To be so angry with the British high street?

[peoniesarejustperfect]

Went sales shopping yesterday with my elderly Mother yesterday. We went to an 'affluent' city in the south east. We always go shopping after Christmas and it's a bit of a tradition and we normally really enjoy it. Yesterday was just so depressing - it made me fizz with anger. I hardly know where to start!!

The shops were just horrible - full of badly merchandised sales stuff which looked totally uninviting.

In several of the shops we went into there were no staff on the shop floor - we wanted to ask where different departments were (to save Mum walking too much), but no one to ask and poor signage.

In House of Fraser (one of the stores which is remaining open) we waited for 25 mins in the luggage department for a member of staff - there was no one there to help - no tape measure, no useful signs about cabin luggage allowances and no one to take any cash. We hung around for ages with two other families - no chairs to sit on, we just stood around. After a while we all gave up. The same in lingerie - no staff on duty. We had lunch there, which was really nice, but the restaurant loos were closed for cleaning when we went in at 12:15. What restaurant shuts its loos at lunchtime??? They suggested we left the restaurant and 'popped down' two floors to use another loo.

The British high street keep moaning but really, why on earth would anyone want to shop there? Why do they deserve our hard earned cash? It's incredibly expensive to park and the retailers don't seem very keen on keeping customers happy - let alone delighting them! There's not enough staff and with some notable exceptions, many of them are poorly trained - it all seems a bit of an effort for them.

Last Christmas we went to the US. I know it's different in America, but every morning in Macy's, when the doors open, a group of staff clap the shoppers in. We couldn't get over this and asked a sales assistant about it - she told us it's an honour to be picked - to welcome customers, look them in the eye and say thanks for coming. US retail is facing similar challenges, but what a different response. Helpful staff directing you to places, gorgeous merchandising, seats everywhere and staff trained to sell.

Anyone else fed up with the high street?

The biggest things that put me off going to the high street (aside from my two young DDs running around like nutters) is it's usually a nightmare to park in the shopping centres near me, especially at busy periods like Christmas, and they charge a fortune for the privilege. 4 hours parking at the main shopping centre in Brighton is £15 for fucks sake. Then when you get there long queues at the tills for pay for everything. And more than once if I've only got one or two items to buy I just look at the length of the queue, put the items back, and walk back out again. And then the high streets seem surprised that shoppers are going over to Amazon prime or similar where you can get unlimited next day free deliveries to your door.

Unfortunately the days are gone of lovely British service, manners and clean environments. That ethos just doesn't exist any more and even if it did, high streets don't have the money any more because they are no longer the only choice, with their only competitors other high street stores. The exception is John Lewis but even they are struggling.

Oh and it's such a faff paying for stuff at the tills these days. "Do you want a x loyalty card?" "Would you like one of our promotional items?" "Can I take your e-mail address to send you a receipt?" "Would you like to be signed up to receive our special offers?"

NO I JUST WANT TO PAY FOR MY THINGS QUICKLY AND LEAVE.

We went shopping on Boxing Day and it was chaotic and the stores were packed but the staff were helpful, cheerful and there were a ton of them. I think you just had a bad experience. I wouldn’t damn the whole British high street based on one day. I absolutely love shopping in the UK. I have visited the US and lived in Canada and the shopping there can be horrific—overbearing sale associates, confusing prices (they don’t include the tax on the price tags in Canada so it’s hard to know what you’ll actually be paying) and a lot of the styles are samey and difficult to find things that are more unique. I can’t stand that greeting thing—it’s so suffocating.

The staff at Tesco spend more time chatting to the till operator behind them, or the supervisor about when their break is, or what shift they want next week.

They're like this in the one near my work too! Usually moaning about something. Really off putting that they can't even pause in doing it while they serve customers.

As for the 'would rather be with their families' you could say that about anyone doing any job at this time of year.

I don't think that a high street of chain stores is particularly beneficial anyway. These days the towns that are most attractive to shoppers are the ones with the small independent shops. But then these shops also tend to be selling expensive luxury stuff, so their target market is the affluent. Which, as the chain stores fold and shut up shop, leaves the less affluent with little in the high street that is within budget. And reduced footfall affects the independent shops. It's all a bit of a vicious circle isn't it?

The independent shops that do well seem to be those in really small towns, rather than 'shopping destinations'. I know a few small towns where you wouldn't be able to buy a pair of pyjamas, but you'd have a choice of four shops if you wanted a mother of the bride outfit, or some high end kitchen accessories.

OP I completely agree!

I went to my local big town in November to begin my xmas shopping and quite honestly it was dreadful.
I don't go out shopping much and I was appalled. There was no parking at all, I had to park and ride and the cost was ridiculous, it was no cheaper to take the bus there and the shops were full of absolute rubbish.
I went home and bought everything on Etsy (where I found lots of beautiful innovative and handmade gifts) in three hours.
No wonder the high street is dying.

Of course I feel sorry for HoF and all of the staff! Why do you think we go?

Luggage info - TKMaxx and JLP have info and so do most of the online luggage stores. It's also what we were all googling whilst waiting...

Little - that's exactly what we did, but it seems so silly - with a little more planning they could have loos clean for the lunchtime rush - just like most restaurants do when they know they have c100 folk arriving.

Clapping was a little odd, esp to us Brits, but at least it's a positive response. I would rather be clapped in than ignored.

Do you think it's over for the high street? Is there anyway they fight back against online convenience??

Yup, most high streets are hugely depressing. It's a vicious cycle of course.

Inbought something from JD Sports once and they left the security tag on which I only discovered when I got home. I had to make a special trip to the shop to get it removed. The manager didn’t even speak to me or make eye contact as he dealt with it. Not even an apology. He then practically threw the item back at me. Had it been a young Saturday girl or boy I would have understood but he was the manager. I haven’t been back since.

@KitKat1985 yup. I know it's not the shop assistant's fault (worked in Sainsbury's for years - and you have to complete the script) but it is frustrating. The fault for a poor experience often lies with corporate who think added marketing/ pushes for products at the till and cutting staff numbers is what it's all about. Staff are also often hampered by not being able to give refunds easily or offer discretion on reduced/ damaged goods. Oh, and no one ever seems to schedule enough people to cover shopfloor, warehouse and tills nowadays. Like most people, I want to be able to find things easily (some shops are a bit jumble sale like - all different sizes mixed in together) pay quickly, and be on my way. But that's hard to do when there are other enough staff!

Agree OP. We went to Liberty to buy perfume for gifts thinking we’d get someone to advise us on which sort of perfume to get (one recipient wanted a sharp acid perfume, the other wanted notes of carnation!). The staff were useless - knew nothing about what they were selling and cared less. I would expect that in lots of places but Liberty is so expensive I was expecting more. Even one person in the perfume department who knew anything at all about the products they were selling. We ended up googling the various brands and self - serving. Will do it online next time.

If you work in a luggage department, why wouldn’t you have basic information at your disposal to help you make the sale? Maybe the temp or Saturday staff won’t know but isn’t there a department manager who is thinking about this stuff ?

Depressing.

I don't blame the staff. They are the victims of the decline. I do think if bricks and mortar shops are going to start to revive they need to adapt quickly. Retail parks always seem busy because there is free parking and yet those shops still struggle. Towns and shopping centres take note we don't want to spend hours hunting for a space and then pay a fortune. We buy online because it is cheaper and convenient and our lives are increasingly busy. So we are only going to be drawn out if the experience is worth it. Lovely surroundings, knowledgable, helpful staff, a variety of choice, places to eat, drink, socialise and good facilities. Check out the garden centre type places that sell overpriced but attractive goods and have nice restaurants. They are always busy. The problem is I don't think many executives will be willing to invest in such a risky sector and without considerable investment the high streets will disappear.

All stores have a wage budget which is based on sales. The less the store takes the less staff can work. You cannot serve customers, replenish stock, tidy displays and take in delivery at the same time. You cannot train effectively whilst doing all these things and getting called away to do something else every 2 minutes. If people want the high street to succeed they need to use it regularly not just at sales time.

"Well, every time any one of us has bought anything online over the last few years, the high street has died a little bit more. We have no one to blame but ourselves once it's all gone."

This ^^
DD lost her job in retail yesterday.
I get irritated by all the smug posts on mumsnet by posters who will only shop online. They, along with most of the rest of the population are to blame for the decline in our high streets.

We will end up with a load of huge out of town warehouses, with the high streets only having a few shops selling unique items, fast food outlets, plus pharmacies and shops like Tesco Express. It's dismal.

You can’t have it both ways. People shop online because it’s convenient, possibly cheaper and there’s a wide range to choose from. The more we shop online, the fewer actual shops there will be, particularly in high streets, which have astronomically high rents and business rates. The only shops that will continue are those chains in out of town centre, where it’s less expensive.

Our local HoF closes at the end of January. Very few staff in there which isn’t surprising and I expect they’ve gone to look for other jobs. The store is messy and not cared for, but again, unsurprising in the circumstances.

We’ve lived here for four years. In that time, Thornton’s, Mothercare, LK Bennett, Jacques Vert, Laura Ashley, Next and countless independent shops have closed.

I wasn’t keen on being accosted the minute I walked through the door in American shops though.

There are some practical solutions (other than more staff) though. Alot of our high streets are dominated by chains - perhaps lower business rates for independents/ fewer than 5 shop chains would help add variety and keep things alive?

Perhaps there were not enough staff booked to work, it's a manager at fault there. I went to A football match in London on Boxing Day and had to walk through a well known shopping centre to get to the tube, it was awful, heaving with people, shops in complete disarray with customers literally chucking stuff about. I felt sorry for the staff trying to manage it all because it was chaos. It was a relief to get to the ground and get settled for the match to be honest, much nicer atmosphere than in the shopping centre!

I went into a Dunelm a few months ago and was bowled over by really helpful staff. It was busier than any Debenhams I've been into in recent years.

Years ago I lived near an Asda and the staff were uniformly well trained. Tesco is variable to poor ime but staff in my local one now are mostly lovely individuals. (But they occasionally let slip that they are not so keen on "management" lol! I think it's a case of a critical mass of decent people at a store with low staff turnover. )

Lonicera I'm sorry to hear about your daughter.

"fizzing with anger" OP, really?

John Lewis were fantastic yesterday. Helpful staff and lots of them.
We went to look at lights and headphones in a number of shops. When they could not be plugged in to try it was frustrating.

I work in retail and I have to say a lot of the "vibe" instore is created by the managers. I have worked with excellent managers who don't mind mucking in and that is appreciated very much. Conversely, I have worked with managers who I don't even think I could describe them as they were invisible! I shop on line and can see the difference in price and the convenience but until such time CEOs realise that more training in knowledge of goods sold and the ability to be ourselves when selling something as opposed to getting so many customers per hour or items per minute,sadly the high street will continue to decline .

Staff wouldn’t ‘rather be with their families’ (I mean obviously they would, but who wouldn’t when they are at work?) they are fighting each other for extra hours that aren’t available. A relative works in retail and she says they like to have 3 members of staff in her medium sized store, one upstairs, one downstairs and a manager who also covers breaks. They’ve had a spate of burglaries which apparently the company feels is a risk worth taking as a few hundred quids worth of stock loss every now and again costs less than having another member of staff in. They have plenty of staff btw they are just all on 4hrs contracts.

Every time I’ve been there the staff have been lovely, but clearly overworked.

I have also been a witness many times in many different stores to customers shouting, throwing their weight around and belittling retail staff. Christmas actually seems to be the worst time for this.