What the highstreets will look like in 10 years?

[whoamI00]

According to DM, M&S announces it will be closing 67 stores over the next five years. It's understandable given previous lockdown and the fact that more people shop on-line. I presume if the big corporation like M&S closes their shops then small stores will be difficult to make enough profit and they may follow the same step as M&S does.
What do you think the highstreets will look like in 10 years?

Wonder if it would be a good thing or a bad thing if online clothing developed some clarity about clothes sizing? Might reduce frustration but might mean some people never find a shop that suits their shape?

We all know that the push to get people back into the office was largely driven by property owners who were scared their city centre assets would devalue (and coffee shop owners who were losing money).

And in my local town the property owners complained and tried to have the Christmas Market cancelled, because they said it took revenue away from the shops who then couldn’t pay their rent and ended up vacating the units. Personally I thought people were more likely to attend the market because it was something different, and end up looking in the shops while they were there.

This sounds good! I'd make town centres more residential, and have lots of small independent shops (including charity shops), along with coffee shops, restaurants, a good library, swimming pool, gym, theatre etc, and then a few good clothes shops, chemist etc. The sort of things that would attract young professionals, I guess.

Bike friendly, wheelchair and pram access and good (wheelchair & pram friendly) transport links is also a big thing, because it gets rid of much of the need for car parks, and cafes etc can have outside seating without cars going past.

I think people are gradually getting bored of buying stuff. I know so many people who are choosing to cut back on "things"; not just out of financial necessity, but just because they have all they need. Most of my friends would much rather go out for dinner/coffee than buy something that they then need to find space for, keep clean, and finally dispose of.

M&S sell a lot of good, very casual wear, their straight leg joggers are very good, wash very well, last for ages and fairly reasonable price, they sell a lot of this sort of stuff and I would miss it if it went. It is not somewhere I go for an outfit to wear out though.

The demise of the high street is really quite sad. Ok so you can shop online but what about supporting the local retailer, the social interaction and getting out of the house and interacting with other people - more important than ever in this digital age.

I would love to see high streets rejuvenated with pedestrianised areas, cycling like they do in Netherlands with people, outdoor cafes, play areas and bikes being prioritised over cars.

If our climate continues to change and get warmer we may find that our high streets are changed to include large hotels with outdoor pools. Some small shops and café/restaurants may stay. A bit like being in Spain right now.
We may attract Spanish tourists as their climate will get too hot for them?. Who knows?

In the meantime I agree with another poster. We have a housing shortage. Turn the empty buildings in to social housing to help people now

About 20 years ago my dh and I had our measurements taken in a body scan thing and this was meant to help with sizing and online shopping of the future

Ditto

I won't ever by polyester

Buy

Why exactly recycled polyester regarded as a selling point? Its cheap and nasty and recycling it doesn't improve it in any way. I suppose its another form of virtue signalling. Id rather not cause sparks to fly when I wear clothes.

The wholesale division was sold off years ago.

Ah - that I didn't realise. I'm surprised they let it go, unless they had no choice.

I bought some recycled gym leggings from next, it was like working out in plastic bottles. It's not a selling point for me!

Even stores themselves can't standardise their sizing. I always have to get 2 or 3 sizes of anything I want and when you compare a size 12 in one product, the dimensions are very different from a size 12 in another from the same store. Sometimes, the sizings are different even in the same clothing item but in a different colour. M&S are the worst for this.

More reason to go with the "evil EU" way or sizing clothes based on actual size. The way men's clothes are sized even in the UK, in actual measurements. And then you can order online in confidence. Same with chidren's clothes. It's very easy to create a system to make this a non-issue.

You really can't order men's clothes "in confidence" at all. Even with sizes in inches, there's usually differences as they're not accurate, especially M&S. You'd think size 38" waist trousers would measure 38" consistently, but they don't - they can be anywhere between 36-40. Same with leg measurements. That's just one store - the same happens between stores too. You still have to buy 2 or 3 different sizes and try them on to find what actually fits. My OH has various sizes clothes from various retailers, all in regular use. Until retailers improve quality control and consistency, there's no point in having new sizing criteria as they won't be consistent enough to be useful.

Cafes, charity shops, hairdressers and estate agents. Proper retail shops are disappearing.