Do you really think it's the death of the high street?

[HannahDee]

I've just heard that a local Barclays is closing and a much loved department store. Do you think death of the high street is really happening or are we making too much of it?

Retail parks have a lot to answer for, and I despise them for not being close to public transport links, meaning that having a car is necessary. I have lost Next, Debehams and New Look because of this.

The decline at least if not death is happening. Our business tax model is analogue and high street stores face what I consider to be unfair competition. Base business taxation on turnover, proper enforcement to end shops that are hiding money laundering (we could guess which no doubt), and ensure that delivery services are such that customers pay the real cost of online shopping (basics such as all delivery drivers being salaried, strict liability on parcel carriers to start with).

Our retail park is rammed all of the time. I suspect partly as it’s a nicer group of shoppers than town.
My town centre is still busy though, but it’s just full of crappy bargain shops. People do still want to go somewhere. The massive rental costs of units though is the issue though.

I feel sad for my teenagers. When I was young it was nice to go out with friends and browse the shops, these days there isn't much to browse on the local high streets. Cost of the shop units really needs to come down to give businesses a fighting chance with online.

The high street is dying because people don’t use it! So many people shop online rather than on foot!

Retail parks have a lot to answer for, and I despise them for not being close to public transport links, meaning that having a car is necessary. I have lost Next, Debehams and New Look because of this.

Some are close to public transport links. There's a bus stop right outside the local one here and it isn't the only one that it's true of in my part of the U.K. It's also not far from the local town centre,

The town I come from is a dead zone - all charity shops, a few bakers and cheap shops like Poundland. It is in a poor depressed area generally so those who live there and can afford it travel to other areas for shopping. They also made the mistake of building a slightly out of town centre with things like McDs and a Sainsbo and a couple of cheap places again like Home Bargains.

Where I live now in the SE is a wealthy place and while we have lost some places as they closed nationally eg Joules there are plenty of other shops- Fat Face, Crew, Mint Velvet, Oliver Bonas, Next, Phase Eight, White Stuff, Seasalt , Jones, Clarks, Outdoor shops x 3, plus several private boutiques etc. We have quite a big hinterland as well so people would come here for shopping. High Streets reflect the income of a town and its needs.

Our town is already dead. We lose our M and S in a week or two which is a bloody huge building. Apparently council did nothing to save it.
Lost our other dept stores years ago including a prestigious jewellers whose name includes that of our town 'Preston's of Bolton', funnily the stores in Guildford and Chester ( I think) weren't closed. There's now loads of social housing being built but most folk won't use the remaining shops because there are homeless everywhere and they just don't feel safe. Also the demographic has changed with a noticeable influx of refugees from sudan and eritrea, not a problem for me but certainly one for older shoppers who do go in town...

@Lazarusshazarus what do you expect "the council" to actually do though if a retailer decides to close a store down?

But in town living will keep the area alive imo, we saw the centres of Manchester and Liverpool decline in population when people moved out of the city centres.after.the war, they have had to do a lot to regenerate the centres in the last 20 years. Having people living at the heart of the city is key.

What people need the city centre to provide is changing imo and we will see that reflected in what stays, what declines and what comes through in New trends.

My local town centre is like many described above with pound shops and food outlets. I think a model where there are more homes, cafes, restaurants nik-nak in the town centre would work and leave the shops out of town with good transport links. But then I live in the country so am used to having to travel for these. Interesting that shein, a business that is predominantly online has started opening stores. There must be a reason for that?

The high street never stocks a variety of things

no tall section, maternity section etc

This is true....and such a shame.

I love to shop - sometimes the people who complain about the lack of shops don't realise that their habits of buying online effect the high street.

Amazon and ASOS etc are convenient but are responsible for the death of many independent stores. Personally I try to avoid them

Yes, whilst town centre parking charges are high like they are in most places. It's why retail parks are much more convenient, if you have a car at least.

Even some retail parks are their own worst enemies. There's a really good one in a town near to us that is sadly spoiled by a 2-hour limit in the (very large) car park.

There are stores like Currys, Halford's and a couple of large furniture and carpet shops - plus several others too - not the kind of shops that you nip in and out of having spent a tenner, but where you buy big-ticket items that you want to take plenty of time looking at, asking questions about, planning, thinking and then maybe arranging finance for.

Two hours is ridiculously short for just one of them, let alone if you'd managed to get a day off and wanted to use it productively getting a new laptop, new three-piece suite and new bikes for the kids! Whereas you can do your online shopping and research all day and all night on a Sunday sitting on your sofa, if you want to.

It’s very real. Whenever I go to an actual shop the staff usually suggest I look at their stuff online.

Our high street has lost so many clothes shops. They’re being replaced with coffee shops which is fine with me 😁

@Needmorelego the council were in talks with M and S re renegociating their rent.
We are literally a town of >300,000 people without even a largish town centre shop now.
We aren't in the leafy home counties. We have the worst empty shop ratio in the country (when I last looked).

The impression I got off someone involved was that the council refused to compromise just like they did when they declined extending the manchester tram network as far as our town. Bury thrived (and was previously the poor cousin), Bolton saw a huge decline.

Same.

And plastic shoes shops.

I really need some new shoes but if I buy them online they're always wrong. Please for the love of Geoff someone open a chain of decent high street shoe shops!

@Lazarusshazarus the thing with M+S is they have closed branches down even when they actually own the building and there's no rent to pay.
The Food Hall side of M+S is doing ok but in general the company isn't doing very well.
Every town that has an M+S close always has loads of people saying things like "Such a shame/Heart and Soul of the town/I remember shopping here with my Nan in 1974...." but clearly not enough people were actually shopping there.
There's only so much a council can do but if people aren't using a shop it's gonna die.

@Lazarusshazarus I do agree that lack of decent public transport in a lot of places hasn't helped a lot of towns either.
If people can't get there....they can't shop there.

Online shopping killed the High Street years ago. I don't bother now the clothes are horrendous and you can never get the household items you want either. I'd love a return to a High Street full of independent shops and not fast fashion crap.

Maybe. Pre covid it was generally fairly busy. I suspect it was a target even then. Sadly it's the only reason most people went in town and now stores like waterstones which is directly opposite (our only bookshop) will no doubt shut too.

I found this when hunting for kids wellies one October. Drove to town multiple shops. Met with shrugs and we don't know when/ if stock will come in and if it will include wellies. Gave up, bought online, have never attempted to buy wellies in town since.

@thimblewomgee247 for swimming costumes I would try Sports Direct, JD Sports, Decathlon plus all the supermarkets.
@Badbudgeter wellies - places like Mountain Warehouse, Shoe Zone (they always have loads) and the supermarkets.

Why does everything on the high street has to be closed by 5pm though? ISo people getting out of work walk past dozen of shuttered shops, can't sit down for a coffee or something to eat after work, can't shop for anything unless they go to a supermarket. The high street hasn't moved on from the times customers were mostly stay at home mothers. Even in touristy places in the summer, the high street shuts at 5pm, why? I get that people working in shops have always done it this way, but when your industry is dying it might be worth trying something new. I don't know, on the continent 5 to 7 is the busiest time in shops.