Sad demise of the high street

Independents would never come to our town . Rates are far too high and the demographic is mainly elderly retireees (ex heavy industry) and very set in their ways. Nothing left here for younger ones now.

I walked into the City Centre yesterday to buy a swimsuit. Other than sports shops with racer back, chest flattening versions there wasn’t anything to be found, so I have to order one online. I really wanted to try one on, as I was hoping to find a flattering one with cups.
I asked the assistants in a few of the shops if they had any but apparently people only want to buy swimwear in the summer.
I used to love going shopping but a lot of my favourite shops have now gone. Also I wince at some of the prices. I am working full time (own a guest house) and cannot afford to pay them, so people on minimum wage, pensions or benefits must find it hard.
It will be a shame if we lose the town centre.

not many places have individual shops ,but i try not to visit the supermarket .maybe just once a month..theres a fruit and veg market in croydon/fish shop/bakers/and other smaller shops that i buy things from...they might be a bit more expensive, but there are bargains to be had in smaller shops.and i stopped buying stuff in plastic bottles......not so easy but getting there...i wish milk was all in cartons....luckily i only drink rice/oat/almond milk and thats all in cartons

Lord Timpson Gabriella?

Best to get your facts right before correcting other people

Our Debenhams has just been refitted, so presumably not listed for closure. However, it’s exactly the same random, messy sort of store, just with the addition of some very dodgy lighting. Nothing in their ”offering” has changed at all, just been moved about a bit and given a new counter.

If you aren’t in a young age group, and want everyday clothes, there really isn’t much choice in town at all.

I am increasingly irritated by the in store concessions in department stores. It is something ( I think) Debenhams started and to my mind is the cause of their destruction.

I was looking for some clothes for a couple of smart occasions recently. Went into Debenhams, got to the fashion floor all I could see was a sea of concessions, with a mish-mash of different garments; coats, jackets, dresses blouses trousers in a limited range of colours and sizes in each concession. I couldn't see which one might have the type of garments I was looking for and I really hadn't time or inclination to work my way round each concession individually looking for what they probably didn't stock. So I turned round, walked out and went somewhere else.

I went to M&S, not a store I like, in fact one I usually avoid, but in the trouser section they had a whole array of velvet trousers in a range of sizes and colours and styles. I spent some time there, tried several sizes and colours on - and then bought some. Job done.

I live in Watford in SW Herts and our High Street has just undergone a £2million improvement, I would add this is only to the roads and pavements, not the shops! We do still have one butchers but our main market was moved to a much inferior part of town to make way for a brand new extension to our Intu mall, the main part of this being a brand new Debenhams. I was quite excited at having a Debenhams as the only other department store we have is John Lewis, but was a bit disappointed at the lack of choice clothes wise and also noticed that one floor is entirely dedicated to perfume and high end make up, with a gin bar and also a prosecco bar too!

Riverwalk
Yes. Sir Alan Sugar is Lord Sugar as has everyone who sits or has sat in the HoL as has Sir John Timpson.
I have a friend, the husband of whom is a titular Baron who is referred to as Lord X.
Another acquaintance, Baron Vincent of Coleshill was referred to as Lord Vincent. The way you address a titled person differs, in speech and the written word.

Gabriella I know well how one should address a titled person - I too have acquaintances.

I think you're getting a bit muddled - Sir John Timpson (shoes and keys) is not a Lord and has never sat in the House of Lords. So you're wrong to refer to him as Lord Timpson.

No, not muddled and not interested in your aquaintances.

Extortionate rents and rates as well as overheads have put paid to any business on the high street. As a consequence prices have had to rise to keep up.
It's a sad time for retailers and will only get worse.

I think we are all agreed on what has caused the rot.
In no particular order:
Internet shopping.
High rates and rents
Out-of-town retail parks.
Lack of parking and public transport.

Oh dear if I was a pessimist I'd say we are the last generation to be able to shop in our local high streets.
However, I'm still hopeful and several suggestions on this thread have been encouraging.
Free parking after 2pm.
Specialist shops and good customer service.
Sensible councils who support local businesses.
Make online businesses pay adequate rates and taxes. And so on

I hope we don't end up with a toy town of vintage or novelty shops for tourists only.

We too here in Letchworth have seen shops come and go.I really hope our little town of shops manages to stay.I try only to buy in town to support them, resorting only to online for something i couldnt buy locally anywhere. I love shopping here, the shop assistants know who i am and we chat like old friends, its the meeting point for my sister and i for coffee we have family birthday meals in the local resturants, we browse the charity shops, use the hairdresser and the Morrison supermarket all on a frequent basis.My bank is open 5 days a week and we have chiropodists beauty parlours and several independant shops as well as larger high street stores. There is always something going on on a Saturday and Christmas is a wonderful time in our town. long may it flourish!!!

In my locality, over about 10 years, I have lost my very good butcher, excellent DIY shop (cheaper and nearer than B&Q and if I wasn't sure how to do a particular job the owner would give me instructions), greengrocer but we do have lots and lots of takeaways (who pop leaflets through our letterbox several times a week in university term time). The city centre has lost many, many shops but there are plenty of places to eat and drink . The out of town shopping centres with free parking have decimated the city centre where parking is very expensive.

We live in a village just outside Oxford. Over the last few years the city council has rebuilt the shopping mall in the city centre and a lot of the stores from the main shopping street have moved in there, which leaves the shopping street a wasteland with empty shops, a few of which have been filled with tatty tourist souvenirs. Obviously, tourists don’t come to Oxford for the shopping but to see the historic centre and the colleges and the locals aren’t too keen on going into the centre because of the vast numbers of tourists and the extortionate parking charges. Business rates have gone up, so there are no small independent shops left and several of the shops in the historic covered market have had to close down. Parking is incredibly expensive and, although there are good park and rides around the city, non-locals don’t necessarily know they exist. Many locals, us included, prefer to shop in one of the nearby towns, with cheap, or free parking and no crowds of tourists and more small independent shops as well as a good range of chain stores.

Phoebes I live near Oxford, well 12 miles away, and I agree with everything you say.

I rarely go into Oxford now and even getting into the Park & Rides is difficult at times. I now shop in Witney. Free parking, a High Street full of independent stores or small chains and a recent development beside it with some of the bigger chains. I suspect that is where you shop as well, from your description.

BBC news website:

Chancellor Philip Hammond is set to announce a £1.5bn boost to small High Street UK retailers in the Budget.
The financial package will include £900m in business rates relief for nearly 500,000 small businesses and a pot of £650m to rejuvenate high streets and their transport links.

Personally, I think it's too little, too late.

Let's hope it will provide a boost to local communities.

Chewy, piffling, isn't it?

I’m really worried about this trend. We will all be shopping on line soon but what about those who aren’t computer literate.

Dinamo I'm concerned too by the downward trend.
We shouldn't blame ourselves for this either. Successive governments have neglected shoppers.
I wonder where our politicians do their shopping.

What would save the high street? Well the following might help:-
-lower the business rates drastically
-lower rents
-limit parking charges to a maximum of £1 a day
-reopen all areas closed off to traffic.

Not sure re-opening areas closed to traffic would boost trade necessarily. I think shoppers quite like having 'precincts'. As long as towns have well signposted & reasonably priced parking areas on the circular roads it would be fine. DH and I popped into Petersfield the other day for the first time as we were in the area. It was easy to park, not particularly cheap but not OTT and we had a stroll round the town centre.

Yes, M0nica, we shop in Witney or Banbury. Even though Banbury is 20 miles away, it is so quick to drive there, the parking is much cheaper and the main shopping centre has a great range of shops and is completely under cover and always warm in the winter, unlike the new shopping centre in Oxford, which is freezing in the winter as it has no doors and the wind just whistles through!

I live south of Abingdon, so Banbury is a bit too far, but we have called into the shopping sheds by the motorway once or twice on regular journeys north.

I tried Newbury this autumn, as it is just down the A34 from me but found it not as good as it looks, so it is back to Witney.