Goodbye high street clothes shopping. Hello Amazon.

Amazon shoppers are all Brexit voters?? What a hoot.
I would love to support my local shopping centre but with Debenhams, Zara, Top Shop, New Look and Dorothy Perkins all about to close there are very few shops left . I don’t think the closures have anything to do with Amazon but feel free to correct me.

Ordered from Boden for years now. Very good service and quick to refund unwanted garments. Often sales with good reductions too.

Oh and I doubt you could tell from any of my posts MOnica how I voted in the referendum.

MOnica we very recently bought our whole kitchen refit online from Howdens, including all white goods, integrated oven and hob. New dining table, bench and chairs from another company, similarly blinds. The flooring I did get a sample sent. Not one foot was put outside of this house, kitchen and flooring companies came here to measure up, the kitchen design was agreed over email. The paint colour for decorating was designed by getting sample pots sent. We are extremely happy with everything having used it all for about three weeks, so it is possible if you have faith in your own ability and the companies you choose.

I love Amazon - easy shopping !!

I’ve had to use Amazon this year for gifts for my SIL as that’s where he told me to get them. Otherwise I’ve had a John Lewis Christmas (free delivery) because DH has been told to shield.

Not a great clothes shopper but I hope I’ll be able to go back to my old routine sometime soon - a drive into Newcastle, hair cut in Fenwicks, wander down beautiful Grey Street for a coffee and some purchases in the Grainger Market. Once a month and it makes me feel civilized again. Such a lot of lonely (I’m not) rely on the City Centres/High Streets for contact, company and ‘entertainment’ and we need to hang on to them at all costs.

Lucretzia

It's fine to use Amazon.

And I didn't vote for Brexit, *biba70 *

Neither did I vote for Brexit and I would be lost without Amazon and other on line stores. I physically cannot walk more than a few yards so shopping is very difficult. I’m not sure that how we voted in the Referendum has anything to do with our shopping habits!

I have a few go-to online shops which I prefer to use including Amazon, such as John Lewis, Lakeland, AO, M&S and also my local hardware shop which offers click and collect.

I think that the stores that will survive in the marketplace are those that adapt to new ways of shopping and offer good online shopping as well as maintain some real estate eg John Lewis. If I do go shopping, I only go to out of town retail parks where I can park in the disabled spots and only pop in for one specific item.

You can buy on;line and not shop at Amazon. I do not choose to buy clothes or appliances online, but I buymuch else. I just use any company but Amazon.

I have an account with Amazon and have bought all my books from them but wasn't aware they had clothes as well. For clothes, I've used the outlet stores of Littlewoods/ Marks and Spencer and Charity shops.
My last pair of shoes, this month, which were " tried only " cost me £4.99 and are Clarks Un Blush Go which are marked up at £59.77 ! A Hospice shop online which I'd rather the money go to them. They were brand new with the box.

Amazon is not all bad.
Small businesses use the site to sell and the link below shows details of a scheme that is being rolled out worldwide to staff.
My son has worked for Amazon for 4 years in CZ, he has been partly responsible for rolling out this initiative.
www.inc.com/scott-mautz/amazon-is-paying-its-employees-12000-to-train-for-a-job-at-another-company-its-brilliant.html

I use the Smile branch of Amazon which donates to a charity of my choice. I have listed my charity and the log-on is exactly the same as normal.

I don't approve of the Amazon tax situation but I have very limited energy/stamina with having M.E. and several other illnesses. I can't tramp round the shops so my only option is to buy online. I bought books for family Christmas presents from a small local bookshop but they cost me a lot more.

As Fanny says, critics need to think about why someone might not be able to get out to shop on the High Street.

I think we need to see it as an opportunity to reshape the physical space at the heart of our towns and cities. What are our real priorities? They could be youth centres, art hubs, used for social gatherings when we can have them again. Let’s have crèches and GP surgeries!

I agree with Galaxy that they high street is dying because it no longer supplies what we want. You can go into any high street in any town and find exactly the same shops selling exactly the same things.
I haven't bought anything from Amazon for years because
- I dislike huge corporations
- they are a host (knowingly or unknowingly) for a number of scam companies
- much of what they sell is really cheap because it is cheaply made and won't last, ending up in landfill
- and other reasons.
I do buy on-line (little choice these days) but source things from British companies where possible.

You are right about the high street Amber

Amazon has a choice to work ethically or make more money than Jeff Bezos can literally ever spend in a hundred years...

Hello again - I’m no fan of Amazon though I use it for branded items required quickly if it’s the same price as the original store.
This year I bought Levi’s and Vans online via Amazon as well as a bra which was exactly like one I already have but out of stock everywhere else.

It is not my first choice but I’m prepared to use Amazon now-and-again. Most of the “high street” stores now also sell via Amazon. So, for example M0nica, I did check this page out (below) just before Christmas when the item I was interested in was unavailable...
www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Lands%27+End/page/B27C6862-6239-4D73-BB52-9831B6F7AF7A?ref_=ast_bln&tag=gransnetforum-21

It's just society changing as it always has done.

I remember my father saying how very sad it was when the supermarkets started to take prominence. He wouldn't go in one for years. Said they were taking away the small shops and traditional butchers etc etc.

He did eventually cave in.

It is sad in a way but it can't be stopped.

It's not Amazon's fault. It's the Internet's fault. If we want to apportion blame

Amazon just came along with a good idea and grew and grew.

For me it's a blessing. I hate shopping at the best of times.

Me too Urmstongran.
They employ thousands and i`m pretty sure they wouldn`t get away with not paying what they owe.
And with covid still lurking it`s safeer than the high street.

And actually many of the shops on the high street old bhs, top shop, sports direct have practices that I am uncomfortable with

I do think there’s been a shift to either mass-market cheap stuff OR small brand higher quality stuff. Let’s get more bookshops and art galleries and community spaces on the high streets and let the big brands battle it out online.

I won't touch Amazon with a bargepole, ever since it tricked me twice into Prime, from which I eventually managed to extricate myself.

Didn't know that all the Brexiteers shopped at Amazon; amazing what you learn on here.

I am a remainer biba. The high street is dying because it is not offering what people need. I dont want to spend my leisure time driving to a town finding somewhere to park and paying high parking fees. Going around department stores that have just had their day. I can do all that in 5 minutes from home and do something more interesting with my leisure time.

I rely on Amazon for quite a few things, but I can’t see myself ever using it to shop for clothes, books or food - I get far too much sensory pleasure buying those in person from my favourite shops or farmer’s markets. For things I need quickly like cat food or DIY stuff it’s useful, but I like the intimacy of an actual shop.

I wouldn’t mind the high streets being used for more than just capitalism, mind you!

I know topics of conversation go all over the place on GN biba, but the majority of people on here were talking about clothes shops, not butchers or fruit and veg shops. You can't send those items back after 7 days!

perhaps it will come to pass- that those of us who you accused of 'hating the UK and even 'slagging it off' - will be shown to be its real admirers and lovers- and indeed criticised the actions of this dreadful Governement, Johnson and ERG, their strings pulled by the oligarchs and billionaires like Amazon hellbent on destroying true democracy - because they truly love it. I have said it before and was derided and mocked, and told I was not even allowed opinions or feelings-

it will be shown to be true, too late.