Some grim reading here, which major chain store would you miss the most if they were to disappear?
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Responses (10)
Wow that's very grim, there won't be much beyond charity shops and estate agents left on the high street!
I recall a number of people saying they could never imagine life without Woolworths. It had been a part of their childhood but some years ago closed its doors for the last time.
Supermarkets and the pound shops have replaced those stores that sold odds and sods and have also taken a large share of the fashion retailers market.
I suspect that we will continue to see in 2012 a continuation of stores either closing or having to adapt and reposition themselves in the market place.
As for stores I would miss, that is a difficult one as I don't feel that loyal to any specific brand or retailer.
I go to where I can get the best price and the internet assists me greatly in that regard!
I hadn't realised just how many shops are closing down now. I hardly ever go into the nearest Town but use outlets and the Internet mainly because I don't particularly enjoy shopping. I like going round the charity shops though and get some lovely bargains but these are in the surrounding villages.
I never thought Woolworths would be closed down and some of the ones listed fruity I thought would be here for years.
I think most of us were a bit shocked when Woolworths disappeared, Sabre, it seemed unthinkable that a store that had been around for so long would vanish from the high street. It is rather worrying when you see how many well known, long lived names are in that list of casualties!
I have said this before and I firmly believe that the whole shopping experience is undergoing a metamorphosis on this country and this BBC report is a sad reminder of it all. I think we have gone beyond 'support your local shops otherwise they will disappear' scenario as people simply have so much choice nowadays where to buy. 90% of what I bought for Christmas this year was through the internet or TV shopping channels. Earlier this year, I bought a Sony Micro HiFi unit form £46 from Bid.TV ( via the internet ) and the same unit was on sale in Argos for £144.
Stores I would miss? My local Argos ... so handy to reserve and collect. BHS, Waterstones and M&S as well.
The sad thing is that I cannot see these vacant retail units being occupied again. Sky high commercial rents and rates see to that. But what I do see is a proliferation of stack-'em-up-high-and-sell-'em-cheap' outlets that will sell cheaply and and achieve a turnover based on high sales and minimal profits ...
And it's not going to stop there, I think we will see petrol stations diminish during 2012. These people, many on expensive franchises, will decide to throw the towel in after existing again on minimal profits ( 6p a litre I think was mentioned ) while making the petrol companies and the chancellor very rich. Factor in more and more pubs during 2012 and the high street will become unrecognisable. And as people have said, even the charity shops have to opt out of commercial greed to ensure people continue to visit.
The problem with the loss of high street shops is that it kills a town. I love to stop and chat to the neighbours and friends I bump into in the high street, or go for a coffee with someone I haven't seen for a while and just catch up with each others lives.
If we don't support our local high street shops we will end up with the utterly soul-less out of town outlet hells that any of you who have spent time living in or visiting the USA will have experienced, and which are breeding fast in this country. You can buy things cheaper, but they are soul destroying places, and you are 'served' by people who couldn't give a damn whether you buy from their store or not, as they know plenty of people will keep coming back just to save a few quid!
I do buy some things over the internet, not much though, mainly things that I can't get locally, and would have to spend a fortune on petrol and parking to go and buy.
I would miss M&S, but purely for its lingerie department.
Couldn't agree more, will have a big impact on community spirit.
I'd miss Argos, it's one of the few shops I will venture in to if I've reserved something, and I'd miss being able to see bigger items 'in the flesh' before I go away and see if I can find it cheaper on the internet.
You paint such a depressimg picture Fruitcake but of course you are absolutely right in everything you say. The question is, where do we go from here? Supporting our local shops will require a mass migration back to the high streets and I think that's something that has been in decline since the end of the sixties. And it's just not the high street that is in decline, a lot of the outlets mentioned in the report exist mainly 'out of town'.
I remember in the 50s/60s when the cornerstones of high streets, big and small, would be the grocer, shoemender, newsagent, small electrical shop and even a watchmaker. And how that scenario has changed! AS you so rightly say, nowadays, it's all about poorly paid 'box shifters' who roam the aisles looking for the 'next kill'. There is no professionalism any more.
Perhaps the only way is for ailing high streets to be supported in the way that Arthur Potts Dawson brought us the People's Supermarket, where people pay a one off 'membership' fee, get discount on all goods but also offer 4 hours of their time every month to run the shop and from that they can gain work experience skills, business skills and ultimately a future back into full time employment as a result. And we should have no shortgage of people from the currently great unemployed. Okay, a radical idea but what true people support for our ailing high streets.
My High Street has long gone and is no longer a place of community activity. Indeed even the local community centre is under threat because of council cuts. A good range of shops have been replaced with an expensive cafe culture and bookmakers. The one remaining local butcher's closed its doors at the end of November.
Our community is the immediate neighbourhood but even there our values and expectations are different, yes there is a sharing of respect for one another but this doesn't always extend to ensuring their children don't drop litter, deface or graffiti walls, or in some cases even damage local cars with stones!
I know the sense of community is alive and well in some areas but in others what remains is a romantic notion of what community was.
I really missed Woolworths when they disappeared - they had been around all of my life. Now.....I would miss Sainsburys and M&S
I agree Lana, Woolworths used to be a mainstay for Christmas shopping and odds and sods, especially the Pick and Mix counter. But I believe that they became too competitive for their own good and you could see them beginning to fail well before they went down. Interestingly my late wife's first weekend job was as an assistant on the make up counter in Woolworths ... she must have been pretty to warrant that! And they weren't charging the sky high prices that they charge at the attended cosmetic counters in Debenhams and the like.
I agree. Woolworths was a real wonderland... They sold everything! And I'd really miss M&S and Sainsburys too. Oh, and Iceland.
We all miss good old Woolies! :-(
Your late wife must have been hot! Yes Woolworths was good value for money. I loved the Pick and Mix. Everywhere I go for Pick and Mix these days is a total rip off and I can't afford them anymore! I do love Debenhams though and you can pick up a good bargain in there!
Funny enoug Lana I was 'window shopping' in Debenhams in Hastings yesterday and I was amazed at the low prices being offered in the window displays. It kind of suggests the way that even the big shops will be going this year and I have never seen that before although Hastings is an allegedly depreives area and you would think businesses would lay out their stall accordingly. OH, and the other busy store in Hastings yesterday was 'Poundstretcher' ....
I was in Hastings a month or so ago, Snoops, and it looked fairly busy, not that I was there to shop.
I guess Hastings always looks busy in the run up to Christmas Fruitcake but it can be depressing out of season. We drove the twenty miles back to Eastbourne at 7pm and the roads were deserted, almost eery. I go there because it's different and parking can be cheap if you know where unlike Eastbourne or Brighton.
Amazingly, we managed to park for free in Hastings, which was good as we were there for most of the day.
I do love the pound stores Snoopy! I discovered last year that I can buy 24 cat litter liners in the pound shop as opposed to 6 for almost £3 in Sainsburys. I always pick up some litter liners when I pass a pound shop now - it's saved me a fortune.
Oh no, not La Senza!
Where will I buy my underwear now?
Screw Fix apparently do a good line in 'work wear' G-Man ... something to handle your load no doubt ...
Feel like I've missed out, have never seen a La Senza!
They've got a closing down sale on, Jazzj...
Very saucy, G-Man!!
So is it tiger thong or the bum lift shorts?
I know it's fab isn't it G-Man - fancy you buying from there - someone must be getting the "benefit". !!!!!
It's unlikely to be a casualty but it would be a disaster to quote Craig G-H if John Lewis/Waitrose were to go.
Not got either near me Alwyn, nice to see you back, happy new year!
Actually, I'd miss John Lewis too, Alwyn, although I tend to use them online rather than instore.
When I was a teenager I lived the shop 'Razzle Dazzle' I thought I wouldn't ever live without it! It was heaven all the different stands for earrings necklaces bracelets and different stands for hair accessories there was no other shop like it!! It was so cheap then and you would look really trendy in the 80s with the neon accessories and hoop earrings very rock!!! But you just got used to it then a chain of 'what every's' they all get replaced!
I don't like shopping but if I have time and in the mood I do like a good wander around the shops ie debenhams house of frasers river island warehouse top shop oasis etc it is interesting to see what's the new latest collections etc! I also love chatting to the sales assistants and they give me the heads up when thd sale is on and whats going in etc so I would miss the whole experience!!!
Oh I wouldn't Serena, really don't enjoy shopping. Mind you, now I'm on my own and have control of my own money maybe I should venture out amd see if I can find anything I like......
Have only just caught up with this thread.
There are lots of shops I would miss and hope they survive, but we have only ourselves to blame if they go. We are all so set on paying as little as possible for anything and are now prepared to buy online rather than support local shops. There is a radical change in our purchasing habits with the use of the internet and smart phones and traditional high street shops are closing through lack of support.
I agree, Sidesalad, I do buy some things on the internet that I can't buy locally, but I try to support my local high street as well, as I don't want to see it die.
I'm guilty of that sidesalad, but only because I live in the middle of nowhere!
Jazzj - yes, it's a problem. Shops are disappearing so we rely more on the internet. Prices are also lower when retailers don't have the overhead of a shop. So what are we to do? Like Fruitcake I try to support local shops so we don't loose them, but any big purchase I make is made online these days or at least researched for the best price before purchase.
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They vary a lot in price don't they Parchester? If I go to the ones in the nice area they charge a lot more than those in the areas you'd think twice about going after dark! Another death knoll for the high street
Charity shops are also pricing themselves out of the market.
Cancer Research, Barnados and the British Heart Foundation are more pricier than some major department stores.
In some cases goods and items that you can purchase in the pound shop are on sale for £5 or more.
I appreciate that the funds raised go to a good cause but the prices they charge are for some people I know a deterent to even stepping in the shop!!
Estate Agents are also facing difficult times with the housing market stagnating in some areas.
High Streets are becoming an array of coffee and betting shops.
Some charity shops do vary their prices according to their locality, after all their raison d'etre is to raise as much money as possible for their charity.
Our local Cancer Research shop closed down, its prices were higher than the other charity shops in town. We don't have a Barnardos, so can't comment on their prices. We do have a British Heart Foundation shop and its prices are 'middling' I would say, but they do pay some of their staff.
Our Oxfam bookshop is the only bookshop in our town, and the only music shop (we sell records, cds, dvds and sheet music), but we keep our prices on all donated goods very reasonable, if we didn't, we wouldn't sell anything! We are one of the most popular shops in the town, so we must be getting it right!
A customer yesterday came in looking for a particular hardback book. He'd tried to buy it in Waterstones in the nearest city, but it was out of print and Waterstones couldn't supply it. We had an immaculate copy, cover price £25, our price £4.99, result one very happy customer!
I find Fruity that the second hand books in charity shops are absolutely immaculate. In fact the Dove house one in one of our villages never puts books out that aren't in perfect condition. My hubby has bought some beautiful nature books over the year's. I have bought second hand from the Internet and some of the last ones were appalling and I won't be buying any more.
We don't put books out that aren't in very good condition, many are brand new. We usually get a lot of new books donated in January, unwanted Christmas presents!
The only less good ones are the Mills & Boon type romances, which we shelve in a special area, the little old dears love them! We sell them at 30p each or 4 for a £1, and the old dears bring them back after they've read them. We can usually sell those over again about 3 times before we send them to be recycled.
I always take back the books I've bought from charity shops when I've read them too fruitcake
I don't mean mills and boons by the way, have never read any!
That's good to know fruity! I must check oxfam where my daughter volunteers a few hours a week. I never would have thought in jan unwanted gifts end up in charity shops! Makes sense! There's a massive book collection in there though books are priced £2.99 and sometimes they are £3 in Asda I've noticed on a few occasions.
There's nothing wrong in a bit of mills and boons Jazzj! I mean each to there own lol I had you down for Jackie Collins novels lol!!