Ghost towns/retail changes, sad for toddler

[itscomplicatedlife]

Not sure titled this properly, basically waited a long time to have our child, she's now 2 and able fo come shopping in town except of course due to Covid and changes for some time the High streets close to many are like ghost towns with many shops shut it's really sad to see and not the experience I recall when it was in its peak in the mid 90s! I understand most things have moved online but I feel our children are missing out massively on an experience you can't replicate online. For example the trip to town was as exciting as being there, of course there's now nothing there unless you perhaps go to the large major cities which is what we plan to do but I don't know how much of it would now be relevant to young families as I guess most places are bars, restaurants and big brand names mainly aimed at the younger generation. Years ago most high streets had everything you needed for everyone but now it's all online, just feel like this change has made life for the consumer more convenient but taken the fun out of it also esp for those with young children whom I was once myself and abs loved going in to town and physically seeing everything or I'm really getting old! I also find it a huge hassle buying clothing online for DD who is an awkward size and having to keep taking things back at a wknd, some of us are not a standard size, maybe I'm getting old

I totally agree with you @itscomplicatedlife

I think it's really sad
So many shops have closed down now here
It really annoys me 😞

Going to a town I felt was also a huge sanity saver for my mum as it kept us all occupied for part of the wk whilst she got jobs done, it's meant surely oarents are spending a lot more time indoors and not physically getting out as much as they once did except to the post office at wknds to return unsuitable items bought online which is a pia!

It's awful and I can just see them all gone in possibly the next 5 yrs it's very worrying! It's been slowly going that way but the speed in which this has accelerated due to covid is crazy. Just can't imagine what life's going to be like having most local towns as just cafes and restaurants and nothing else to physically go out for, to me it isn't healthy. I think it's good to get out and about for your mental health we literally now spend most of our lives in front of a screen!

Yes, even whats left is shit now, theres no choice and certain things like maternity wear is impossible to find

I pity young folk

I miss a wander round Debenhams, fish and chips in bhs cafe, loads of other places.

Theres nowhere in my city for wee old folk to go now.

Rather than shopping online I find I could buy 99% of what I need in life at my nearest large branch of Sainsbury's. As well as the obvious food, cleaning items and toiletries but all my clothes (for me, husband and child). All 'seasonal' stuff - Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Diwali, Eid, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Summer things, School things.... you name it they sell it.
All household goods (sausepans, bedding, lamps, towels.... whatever). Toys, books, stationary, cards, flowers, magazines, electronic gadgets, sports equipment, camping equipment.
There is an instore Argos so I could buy pretty much anything - a sofa, a washing machine, a giant wooden garden summer house. There's an instore pharmacy and Specsavers. All topped off with a really nice cafe.
If you don't live near one of these big branches you could take your child every few months - 2 or 3 times a year. That will be just as 'exciting' as going to town to a small child.

@ssd I just think particularly when your a parent you need to get out and sometimes to town is great, kids love to see differnt walks of life around them, the sensory experience of differnt shops and people of all generations, sights, sounds and smells; yes sometimes it's not great but isn't that what kind of makes life more interesting! If the towns go completly which isn't far off now we will spend our times shopping indoors, the human contact experience will be so reduced along with the amount of jobs it's very worrying. I'm struggling to see the positives

@ssd and yes the smell of fish n chips drifting around whilst you shop and I'd say to my mum, shall we get a cone on our way home...it's a huge thing I'm not sure it's good, I've experienced what it was like and I can see what's coming and I'm not sure it's good!

itscomplicatedlife does your town not have a library or sports centre or park or museum or community centre to 'physically go out' for ?

Tbf most people These days seem to think children shouldn’t be in shops at all!

I think a lot of the bigger High Streets are going that way which is sad. I live in a small town and the High Street is still very busy and vibrant - possibly because the High Street is literally the main road of the town with houses going behind either side of it and there aren't many other places to go! There are pretty much as many coffee shops/cafes/restaurants as shops these days but at least it is still thriving. My 11 yo DD and her friends walk to the high street quite often and get themselves a drink from one of the cafes. There isn't a lot else for them to do round here though....

Yes, i think at every age the town is great.

Going with your mum as a kid, wandering through her shops, maybe a visit to a toyshop and a cafe.

Going as a teenager with your pals, pocket money spending in a cafe and looking through high fashion shops and trying the make up testers and perfumes in a department store or boots

Going shopping for engagement rings....

Going pram shopping and deciding what to buy for the nursery

Going shopping by yourself and just people watching in a pavement cafe

Older people getting out the house and a wander through the shops, having a chat with someone and feeling better for it

I think the fact that the cafes etc and the shops are all mixed together on our High Street helps as people will go for a coffee then think they will just pop into one or two of the shops on the way past.

Its all on the way out....and theres nothing except online to replace it

@Legoisthebest oh yes I totally see that and I think here in lies the problem, it's this thing called the free market economy and that's how it goes. As people have got busier and the things people need have slowly become a available to them at their local supermarket where is where most people get their food shops people have needed the high st less and less. The wealth is now made by a few larger brand names instead of the many smaller businesses that employed so many and the larger so fewer and because they now buy in bulk they can purchase for less and so afford to sell for cheaper to the consumer and who doesn't want to pay less for things, it's a perpetual cycle that goes up and down and I suppose the High street had its day and so will online at some point until things change again. The kids probably would get an interesting experience walking around sainsburys but it's flooor Space can be walked in less than 30 mins or thereabouts whether town had 2-3 floors of shopping mall with numerous brands under one rough, so many more shops around the main high streets also, you could spend a good 2-3 hours or more walking around. Just interesting subject not sure where I'm leading to but just not sure it's a good thing...

It is really sad 😞

@Legoisthebest yes it has all those things but they aren't great tbh, but we do have a lot of parks which i am very grateful for, but the town is on its knees

Perhaps it does suit lots of people but I would never ever choose online clothes shopping for example. And often if there's something I can see in town rather than online I'll get that.
And I love a lot of the things that have closed down in my town

kids love to see differnt walks of life around them, the sensory experience of differnt shops and people of all generations, sights, sounds and smells

I’ve never thought of shopping as such an enriching experience 😃

OK, I can see that it’s an easy distraction, but I think you can get better ‘sensory’ experiences elsewhere, and without tutoring them in consumerism at such an impressionable age.

My daughter (age 13) can easily spend a good couple of hours in one of the very large supermarkets. Longer if we go to the cafe. We certainly don't get round in 30 minutes
The thing is why does 'town' have to equal shops? Why can't it focus on more of the non shopping things?
I generally find shopping a bore but could spend a whole day in a town centre doing things like going to the library, then for a swim, having some lunch, maybe a class at the local art centre, a community coffee morning, maybe bingo - this is all meeting people, being out and about, being part of the community.
I think towns won't 'die' if they start having more stuff to 'do'. Look at how popular those parkrun things are?
A town will only become a ghost town if it's residents let it. There is more to life than shopping. It's time for other (more interesting and often cheaper) activities to shine.
A shopping centre near me is turning a whole disused floor into a children's indoor play centre - I think that's a fantastic thing.

@Ionlydomassiveones yes I agree I recall
My morher telling me how much busier it was when she was my age back then I suppose we view things through our own lenses and it's hard to have any understanding of previous to compare to when you haven't lived it. I moved along online myself about 10 yrs ago because being so busy working I just didn't have the time to go to town as an older adult so being able to get things online delivered saved me a lot of time. It just became the norm and a lot of things I found in the supermarkets made it less necessary to go to town as instead of needing a list of things form many shops most was provided by the local supermarket leaving less needed I could get online which I could do quicker to save time. I think now my life has changed and I have more time I realise I miss shopping the way I did taking time to walk around outside and visit more shops. The way it is now is very differnt and perhaps my daughter won't know at all the difference and her experience will be as enjoyable to her just in a very differnt sort of way

@Legoisthebest I like the idea them turning it into a new indoor play centre it's a great idea and definitely something that will be used I think for sure! It's an interesting topic and great to read everyone's views about it. I abs loved
The town as younger person, it just just had so much to physically see, such a hive of activity, full of life, I think I'm def a die hard high street fan it was around for so long and prob never been as quiet since it all began