To feel sad about how many retailers are going under

[Cinammoncake]

Just read about Clintons and I felt quite sad and nostalgic about all the losses and how many more shop chains there will be that will soon be lost from the high street.

I much prefer shopping in store or even just having a wander and a browse but that's barely possible in my hometown anymore. Admittedly I don't live in a massive town but in the past 2-3 years we've lost so many shops from our high street that, especially if I want to buy clothes, I've no choice but to either travel to a nearby city or buy online. I believe at least some of these closed because of sky high rental prices, yet of course the local council are doing nothing to encourage buisnesses to take up the empty units.

It’s rich men making their friends richer. Use your vote and make a change

@museumsandgalleries666

That is spot on

Cinnamon The town centre is a mess You should see the state of the paving,

banana Thats a fair point. I like the Beauty Outlet If you are looking for a much loved but discontinued lip colour you may find it there.

Also outlets that are just as expensive as the normal shops- what's the point?

Recently went to the Lowry in Salford looking for a coat and only a couple of shops had actual offers, in fact a top I liked was more expensive than the normal shop .

Clinton's should have lowered their prices years ago.......the Clinton's here is always empty whereas the card factory opposite has queues going out the door.

I really couldn't justify spending 3 / 4 pounds on a card however nice it was. Most people can't. 💁🏻‍♀️

Clintons has been overpriced for years, it's not all that surprising. But I do think in general that yes, bricks-and-mortar retailers are faced with a tax regime that was drawn up before the rise of online shopping and that severely disadvantages them compared to online-only retail. The High Street's troubles thus are I feel partly caused by government policy.

Toys R Us I think is an interesting one that indicates it probably isn't all down to tax though. Because while TRU went bust, Smyths is going strong on virtually the same business model - large toy shops in retail parks. I can only think that Smyths, being a newly growing business, was able to negotiate better rents and more suitable premises, while TRU were locked into unfavourable terms.

Hopefully those retail businesses that are expanding won't repeat the same mistakes of those that collapsed. But I expect many will.

It's not just rent/taxes/employee costs versus internet stores. It's the ability to get the size of things you actually want online and not having to drive/park or pay for public transport to get anywhere.

And the other reality, is that many people are buying less overall and reconsidering what they actually need in terms of 'stuff'. And that's a good thing for the planet frankly. Horrible for people's jobs and the economy, but we can't keep replacing perfectly good things and buying crap to prop up the economy while we kill the planet...

It is sad but as many posters have alluded to here the high street can be absolutely infuriating. Poor customer service, lack of choice, up selling, parking charges etc.

Was looking at booking the cinema this week for 7 of us and we thought we would venture into town to our independent cinema in an attempt to “buy local” turns out you can reserve a seat online for 60p per seat but you’ve got no guarantees you can sit together and you still need to queue and pay at the till, what is the fucking point in that!

Needless to say we ended up at the local vue with a McDonald’s coffee in hand and I don’t even feel guilty about it!

I haven't felt sad about it for ages, because I find it's acceptable for customer service to be abysmal in the UK. That being the case its acceptable for me to shop mostly online.

Most recent incidents

Went into store to ask whether a pair of shoes were in stock yet. 2 assistants has been talking to each other. Without even looking at me one said 'Don't have them, don't know when they'll be in' then shrugged her shoulders and went back to her conversation.

In another store I'd bought 3 storage boxes that were light, but large couldn't fit into trolley properly. There was not a single assistant on the shop floor So I couldnt ask for help to get item to the till - however I could clearly hear several of them laughing and chatting somewhere out back. I left the boxes and ordered them online

I was shocked when I heard about Clinton's because I thought they went out of business years ago. The Clinton's in my town closed around 5 years ago and I haven't seen one in any towns or cities nearby.

I recently had to buy a laptop from Currys PC World, as my daughter had broken hers and needed a replacement urgently. I usually buy stuff like that online. Finding a laptop was fairly straightforward and the ticket price was reasonable, but then came all the stuff that usually stops me using bricks & mortar shops: the hard-selling of anti-virus software, insurance, etc. It led to multiple arguments and added at least 15 min to what should have been a fairly quick transaction. I shall continue to avoid buying these kinds of items from shops as far as possible because retailers go out of their way to make the experience as unpleasant as they can.

I wonder if it's better for the environment if we shop online, rather than clog up our city centres with cars and buses traipsing around the shops? How will Greta shop?

I wonder if the expansion in zero hours contracts for retail staff is partly why customer service is so poor. I mean why should they give a shit?

I wonder if it's better for the environment if we shop online, rather than clog up our city centres with cars and buses traipsing around the shops?

I rarely make a special trip into the city for the purposes of shopping. I prefer to try and shop for things around work. I appreciate not everyone works in a town or city, but obviously many people do and I think they do the same.

I don’t necessarily think it’s better for the environment to shop online - look at the amount of extra packaging needed.

Clinton's and Mothercare have totally failed to move with the time. Mothercare in particular is way overpriced!

Our town centre just isn’t very pleasant anymore. Bloody cuggers and groups of European men all smoking in big groups. Even if they don’t mean to be intimidating- they are!
Everyone has gone to the out of town shopping centres, free parking there as well and cleaner and feels more pleasant. It’s wrong but it’s the way it is.

I dont think Ive ever bought a card in Clintons .Ive gone in a few times but swiftly done an about turn and gone to the card factory.
I remember years ago when hand made cards were starting to take off a friend who made her own was asked by several people individually to make a card that didnt say love on it . She devised a simple card that fitted the bill perfectly.
I am the target customer for Bon Marche but I rarely managed to buy anything in there. I have had their gift cards that I struggled to spend as the clothes just didnt look right -too short and boxy and not the same quality across the ranges. I bought some jeans that looked worn out after a few wears for example. But its still a pity they are going as there are precious few places for the older woman to buy normal day to day clothes .

@Ihatesundays - Yes, chuggers are another reason I try to avoid shopping in town (and refuse to donate to charities that use them). And street-preachers. I don't understand why councils give them licences. Is there a law forcing them to?

An example with Mothercare is that they charged extortionate prices for simple items. Last week we bought our steriliser for the baby a complete set for £74.99 with 15% of at Argos baby event, looked in Mothercare they are charging £139.99 on offer! Saying it usually is £159.99 no it isn't and hasn't ever been.
Same as the quality of clothes after a few washes it doesn't wash well at all.

I thought Clinton's had already gone.
I also thought mothercare had gone a few years ago.
I dont see the point in cards when after a week they go in the bin. In our family we dont do xmas cards. We swap £1 box of malteasers. Much more appreciated
My personal opinion is we need argos type places.
You can reserve online, order what you want to that store and see it in the flesh before you buy.
Pop a couple of changing rooms in store and people can order what they want to try on and only buy what they need. Leaving stock in the store.

I hate upselling also Superdrug are really bad for this, would you want this perfume, no what about this mascara, no

Private Equity is to blame for a lot of this.

Majority of the cost of the purchase of the group (and over time likely numerous cash outs and expansion fuelled by debt too) dumped on the company itself to service whilst the PE House strips the profits via dividends / cash outs. And combine that with the ‘efficiencies’ (read cost cutting) which cut staffing levels, often sticking levels and store experience making it a poor shopping experience, footfall then drops and there is a massive debt burden to be serviced.

Due to that debt burden retailers struggle to cope with factors out of their control (eg GBP weakness affecting their margins as they’re often buying goods in USD), min wage increases, apprenticeship levy, business rates. Combine that with footfall dropping and it’s quite clear to see why it’s a misery out there.

Clearly not all retailers owned by PE but a great deal are.

I’m also guilty of using Amazon on occasion for the sheer convenience factor, but I do try and avoid if there’s a high st alternative.

In my opinion they are employing the ‘Uber model’ which is to price everyone else out until they’re bust and then hike prices when they effectively have a monopoly - the consumer is the loser.