And there goes Debenhams too. Will we miss our high streets?

[longwayoff]

What will life be like when all the high st stores we're used to seeing aren't there any longer? Will they be just bars and coffee shops with an occasional nail bar and hairdresser? Even £shops are suffering. Will they become mad max wastelands? Housing with no shops?

turn shops into housing we need housing

It is sad though, our town of Aylesbury is horrible now, naff market stalls selling the same fake goods all over the place, yet I remember when it was in its glory, I do wish my kids could see it the way I used to :-) x

I didn't think it had changed much since I was at school there in the 90s? It was quite different in the 80s before all the demolitions, and there was that great Zodiac toy shop where I used to go and look longingly at Jem dolls.

Aylesbury is dire now. Everything closing. Just lost House of Fraser and Dotty P's.
All kebabs and nails and charity shops, gone the way of Hemel.
Parking is extortionate when I can go to MK and pay £1.20 for three hours. Told Ayles parking attendant this (grotty dark badly maintained multi storey) and he agreed he understands why people go there !

Shops are going, whether you like it or not. Accept that. Might take another 5, 10, 15 years, but they will go.

Retail has changed. Its online now. Shops can't afford the rent, customers can't afford the parking or mileage it takes. And then what's the point if there's nothing there for you? Many shops have moved to retail parks but even they aren't as busy any more. But I'd much rather go to a retail park than the high street. Free parking, easier to get to. It's getting easier to send stuff back too. And it's actually friendlier to the environment for there to just be delivery vans out rather than every home with a car on the road to get one item. I thought everyone was all for saving the environment?

ihatetosay

I agree with that. Turning the shops into flats wouldn't be that difficult. Gives them a use rather than sitting empty.

I think it's about £9 return on the bus for me to get to the nearest proper high street now, or £17 for a family ticket for all of us. So it's not really a matter of "choosing" to shop online as the media would have it, it's rather a case of being priced off public transport. I only use it now if absolutely necessary, such as visiting my dad in hospital when he was apparently on his deathbed. (He luckily made a full recovery and I could have saved myself the £17. )

Re Debenhams, I'm not sorry to see the back of it. I'm not sure I've even been in my nearest one. Years ago the Oxford branch had a certain quaint charm (before they demolished everything behind the façade to build some soulless modern interior) and a bargain basement truly worthy of the name. But their shops now are intimidatingly huge (leading to potential Father Ted situations) and expensive. I'm gutted about New Look closing stores though, they have the best jeans and the best value teen stuff on the high street. I've bought online but their sizing is very erratic.

Aylesbury is dire now. Everything closing. Just lost House of Fraser and Dotty P's.
All kebabs and nails and charity shops, gone the way of Hemel.

That's sad. I do think Hemel absolutely rocks as a shopping destination (especially the "everything £2" hospice shop) but there's no doubt that it's been a depressing place since the 90s at least, if not before. Funny how the main drag always has a bit of a Mad Max vibe even though there aren't really many boarded up shops any more. It's always felt more edgy and dangerous than Luton/Aylesbury/MK.

ASOS you can enter your height and weight for each specific garment and it will tell you what size other shoppers with your stats bought and whether it fit them .

But two people of the same height and weight can be different sizes and look totally different depending on their proportions (long legs/short body or vice versa), fat distribution and body shape.

I prefer on the whole to see and try before I buy. You can’t tell anything about the weight and quality of fabric from a photo. There are only a couple of online retailers I trust enough to buy from.

I live near a very nice new mall type shopping place with lots of good shops which I could walk to if I wanted, before this I had to travel miles to the shops and rarely went shopping as it was too much bother. I think retail parks are probably the way forward as they provide better parking and you can usually park for free for a few hours. Our new one is lovely with a boating lake and walks, though the traffic can be a bit bad at weekends.

I haven't shopped on the high street in years and I don't miss it.

If high streets offered what customers wanted, they wouldn't be dying, would they?

I get my bras there too, and the bra ladies in my branch are awesome-if a bit scary..they get right in there with you, getting you to lift your arms this way and that, scrutinising the fit and going off to get previously unheard of sizes (I can't be a G!?)
Its the only shop I ever always leave with something.

I hate online shopping and love poking round department stores and independent shops.

Parking is extortionate when I can go to MK and pay £1.20 for three hours. Told Ayles parking attendant this (grotty dark badly maintained multi storey) and he agreed he understands why people go there

I don't think mk is any better tbh

There may be more shops but the chains are pretty much the same as everywhere else. Might appear bigger or brighter but it's all just a paint job. Trying to actually do something like kit out your kids in school uniform or get an outfit for a wedding or buy a summer wardrobe and you end up going joke and doing online anyway. The actual selection of stuff is shit. Next may do a 3 for 12 pound offer on t shirts and vests but it's fuck all use when there's only one size 14 in the entire rack.

Nice multi floor m&s? Sure fab. Til you realise you can still only buy 1 pack of 2 school shirts. Who buys 2 school shirts? Are there seriously only one child in a 9-10 in the entire of mk.

Besides shoes I come home empty handed every time. Online all the way.

The thing with online is the delivery, I do shop online a lot but mainly use click and collect so do visit my local shops to pick up stuff, then I may buy something while I am there.

I use click and collect alot. Plus over a certain amount it's free delivery. Dp has Amazon prime too.

And even when I pay for delivery it's still often cheaper than dragging us all up there on the bus, having to pay for food and drink etc

I've stood in shops and ordered there and then online from my phone.

Private equity companies have a lot to answer for.

yep, leveraged buyouts should be made illegal, as all the debt is loaded on the target. It's disgusting short termism

10 years ago when I got my first senior job, I bought my entire wardrobe at Debenhams - mostly bits of Designers at Debenhams.

It got loads of compliments and lots of shock that I'd bought as cheaply as I had. Over the years I kept it topped up with other bits from there, and from the Phase Eight concession.

Went in a couple of years ago - it was a mess. Frankly it went downhill when they got rid of Betty Barclay which they said was 'dated'. Well, it may have been but what am I supposed to wear at work now? The replacement brand, Nine by Savannah Miller was terrible, the rest of Designers at Debenhams has gone downhill too and is frankly trashy so the only reason to go in is for a bit of Phase Eight which I can get anywhere.

Preen was great but they have updated it in search of a younger market - so great fashion wise but no work clothes.

Effectively they have excluded the fashionable 40s woman that John Lewis is targetting so successfully with it's Modern Rareity and Kin ranges. There is nothing like that at Debenhams.

Giles, I like MK because it has Tiger, Pepperberry and Kiko. I think the nearest of Pepper and Kiko are in London. If those were gone I'd really not bother. Also there's another makeup shop which isn't bad apart from the rude staff