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?

Oh i am right posh

C&A Clockhouse!! Oh the fluorescent pink, yellow and green. Clothes with netting! We used to go to the one in Hounslow in the early 80s. Was one of me and friend's first bus journeys without an adult. Felt so grown up.

Department stores are nightmares if you’re looking for a specific thing. Instead of all jeans being in one place, dresses in another, and coats being in another, you have to go through numerous tiny concessions. It’s a pain in the arse.
I totally agree with this. I don't think that people go shopping as an activity in the same way that they used to. I certainly don't - partly because shops never seem to have what I want in my size and partly because it's just generally too much hassle and takes up too much time that I don't have. I think that most people shop for specific items now and departments stores make that a nightmare.

I still shop on the high street regularly, as stuff I buy on line is inevitably a tiny bit wrong. I like to be able to feel the weight and quality of the fabric and get a sense of the drape. Even colours are often pretty inaccurately represented online.

Debenhams is a particularly unlovely shopping experience though. Our nearest one has a prime spot on what must be one of Britain's busiest High Streets. But inside it's very gloomy. Poorly lit, vast unappealing empty spaces - it feels like it's been on its arse for years. There's very little Debenhams own brand stock - just small, rubbish concessions from stores that have their own stand-alone shops within 5-10 minutes' walk.

We only go in for their own-brand school uniform nowadays as it's brilliant - nicely cut, and long lasting enough to be worth buying over supermarket staff.

I still love a good department store but I think complacency set in in the 'boom years' and since the 2008 downturn in the economy the investment hasn't been made in the main. I like being able to do all my shopping 'under one roof' but think that many of the shops 'brand identity' has fallen by the wayside, so they no longer have a USP appeal.

JL has a 'high end' air of affluence which is infectious but dispiriting if one's pay packet doesn't match aspirational shopping trips. However, I would rather window shop in 'high end' than sink to Debenhams level. It's just a dreary, drab and depressing retail experience and does sweet FA to encourage shoppers to part with their cash for a treat or two. M&S may have its own issues but at least its local branches are modern.

I was in Debenhams a month or so ago looking for birthday presents and came out with precious little, none of it with any real 'wow' factor.

Sparklingbrook Rackhams! I lived out of town (in Pony Club country) but used to go to Rackhams for my school uniform, then we used to stay for a naice tea. It was a very grown up experience and really felt like a treat. Places like Harvey Nichols understand what’s needed. Cut price department stores are a thing of the past.

Finding the school uniform memories interesting.

I too remember the annual JL ritual and one year DM bought me a skirt for school in Dickens & Jones January Sale. Yet.. a few months ago I tried to buy DD school shoes in both Debenhams and JL and neither stocked them.

I can't help thinking that not stocking the basics is an own goal. Surely if you get people in the doors to buy school items, there is a chance they will buy other things while they're there?

Laiste. I also used to love touring the shops in London in the 80’s. Used to pretend I was rich and try on evening dresses in Harrods. I used to also like Dickins and Jones at Oxford Circus. I bought a much loved leather waistcoat at Kensington Market and remember the Red or Dead stall with its platform shoes at Hyper Hyper.

Sad for the people who will lose their jobs when the stores that are closing finally shut their doors. Two friends at school worked there as Saturday jobs.

Sadder still that Sports Direct with the vile Mr Ashley and Primark seem to be the only non-food retailers growing.

@SaucyJack
I won’t miss most high streets shops- except Primark, and that’s mostly because they’re not online so I can’t click and collect.

Clever Primark.

Their shops are always very busy whenever I go in one. Cheap clothes/accessories, lots of variety and brands and well advertised and known for that and yet they haven't got a website so people have to visit the shop. In a time where companies are reducing shops in the high street, I only ever read about Primark expanding. The biggest Primark in the world is currently being built in Birmingham.

Every time I go to Primark the clothes are different. I went to a local Debenhams last week which doesn’t hold a large stock, and recognised a lot of the clothes from months ago.

Another Clockhouse fan here. Ah, the joy of mooching round Watford C&A Clockhouse section in the 80s...

We live near a naice market town in the SE. When we lived within walking distance of the town centre, I'd often walk in and picked up the few groceries we needed in addition to the online shop, pick up an overpriced birthday card or two, have a browse in the charity shop & perhaps meet a friend for a coffee. Since we moved a few miles away, I no longer go there as parking is hideous and I can't be bothered to waste time or energy engaged in parking wars. I will sometimes go to the bigger not so naice town as I need Primark, Superdrug, Wilkos & Cards Galore and the savings on the various things I buy but I will avoid that town for the next few weeks as Christmas shopping fever kicks in and it is impossible to leave the car parks. So I will just go to the massive out of town Asda & Next which, between them, seem able to fulfil all of the needs which Sainsburys and Amazon can't.
Having said that, 9yo DD and I had an hour to kill in a city on Tuesday and she needed some warmer clothes for the winter. I realised it was the first time she had been clothes shopping since she was in a pushchair. It did make life easier as we could discuss what we liked, sort out the right sizes and it was all done rather than me having to go back with the various returns that she'd tried on at home. Having said that, we were in a city where the kids aren't on half term yet and there were very few people in the stores so the staff had plenty of time to go out the back and bring out the sizes we needed.

raisinsraisins. Ah Red or Dead! Do you remember Deadlier Than The Male?

My friend and i used to look for the most expensive thing we could find in Harrods just to marvel at the price. I actually once managed to convince an assistant in Libertys (the most beautiful shop in the world) that i was intending to purchase a silk Persian rug for a four figure sum. I was about 15 and NOT well dressed later in the same week i got thrown out for trying to steal a couple of glass beads from the haberdashery department

Debenhams have allowed themselves to end up in a no man's land. They're not cheap enough to compete with the likes of Primark but they're not high end enough to complete with the likes of John Lewis.

Even online they can't compete. Their beauty offerings are dire! The postage costs are bizarre too.

Debenhams in Leicester should be thriving because three competing department stores; House of Fraser, Fenwick and BHS have closed in the last couple of years. They are trying very hard not to thrive, though. Debenhams is a disorganised, badly run mess. It’s cluttered, tired, badly lit and looks like a jumble sale. The staff are young, disinterested and poorly trained. The contrast with the superb, shiny John Lewis store in town is marked.

I hope Debenhams survive, but they desperately need to get their act together if they are to have a chance.

I LOVE Debenhams. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I rarely ever step foot in a High Street Store but I put an order in about once a week. About half of that gets returned.

Would be gutted if it went altogether so hope it stays at just high street stores going.

Slow deliveries, difficult returns

Wow that is so not my experience. I order on a weekly basis and return half of what I order. In near in 4 years I have never had an issue.

Hope my local one doesn't go bust. Haven't really gone in it for years but recently started a job next to one and am often mooching round it at lunchtime now and buying stuff.

I think it's much improved from a year or so ago.

@Laiste was it Daniels?

I like Debenhams and the new one is open in Watford. I like to browse and feel clothing and look at home wear and at the cosmetics. It feels like a treat. Debenhams have good offers and sales

Went into Debenhams in Leeds city centre today. It was downright depressing. Some horrible clothes, looked like a jumble sale, young staff standing around chatting paying no attention to customers or doing any work.

Bought 2 nice oasis tops tho! I bet this one will be on the closure list. Lovely big Debenhams in our out of town shopping centre is very different and thriving.

House of Fraser was similarly depressing. Such a shame.

I have no success with online clothes shopping much better to feel fabrics & look at things & try on there & then.

That Leeds Debenhams has always been a bloody mess on the ground floor. Even back in the 70s when I used to go in with my mum.

and the Nottingham one is even worse.

Sadly I can see why they are going. The store in our local city is a mess, it’s more of a jumble sale than TK Maxx. It looks cheap and awful but actually isn’t cheap. The assistants know nothing about what they stock and are rude and they make your life as difficult as possible. My mum bought me a maternity dress in her store, it didn’t fit so I tried to return it in my store. They wouldn’t accept it (unworn and with receipt) as that branch doesn’t stock maternity wear!

I really don't consider it to be progress. It is so much easier to go to the town centre, browse, try things on and take what I want home there and then.

It's progress for many people. I know my sizes and nowadays there are plenty of 'fit finder ' options and sizing reviews for each individual garment .
My daughters needed 2 pairs of size 4 Nike trainers . Took me all of 3 min to order , used online vouchers for discounts , free delivery, arrived next day. Saved me a twenty min drive plus petrol , the unpleasantness of traffic , parking costs / nightmare , queuing , waiting to be served , only to be told it's out of stock, toddler yelling in buggy , etc. Money saved also because I didn't stray unnecessarily into another shop , stop for a coffee, etc.

I need a book ? Amazon , 60 seconds max.

If you know what you want , and most of the time I do , it's a lifesaver.

inmyfeelings

I agree.

And the range of products online is massive compared to what stores keep on the shop floor.

Online shopping save a great deal of time, money and stress.