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?

I'll be one of the few keeping actual shops going as I just can't buy clothes online; I'd say 80% of what I try on doesn't fit (as I'm oddly shaped, not as I am in denial about my size 😀) so the sheer faff of constantly sending things back would drive me insane. Debenhams is a funny one though; I often go in but then remember it's a temple to polyester, and leave with nothing. Some good shoes though.

All department stores are the same, all over priced, some just moreso than others.
Our town centre has practically gone, the remaining M&S is moving to a retail park.
When Debs closes we won't have any department stores at all.
We already have an empty shopping arcade and they just built a big shopping arcade, which is also half empty.
now we have the pound shops, charity shops, banks, costa, bargain shops, pie shops, and pawn shops.

Is it just me who has to see the clothes to decide what will fit? Labels are irrelevant these days. I don't think I've ever shopped for clothes on line.

Taking returns back to a post office or waiting in to be collected would be a waste of my time. I'd rather grab a few bits that fit in town every so often.

I've never shopped in Debenhams though. It's a shame but they don't appear to have a target market.

But megletthesecond don't you find it terribly restricting to only shop from places you can physically get to?

For me it's distance that is irrelevant these days. Probably 90% of my wardrobe in the past few years has been bought on the Internet. I can't imagine what I'd look like if I only dressed from the nearest town and the odd trip further afield.

Not really qatar. I can only afford H&M , zara and Primark, and we have those in town.

I would shop more online if I was more certain about sizing (but I'm not).

The rents creeping up so high is a major problem. If we want our high streets to stop becoming ghost towns we the government needs to step in and put some sort of cap on it. Restaurants and leisure facitilities wont be able to fill the gap the shops left if they cant turn a big enough profit to pay the rent either.
It should be cheaper to buy/rent property for business purposes than to live in or it just isn’t worth the while running a business. You may as well just become a landlord.
Do we really want our country to be a place with lots of houses and nothing to do?

It will be charity shops, vaping shops, hairdressers and estate agents!

I go to town once a year these days, I used to love doing my christmas shopping in town, but the lack of choice, and the price totally puts me off!
Now, we treat it like a 'treat' to go to town, get a christmassy coffee, spend most of our dough in the charity shops, and thats it. I just no longer have the money to do a town shop, not when I can get it so much cheaper, sometimes even delivered the same day for a better price!

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

Anything that is not seen as good value is on its way out. Charity shops will follow at some point too. We’ll have town centres full of Costas, nail bars and slug eyebrow salons. At some point we’ll get sick of overpriced hot drinks too.

I was gutted to hear Debenhams are struggling as I love Debenhams. My local one is usually tidy but it does look dated and is a bit limited compared to some stores so I more often go to one of the bigger newer ones at one of the two larger cities near me. I went to the Watford one the other day and it was amazing! If my local Debenhams looked like that I’d be constantly broke!

Me and some friends were wondering recently if it will go back to the halcyon days before the High Street revolution.

Until around the early 90s, in my city anyway, there were loads of lovely independent clothes shops, selling great quality European labels. They were pricey, but the alternative was C&A or equivalent, so we all had fewer clothes, but they were much better quality than today.

My dream would be a high street filled with shops like that, plus lovely independent local eateries. Losing all the chain stores could actually give towns back their individual identities again. It might turn out to be a good thing!

I'm surprised it has taken Debenhams so long to be in this situation tbh.
Customer service is horrendous, dis-interested and rude staff in all 3 I've been in to.
Maybe if this was better, they would have a more loyal customer base. I know I'd certainly have been one.

I don’t think many will miss the lack lustre and Debenhams is pretty bad despite the central location (in London)

I hope that the stores that offer a better experience survive - I’d be very sad if Liberty declined. And, besides, its website is terrible so it’s better to shop at as a place to go

Well what’s that old saying again!! USE IT OR LOSE IT!! Well we aren’t using it we are all getting it delivered to the house!! You just don’t know what you have till it’s gone!! Another 10 years and there will be a thread on mumsnet about do you remember the pleasure of going shopping in the high street!! It such a shame I feel sorry for all the people that work in retail!!

Is it just me who has to see the clothes to decide what will fit? Labels are irrelevant these days. I don't think I've ever shopped for clothes on line.

I find sizing consistent where I shop . There are detailed sizing and fit charts on websites nowadays . 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 . I have always found it accurate . Many websites have categorised reviews for sizing so you can see a breakdown on the accuracy of sizing . I rarely return anything . If I do i just go to drop it off at my local petrol station when I get fuel anyway. I'd rather try stuff on at home and match it up with existing things in my wardrobe . On the very odd occasion I've been unsure ( maybe twice in the past few years ) I've ordered two and then returned the one that didn't fit .

Also to add , maybe it's just my experience but I've found that with the increase in online shopping in the past few years , retailers have become a lot more scrupulous about sizing being consistent and accurate . They have to be .

Rents are part of the high street problem but not all of it. The recent insane hike in the business rate caused financial mayhem to the high street.

Also, local councils are burdened with social care and welfare costs which should be the responsibility of national government and, unable or unwilling to cripple households with council tax rises, have turned to punitive parking policies and rates to raise revenue.

When it costs a tenner to park and another tenner for a drink in a cafe chain before a purchase is made the customer thinks twice before visiting the local high street.

As for charity shops, they are flourishing because they do not pay a commercial rate like other businesses do.

The costs of having a high street presence are prohibitive. No wonder we are losing our beloved shops.

I used to be sceptical about online shopping for clothes but now I prefer that to going into the shops. The likes of amazon and other online shops make it so easy to order, get it next day and then easy returns.

I think high street shops really need to change how they are otherwise they will close. Going into a town Center, finding somewhere to park, trudging round to find what you wanted wasn't in stock or not right is a real faff. I even hate the whole business about trying on the things as the cubicles are often dirty or small. Debenhams is the worst as you usually find their changing rooms closed and have to ask a member of staff to open them. Compare that to trying clothes on at home where you can decide at your leisure whether something is right or not.

Well what’s that old saying again!! USE IT OR LOSE IT!! Well we aren’t using it we are all getting it delivered to the house!!

You can't use it if it wasn't in the high street in the first place.

@MissionItsPossible

I didn't really understand your reply, but anyway, unlike most of mumsnet (as it would sadly appear) I have nothing against the trans community and am exasperated by the hostility and prejudice they face.

Until local councils scrap the ridiculous car parking charges and put bobbies back on the beat in town centres I've no intention of EVER venturing there again.
I hate the town centre, hate having to pay to park a car, hate being pestered for money....so, surprise surprise I stay away.
Clearly I'm not alone, we then read the shops can't survive!!
Oh I wonder why??

I often think to become a councillor, you need only one quality, to be totally devoid of common sense!!

mrcharlie

I agree. My city centre charges £4.20 an hour for on street parking.

Local councils do not stick the money they raise in their back pockets for personal jollies. Central government has consistently reduced the money it passes to local councils, forcing them to raise money where they can to run local services. It's austerity, and Northamptonshire council is near bankrupt with others on the brink. It cant go on, its not remotely sustainable and something has to change.

speakout

That's outrageous. £4.20ph, which doesn't give much time to park, buy and return to car...so "hrs needed. £8 bloody 40p!! to buy something that would undoubtedly have been cheaper online anyway. We'll not touch on the traffic, fuel consumption, time, or beggers!

I do feel incredibly sorry for all the staff who may lose their jobs.