Death of the High Street?

[cee-dee]

Many towns have lots of empty shops and "the media" often mention the death of the High Street and some are blaming online trading for the demise.

However, is that really the case? Might it not be that really there were just too many shops selling the same stuff and also that tastes have changed?

We now see HMV is "in trouble" again and is it just the case of them selling what people are less inclined to buy these days?

Things change don't they? Remember all the shops that opened selling/renting video tapes?

Finally, might it be that we already have everything and need much less these days to go along with the minimalist culture?

So, what's your take on the situation?

[cee-dee]

I've said many times that before anyone can become a councillor or MP they should have run a successful (=profitable) business.

There's far too many "professional" councillors and MPs who know nothing of the real world beyond their own world of school>college>university=councillor or MP.

I've also said many times that they seem to think that being in business is a licence to print money when in fact it's often a licence to worry yourself to stress and anxiety.

[fallen-archie]

Agree with you there CD it never ceases to amaze me how stupid some MPs are, and how little life experience or commercial nous they have. Trouble is when they do have commercial interests they are subjected to calls of bias or supporting vested interests. For what it’s worth I would like to see MPs drawn from a variety of sectors and to serve a fixed term in parliament before returning to their previous occupation.

[**caution**opinion_ahead]

Good idea, Archie.

Apparently, ex-MPs are allowed passes into the House of Commons where they can avail themselves of subsidised meals, in order to help them adapt to life outside Parliament.  What?  In which other job would you get that sort of perk?  And, bear in mind, they are already drawing a government pension.  They don’t have to wait till 65+ like the rest of us.

[fallen-archie]

I remember when I first worked in London (for the government) we were given Luncheon vouchers to the value of 15p per day even then it bought nothing! I also recall going into public accounts committee meetings where the selected MPs sat at a horseshoe shaped table each one desperately trying to outdo the next one in the rudeness stakes! They were so self important and yet they were generally quite stupid and or pompous. There were one or two exceptions with whom once you had risen sufficiently up the ladder would talk to you candidly however they were also surrounded by hangers on who were on the honours trail and lookout for directorships of quangos which was a surefire way to get an honour.
I paid into the governments pension scheme for 47 years and yet they want to keep extending the age for pension status, how many years do I need to live before I go into deficit? And what level of pension do MPs get is it based upon their years of service?

[vamo48]

The main problem with High Streets are rents and rates.  Nearly all businesses recently leaving our own High Street, including pubs, said this was the reason, yet the council still blames online shopping. I do shop in High Street shops, but there are much better shopping areas than ours in nearby towns; they are not all in decline.  

I also shop online; for example if I want to buy clothes from a company whose nearest branch is in the next county, I have little choice.  I went into HMV looking for particular films as gifts for someone, they were not in stock and I ended up buying them on eBay.  There are far too many shops selling phone accessories (5 or 6 in a short stretch of our High Street) and too many betting shops.  Rows of similar shops is not new, there were once far too many TV rental shops,  now there are none.

[theelench]

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@vamo48 wrote:

  I went into HMV looking for particular films as gifts for someone, they were not in stock and I ended up buying them on eBay. 

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Isn't that another reason for their decline?  Once upon a time (before tills were integrated into the stock control and delivery system) you could order whatever films HMV had in the warehouse.   A few days later they would have been waiting for you to collect.  Now it can't be done, the programme just replaces whatever has sold with more of the same.

I once had a discussion with a manager at the town centre Tesco (before it moved out of town) about why by lunch-time on Saturday they had always run out of Crumpets but had a shelf-full of Scotch Pancakes.  He admitted the pancakes would mostly be dumped every week but there was no way he could change what was delivered.  Only head office could change the stores allocation. 

Ask in any of the chains in the High Street if they will get more of a particular line, or a different size or colour and you'll be told that they don't know, they only get what the computer thinks will sell and what it decides to send them.

This is supposed to be efficient and cost effective but by taking away the local managers initiatives has proved to be suicidal.

[vamo48]

This is true, you ask if they have more of a product coming in, or a different colour, and they don't know.  It would make sense for the manager to take note of what customers are asking for, rather than say "We haven't got it, there's no demand"