend is go shopping to actual shops. Internet shopping before I have my tea or before I goto bed? Yes please. Physical shops don't always have what I want either.

I always use them where they're an option. But many people don't understand them / have issues with them. And if there's no staff available, then how do you get assistance with the thing not working / being confusing?

And if there's no manned tills, then you need to be able to process all transactions through self service. I mean, come on, it's 2024 after all....

However, aside from my own preference to not speak to people, there's another issue.

More self service = less retail jobs = more unemployment = less wages = less money being spent in shops.

Of course we can do it, we don’t want to. There have been numerous posts explaining why we don’t like self checkouts, and I would add that they put people out of work but make life harder for the customer. We’re not seeing any reduction in prices, just feeling more ripped off.
As for the name calling of people who don’t agree with you, that’s just rude.

I had a bank account at 11, I find people who refuse to accept we're in 2024 not the 70's really bizarre to be honest

@Beautiful3 is assume they'd have a bank account???? I got one when I was 11!

It’s unusual not to have a back account at 15? Though. Most have accounts and cards from secondary age.
We ask that Guides have a card for trips as we’ve found some places don’t take cash - shake shack was one I recall.

I don't get why people are having a go at you. Surely it is quite obvious shopping on the high street is not what it used to be.
For what it is worth, I agree with you, OP, but I can't see how things could change what with high rents, cost of parking and competition with online shopping.

One of my main annoyances is the lack of changing rooms now, they are always closed due to lack of staff or shops just don’t have any. I live in the country so it’s not as easy to go home, try on and return as it’s an hour to just get to the shops! Also the lack of stock in stores, I need to be able to feel the fabrics and look at clothing in person but they never have anything in store, it’s all online so then you have to faff around sorting returns and refunds 😩

Well mine only uses her phone as do her mates. We’ve had chats about possibly having a card/bit of cash as a backup especially if a distance from home but going out with phone with driving licence in case for ID is very much how they do it.

My 15 year old doesn't have a bank account so he only uses cash

I agree, the primark in town is absolutely manic on a Saturday but for some unknown reason they have decided to get rid of serviced tills bar 1 and the rest are self service. I bought 2 Bras, 2 pants and a pair of joggers on a Tuesday and that's about as much as I would do. I don't mind scanning a few bits in my local sainsburys but primark can poke it.

What do you think teenagers use?!

For physical shops the overheads are much higher than online shops which makes it impossible for them to compete.
Town and city centre retail premises will become unviable and the owners will have to go bust or sell-up cheap. Hopefully that will help to burst the property bubble.

We close at 5, my shift finishes at 5. So, no, I'm not staying unpaid. I'm locking doors at 5. Tills close at 5 on dot. If I have to stay on later I will be in later next shift.

Booths (posh northern Waitrose) put in then quickly took out the self service machines in our town as is wasn’t what customers wanted and apparently thefts were through the roof.

Same. Boots and Tesco are the ones I would normally use but have dropped. I won’t go to Starbucks either as when I buy a cup of tea they expect me to queue up again to assemble it at the cutlery station.

If staff are on low wages and not being paid beyond their set hours they should complain and/or join a union. Not paying minimum wage is illegal.