Shocked after visiting city centre

[Snog]

I've just cycled through the centre of my small city for the first time in 4 months.

So many shops and restaurants are boarded up and have closed for good, maybe 30%?

I found it really shocking to witness. Is it the same where you live?

We have one large shop here which lost its sitting tenant when the landlord tried a massive price hike. The store choose to move across the road and to another landlord.
Now the original landlord is really stuck as it will be a long time before anyone new moves into town (excluding convenience type supermarkets). Fortunately we don't make much from tourists, so that won't be a big hit, but lack of foreign students might be. As will any meltdown following Brexit.

Yes, my suburb/town was a bit of a hotch potch. I have been so naive expecting things to restart. Its horrible, there are a gang of beggars/addicts hanging around, shops closed, ironically some of it is being dug up. Its vile and desperate.

Before I am attacked, I am a compassionate person and of course, nobody should be on the streets.

Town in the East of England, I walked through the centre of it today.
Loads of cafes open, not sticking to social distancing at all (all tables open and people very close together).
Sadly we've been a crappy town centre for years- there's a much better shopping centre on the outskirts of town, so the centre is just a collection of cafes, pubs, restaurants, pawn shops, charity shops and nail bars anyway.

Rents and rates need to be cut massively or even paused to protect Jobs........ If I was a landlord that's the strategy I'd be implementing.

Short term pain for long term gain and all that.

It’s rubbish in Leicester

Are people aware that it is mostly us that are ‘the landlord’. A huge amount of commercial property is owned indirectly by pension schemes so failure of the sector has a massive impact on scheme returns ie our pensions than on wealthy individuals that people imagine landlords to be.

It’s terrible.

I live in a reasonably well to do part of central London. In my local high street and surrounding areas it’s clear that there will be lots of closures. Some restaurants are doing ok (e.g. a local independent pizza place) but others are not. People have started going out but not at the same level as before.

I think the death of the high street has been going on for a long time. It’s not just covid.

Councils do not set rents - Private landlords set rents
and most of the big private landlords are companies linked to Pension funds that require an 8% annual return

If rents get cut so will the performance of your pension

If business rates get cut, councils will have less money to improve town centres

At the start of lockdown there was a VERY successful scheme to put every homeless person into a bed
but the government did not fund it properly

Not that high a number more like one or two not opened.

However it was struggling before covid a lot and while there is money in the city it doesn't tend to use used city center but out of town shopping areas, of which there are many, or nearby cities shopping areas.

I went up mid-week wasn't busy but wasn't quite or dead either.

I sometimes drive down High St Kensington , London - there are noticeably emptied out retail units and restaurants .

Yes, the high stress had started being more about 'experience' as so much is available online. But now, that is gone due to the restrictions really. In most places it is not even possible to try on clothes and picking things up to look at is not allowed either. So, it limits the benefit of shopping in a way.

street, not 'stress'!

OldQueen1969 , such a shame to have to shut up shop. Yours sounds like a place in my town that hasn't reopened so far. My teen dds love it and were always in there getting knick knacks and unusual birthday gifts for their friends. Hope your online business thrives!

Pizza Express was still boarded up in my area of London about two weeks ago, but I didn't pass much heed as maybe they weren't allowed to open yet.
Haven't been out in 2 weeks, so don't know what's going on really.

I don't know what to think really. I went for a teacake & a tea for myself & my BF this morning, we sat outside with paper cups & everything disposible and it was £10. If this a normal price? I was a bit shocked tbh. When it come the teacakes were burnt. I sent mine back and had a new one . My friend ate around the black on hers. I didn't say anything further or leave a bad review because they have just reopened but l was shocked at the state of my teacake. It really was terrible. How they could send such fare out I don't know . The cost of th etea and teacakes to the business would have been about a pound atm and that is over compensating.
So l suppose my point is if things are so expensive to run for the owners & it is passed on obviously to the cutomer , then ppl are not going to go again. I know l won't be going again . I thought it was awful.

Also the woman taking the orders was horrible , really grumpy. They had only just opened , we were the 3rd customers of the day , so not too busy , Sometimes things are closing for other reaons than just financial l think. Customer service counts for a lot. That is why so many local small shops did well during the Covid pandemic lockdown l think.

I went to a restaurant this week and the social distancing measures were fine. However the service was terrible because they had clearly cut the staff to the bone.

Nearly all in our small town have opened.

I wonder if it is stress. Here, we usually have quite strict rules in the park but now there are ice cream vans (several) and a mobile cafe, but the woman there seems cross too.

I went into our city centre around two weeks ago for the first time. I too was shocked and actually felt a bit traumatised. It was not just the empty shops, but all the people in masks and the officious shop staff marshalling in some shops (others were lovely). There was a one way system in one of the roofed shopping areas. I was very anxious and tearful within a few minutes and have not been back since. I absolutely agree with the measures to keep everyone safe but it all felt so alien and impersonal.

I went out for supper to a restaurant this week.
The food was fab.
The service was a bit haphazard because they were short staffed and had lots of "walk ins" (including me)
Track and Trace does not bother me as I ate outside

But what UTTERLY SHOCKED AND SADDENED me
was the couple in their 60's who waited till the staff were busy indoors to leave the garden without paying for their drinks
the waitress ran after them with the card machine and made them pay as she'd have been docked that money
SHITTY WAY TO BEHAVE

There are a handful of big landlords who aren't compromising much on rents

Yes we have had this since the credit crunch in our town. It is ludicrous that it's more financially sensible for a landlord to leave a property empty (possibly indefinitely) than it is to accept a lower rent!

the waitress ran after them with the card machine and made them pay as she'd have been docked that money

Surely that is unlawful deduction of wages - you can't dock wages because of someone else's criminal act. Sorry for thread derail!

Outrageous behaviour though and good on her for spotting them!

A huge amount of commercial property is owned indirectly by pension schemes true but only one of my funds is commercial property (and they're preventing switches out of it, strangely not strangely enough.