The picture, above, shows the High Street in a W Midlands town called 'Shirley'. I'm afraid I don't know this town so I can't comment on it.
However, it demonstrates very clearly what is happening to towns across Britain (and in certain cases here too). The shops we all knew and loved have gone, and charity shops have taken over. In 'Shirley' there are now fifteen charity shops along a half mile street.
Nowadays, rather than finding Woolies, C & A, or BHS, we now find Oxfam, Nationwide, and Ladbrokes.
A few traditional High Streets do still exist, with family run bakers, butchers, and tea rooms, but they are mostly in unaffordable or exclusive parts of the country.
So, who's to blame? Well there are three main culprits; lazy shoppers who head to Aldi for their week's supply of ready meals, online giants who offer everything one could possibly desire without having to leave your TV, and local councils who charge such crazy inflated business rates that they have priced small shopkeepers out of the market.
And the future? Well, it can only get worse. I see the Bookmakers eventually going online exclusively, even more charities setting up shops, and no doubt some of the well established supermarkets going to the wall. High Streets will become Ghost Streets; the exclusive haunt of muggers, panhandlers, and squatters. What a prospect!
Don't be too hard on lazy shoppers. Most women with young kids that I know are trying to hold down jobs and live in over priced properties with high rent or mortgage. Childcare costs a fortune, still they can't make ends meet. Local shops don't meet that need. Blame this government's deliberate policies of austerity. You don't find similar situation in France and Italy in the same way.
ReplyDeleteI'm not being 'hard on them'; just pointing out the reason for the demise of the 'High Street'. If you don't accept that this is true, I can't help you.
DeleteAnd please don't forget that austerity (Or what I prefer to call 'good housekeeping') was only imposed to cope with the appalling mess left by the last Labour government.
DeleteHere in France the writing is already on the wall for the town high street. Empty shops are also now in the Hypermarket/supermarket complex.
DeleteEvery one of my nearby towns and villages has been affected. It's such a shame.
DeleteHere, although there are some charity (or "Op") shops most shops have been replaced by Asian run eateries.
ReplyDeleteI read recently that Lingfield now has three Indian restaurants, and one Thai. Unimaginable in our day!
DeleteA change of culture. People like the internet and shopping on line from home. Like they like to read a newspaper on line. Families have always been busy. No change there.
ReplyDeleteYou can't blame them, but it doesn't help. To the people who do embrace such ways, let them not complain when all has been lost.
DeleteWho am I blaming? I said a change of culture. I blame nobody. The internet came along and the world is embracing it from all sides. My niece is married to a doctor, does not work, has two children, plenty of money, plenty of time, never goes near shops. The grandchildren stay with grandparents and like to go to shops because "mummy and daddy never do" and it is a novelty.
DeleteIt is not about blame, we can either blame nobody or everybody. It is a cultural shift, a major one, and we are all in it.
DeleteSorry, I didn't mean it in the sense of 'blaming them', I meant you can't blame them for going elsewhere.
DeleteParking fees have a lot to do with it as well. I'd rather go and park at Tesco or whatever and get everything I need in there rather than rush around my local town trying to find everything before my parking ticket runs out, not to mention having to carry everything back to the car in heavy shopping bags. As Rachel says, change of culture.
ReplyDeleteLuckily we don't have parking fees where I live, but I agree with you about supermarkets; I use my local one a lot, but still support what's left of our small tradesmen.
DeleteI’m afraid the the high street, as we knew it, is on the way out. It will soon only be coffee shops, restaurants, Charity shops and take away. The times they are a changing and we just have to go with it. I have to admit that I am guilty of online shopping. XXXX
ReplyDeleteI am too Jacqueline, but only for luxuries that I can't find here (Haggis, Pork scratchings, etc).
DeleteWell all is not lost, our local market town has issued a leaflet about the shops. For instance you can go into the chemist (called Towlers) and apart from prescriptions and medicines, there is also candles, fine wines and spirits to choose from ;)
ReplyDeleteGood for them; sounds like wartime spirit.
DeleteHa, I know Shirley - I'm from Birmingham but left almost 40 years ago - and every time I go back to England I'm always saddened by the local high streets. As you say, charity shops, betting shops and fast food places. But, having worked full time all my life and with a horrendous 3-4 hour daily commute, I frankly don't (didn't - I just retired) have the time to try to find parking and whizz round my local town so I was glad of the supermarkets. I live in France and our little local town seems to buck the trend somehow as it is still very lovely and thriving, but there is, as ever, the issue of parking. I use our local Saturday market every week and local suppliers where I can as it would be such a shame to see our town go down the drain. That being said, there are an awful lot of what I call "knick knack" shops selling stuff at ridiculous prices too. I'm not sure how they can all keep going!
ReplyDeleteI have three villages all within about 10 Kms, that I use regularly. I'm afraid that each one has its problems. I still buy most of my household stuff at Leclerc which is about 20 Kms away.
DeleteAldi is a great shop, rather less convenience and quick food than Marks ans Spencer. Great cheese and yoghurt. The culprit is internet traders who do not pay tax, councils who charge too much and changes in the way we live. Whisper it quietly but the standard of provincial retail is pretty dire, 90% of what you want is not there, out of stock or they can order it for you. People will visit good shops and not always high end ones. Look at the popularity of garden centres, you can get a nice meal, the grandchildren can play in the playground and you can buy plants. They are packed as they meet people’s needs.
ReplyDeleteObsolete shops with old stock will die, blame Amazon for making it worse, and I do, but even if Amazon paid proper wages, sick pay etc and it’s share of rates and taxes the service it offers will destroy the old fashioned high street.
Smug planners destroyed the pubs I used to like to visit, now their high streets are next.
The rise of the Garden Centre as a place of 'entertainment' is a strange phenomenon. I used to visit one in Brighton on Sundays, and it was always busy. I bumped into a few old friends there too!
DeleteWhat's this "We" Cro ? Your home is in France and you do some of your shopping in Aldi and Lidl too !
ReplyDeleteMe thinks you are just a stirrer?
I have to admit that I am fractionally to blame, as I have bought things from Amazon in the past; maybe you haven't.
DeleteOf course I'm a 'stirrer', that's why I write this rubbish.
p.s. Who said I shop at Lidl or Aldi; I certainly don't. Grant me some decency!
DeleteThere is a sad inevitability about it. The market in my new local town, Market Rasen, is in its final death throes.
ReplyDeleteThat's strange, because often a good market can bring town centres back to life. With a really good market, everyone benefits.
DeleteI used to moan about how all towns across Europe were beginning to look the same, with every bit of public art having to be vandal-proof and the skimping on materials like paving in favour of cheaper imports and substitutes for local materials like York stone or Welsh pennant. Starbucks invented the trend for coffee to be drunk whilst walking down the street, and are now cleaning up in town centres. Ironically, I believe Brexit will make it much worse than it already is.
ReplyDeleteMost town councils used to be corrupt, but now they are just plain stupid. Waitrose told ours that they would not move in to the city centre site unless they could have it rent-free for two years. Now they are fighting a losing battle with Lidl and Morrison.
DeleteThe last time I was back in the UK, I was amazed by the amount of people wandering around with plastic cups in their hands; something we never see here.
DeleteThey are silly fools.
DeleteHow will Brexit make it much worse than it is? As far as I can see the rot is well and truly in, with John Lewis already unable to show a 12 month profit last year end. Brexit will be blamed for things it has nothing to do with.
Deleteit's not all bad, we often take our unwanted stuff to be resold, and it must help people on low incomes, I don't buy clothes and shoes, but I will get toys for our grandson and a few household items. They do stop loads going into landfill, but I do agree our high streets which we have always loved have changed forever.
ReplyDeleteMy nearby large town has one charity shop (St Vincent de Paul), but it's always closed. I'd love to go in and browse, but...
DeleteA local town changed from a dying town with small businesses, many of them antique shops, to a thriving place dominated with restaurants, 10 brewery’s, 4 wineries, a distillery, refurbished theater, artist shop, chocolate store and lovely specialty shops. All this in four blocks. What they didn’t do is provide parking for all the people who come into town from all over. They figured out what people wanted and turned it from a place forgotten to a place where people want to go and spend their money. Unfortunately, with all those places selling alcohol, the number of police needed has tripled. Commerce has changed, but people still like to be entertained.
ReplyDeleteThere must be solutions to all this desertization. It's just a matter of finding the right ones for the right places.
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ReplyDeleteThird time lucky I hope Cro.
ReplyDeleteShirley is a suburb of Birmingham I think.
I heard someone the other day say that they started their shopping in Lidl, then went to Aldi, then Tesco and anything they couldn't get in any of those places they would call in our little town at our excellent deli and get there. Hardly a recipe for keeping the deli going I would have thought.
It really should be the other way round. Support your small traders first, then do your bulk purchasing elsewhere; if you have to.
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ReplyDeleteHaving lived all around England and now moving to Scotland. There are a few things that I think they get right in the small towns in Scotland. I have probably said this before, but I will say it again in case it wasnt on your blog Cro.
ReplyDeleteThere are hardly any places that charge for parking here. In the small town I live in, there is a wide high street like they have in France where it used to be a market town. Some people double park as the road is so wide and then there is still room for 2 cars to go in each direction and 3 rows for parked cars. Apart from the coop and the petrol station every other shop is independent. People go from the green grocer next door to the butcher and you can see them asking the butcher what he has that is good and then they get the veg they want to go with it. The houses are also a third of the price of down south. Making it easier to have a family, one parent staying home till they go to school as it is often not worth it as child care is so expensive. There are also 3 pubs and a few hotels where the bars have live music a few times a week.
The people seem to be more relaxed here and on Saturdays the town is a hive of activity. No starbucks. you want a coffee you go in a cafe and bang on the window when a friend walks by. There is a farmers market on sundays. and most of the shops close for sunday, monday morning and wednesday afternoon. I think this is similar to France.
The main things are the parking is free all day and the shops are varied a lot of hand crafted items. There are 3 bakeries! Although I already have a favourite and they put bread a side for me to collect on my morning dog walk.
Its about community, free parking, lots of different shops and a good place to get your essentials. Having come from a place where all the shops were mobile phones, tattoo parlours and charity shops, it is like stepping back in time. I for one am pleased to have found it. Now if I could get the grass to grow rather than moss, this could be pretty perfect. (oh and it being warmer like Cornwall... lol)
A while back my oldest son was posted to Edinburgh, where it was inconceivable to find empty shops on the main streets. The city is filled with superb bakers, cheese merchants, delis of all sorts, and specialist shops. England could learn a lot from north of the border.
DeleteBirmingham I note. I'll say no more.
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