To say go and support your local independent businesses

[Nutmuncher]

Just that really, retail is in absolute dire straits right now pretty much across the board. The big chain stores are better positioned to fight on through but your small independent shops in your local high street such as butchers, bakeries, antiques shops, homewards, art galleries, book shops, florists, coffee shops are all struggling and need our help no matter how small that may be.

That gorgeous tea room, cute card and gift shop, beautiful florist or dreamy book shop will be gone unless WE start using them as much as possible. Small businesses desperately need help and the true saviours will not be in the form of billionaires or politicians, it’s down to us to make sure they survive. Switch up your Starbucks for a local coffee, buy a bunch of flowers from your florist not M&S. Buy a print/ painting from your local small gallery instead of an IKEA picture, beautiful greetings cards can often be found in them too. I for one don’t want a high street full of vape shops, barbers and nail salons because they’re the only ones able to afford the rent on the units.

Your small switch up no matter how insignificant it may seem could make a huge difference to someone’s livelihood.

That would be wonderful but you can’t deny their prices are much higher.

Unfortunately butchers, bakeries, antique shops, homewards, book shops, florists and coffee shops are all places I avoid.

Buying coffee and cakes while I’m out is a flat no. I do not want to throw money away on things like this.

I also don’t want to spend upwards of £4 on a card when I can buy one from Home Bargains for 79p when so many people begrudge even receiving them.

On the flip side I do support nail salons and hairdressers. Barbers etc need a livelihood too.

The sentiment is lovely but the reality is people are trying to get by in a cost of living crisis. I shop wherever is cheapest. Does a butcher provide better quality meat, sure but I can't afford it so I go to Lidl. Most people work a lot of hours now so online shopping is more convenient. Why trawl round independent shops when you can have something delivered to your door and save the hassle? My free time is for nice long dog walks on the beach that don't cost me anything.

This is a real bugbear of mine. It is already too late.

I live in a town, albeit a smallish one, and end up having to buy stuff on line simply because there is nowhere to get the items I need. (Most recent was a sourdough set, bowls etc). Now admittedly that was rather niche, but 20 years ago I would have had 2 places I could have got them from.

I do support local coffee shops and butchers, but the independent shops where I am are cutesy gift shops, very few useful shops. Fortunately we do have quite a few large chain stores (like the Range etc) so I can get some stuff locally.

How can we turn back the clock?

The reality is that most ( not all - 8 or 9 in 10 ) people actually have enough money to live off and are using COL as an excuse to get more of "cheapest now" with no regard for ethical purchasing , long term impacts etc

We can make choices - buy more stuff cheaper , or less stuff that's more expensive- one leads to a downward spiral - wages are pushed down , quality goes down, and eventually a few players dominate the market when prices go up and quality and reliability and service go down

Short term gain long term pain

( if you are one of the 10 to 20% who can not pay their bills through no fault of your own , please don't jump down my throat )

Seems like the last few years we have been condemned for flying a union flag and encouraging folk to buy British but - hallelujah the tide seems to be turning

Agree, these shops will be gone soon and then we will miss them

In an ideal yes I would. In reality it's not that simple

I'm on a budget and independent shops are often much more expensive.

I'm time poor so I like to shop online at home and have things delivered quickly. I don't have time to traipse round lots of places that have no parking and odd opening hours.

The customer service and returns are usually terrible. There's a designer clothes shop in town my shop loves the clothes but returns are for vouchers only, no thank you! If it doesn't fit him I want to be able to get my money back! I will Google the item he likes, usually find it cheaper somewhere else, get a blue light discount and be able to get it delivered and return it for free.

I can't say I've ever had amazing customer service from any independent business, some are fairly average, many abismal.

I like to know that the product is going to be good, for example I know in every Starbucks/Costa what the coffee is going to taste like and what I'm going to get, with an independent I'm taking an absolute gamble every time I try somewhere new, end up with rank coffee and have water my money wishing I had just bought a Starbucks/Nero/Costa (I know not to everyone's taste but I like it).

Realistically, we live in a capitalist and consumer driven society, so if a small business wants to succeed it has to adapt and change to appeal to what people want. The onus cannot be on the consumer to prop up local business at their own expense. It needs to offer something better than you can't get elsewhere whether that is a great experience, much better quality, more personalised, more convenient etc.

I'm not well off but for me it's much more about time than it is cost. I work 8-5, the independent butchers, greengrocers etc. here are closed by the time I finish work and to shop there at the weekends is awkward because parking is crap and the shops are nowhere near each other.

Parking in my town is limited to two hours whether you pay for it or not - not long enough to cover shopping/browsing/hair appt./lunch.
If I have to stop halfway through it all to move the car I'm far more likely to just do the bare minimum and then head home.

I agree to a point but there are too many cafes and coffee shops now. The quality is hit and miss. I've had coffee that is sour and very mediocre cakes for an extortionate amount of money.

Independent doesn't always mean good quality, so should poor quality businesses survive?

Those that are good I would absolutely suppoty but as pp pointed out it can be a gamble and when it costs a fortune you can't blame people for being reluctant.

Lifestyle businesses aren't always good for the actual customer.

I always go for independent if I can.

It's a mindset that needs to be changed. People's obsession with cheap and disposable which is so awful for the environment.

Cheap mass produced items can only be made in large scales and by cheap labour, so will be sold online or in chain stores, so until people can go back to the idea of quality over quantity, independent stores will struggle unless they can offer something niche.

Saying that, an independent store that offers quality and niche items will survive if they know their target market.

YANBU But it’s too late in most places, your message was needed 20 years ago.

Will when we downsize and have more money.
Cant afford to atm. Most people can’t.

I live in one of the poorest boroughs in London.

People are just doing what they can to get by on a daily basis.

There are no 'dreamy' bookshops (whatever they are) or 'gorgeous tearooms' and the vast majority couldn't afford to shop in M&S even if they cut their prices in half.

i don't think it has to be all or nothing. A few years ago, i started trying to make the effort to try and shop more locally. it isn't always convenient so i only do it if it suits me.

a clothing boutique gave me an extra discount on an item i was eyeing up that i was unsure about and they also wrap your packages very nicely, so it feels extra special.

i've bought vintage furniture cheaply (one item, i later found out is a brand popular with hipsters).

my local opticians have been a godsend for DS, who has a very high prescription. he hated going for eye tests, but he feels comfortable going to them and the staff know us. As DS is now in adult glasss, they are becoming too expensive, so i'll have to get his glssss elsewhere, but will still use them for eye tests.

i can buy cheaper herbs and spices, seasonings, rice, cooking oil etc from world foods supermarkets.

i wont buy £4 gift cards from a gift shop, but if i need a generic gift for someone eg work colleague, class teacher etc, i will check out the gift shops.

my local fruit and veg market is cheap, but its on the other side of town and is only open when i'm at work, so i'll shop there where i can.

Many independent coffee shops and restaurants sell badly made/burnt coffee and overpriced food and cut corners. I know chains aren't exactly cheap but customer service tends to be better and you know what you're getting. Independent food and clothing retailers are much more expensive

I don't disagree with the sentiment, but the Op reeks of privilege.

I do, but I’m fairly wealthy, so when I shop it’s for the product and the enjoyable experience. I’m not trying to feed a family on a budget: as I bought my £6 loaf of sourdough from the local bakery this morning and then went a few doors down and spent £4.80 on an oat milk latte and had a lovely chat with the woman who owns the cafe, I had to reflect that this is a total luxury for many of my fellow Londoners, for whom even being able to buy Hovis over supermarket brand bread and treat themselves to a coffee at Greggs is their limit.

I’d love to do this but I don’t have the time. They are shut by the time I finish work, and weekends are busy enough as it is.

I’m also trying to reduce spending on unnecessary stuff, from an environmental and clutter p.o.v as much as COL.

I do want to reduce Amazon most of all but I’ve got used to kindle etc.

I would love to buy from independent shops and that sort of thing, but firstly we have very few, and secondly those that there are around tend to neither stock what I want and are very expensive.

A couple of years ago I bought crackers from an independent place. Handmade, honestly did look a it, but thought I'd give them a go, supporting my local. £30 for 6. That's at least 4x what I'd normally pay.
They were fine. But nothing special. I'd have liked for that price to have been a little bit impressed by the contents, not necessarily something fantastic, but perhaps a little different rather than the typical mini-screwdrivers, bottle opener etc.
A little bit of thought would have made me think "actually maybe I'll go back next year". I did try feeding it back to them, with suggestions of (fairly cheap) things they could put in. I got a bland response which approximately boiled down to "what you expect us to think out of the box".
But if you are an independent place, surely that's exactly what you're paying more for - something a little different, individual.

I love buying on line.
I hardly ever go into a real life shop.
I think it would be lovely if high streets were used as leisure/ parkland instead of the same shops inevery single town.

I would but they don't always sell what I need. It's just as quick to go on to Amazon and order it

I used to live the other side of the city and there was a local butchers. As great as it was he was cash only. I rarely use cash

The weather is glorious here today in Yorkshire so we are off to Knaresborough (they have dozens amazing independent shops) to do just that. There’s apparently a fab new florist and revisiting the most wonderful boutique clothes shop where prices are pretty much the same as Next and the clothing is really unique (Harriet’s). We are lucky it’s within driving distance. I don’t think ALL independent shops are more expensive. It’s just a case of doing research. I’ve had it with high street shops! Cheap itchy badly fitted crap for twice as much as it should be. Chain Coffee shops are so bad too (and obnoxious). I would stop at buying a picture from an art gallery. £70+ isn’t my picture price bracket

I do, I use our independent shops every day. It takes a couple of minutes for me to walk to the butcher, greengrocer, bakery, florist, cake shop, eco refill shop, homeware shop, jeweller, gift shop, chemist, clothing shop, outdoors shop, brewery, pet shop, and a big range of others, all independents, lots of cafes and restaurants, salons and beauty places, family run gym, book shop, record shop, and all kinds of small businesses. I know most of the people who run them at least in passing.

To go to one of the supermarkets I have to use the car and all the faff that entails. There isn’t a supermarket that sells everything I can get on the high street so I usually end up driving to more than one shop. And then end up buying in an inefficient way (eg having to buy a pack of six pork chops when we want five, or change pet food type based on what they have, when I can just get it on regular order from my local)

Its much easier and cheaper for our family to use proper shops and shop daily than spend hours of a weekend day driving around supermarkets.

A lot of the independent shops near me seem to be hobby businesses. I have a lovely gift shop next to my work and see a lot of lovely things in the window, however it's opening hours are so limited I have yet to buy anything as it's always shut! I even went up there on my day off hoping to buy a gift for a friend, nope, closed that day. I've given up.
They are generally also overpriced and too expensive for many.
And barber's are also independent businesses that are a much needed service so not sure why you singled them out. No different to an independent cafe or florist other than providing an essential service.