What does your high street look like?

LittleMissAspie

Don't really go into town much but read this in the news:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=381249

On the other hand, somebody's clearly got plenty of money:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_cambridge/displayarticle.asp?id=381622

StevieJ

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Hopefully in the longer term, the local High Street will change for the better.

Once EA's , Banks etc vacate their premises. Small businesses will have the opportunity to return, after being priced out in the property boom.

All these new malls are so similar..... same shops, same products, same prices.

That's the spirit :T

BenL

High street? It must be well over a month since i went to a high street. Costs 40p or something to park for 20 mins in Harrogate.

RandomDan

In my nearest small Surrey town there are 5 closed shops in the main High Street.

* Woolies. /cry
* An Estate Agent (it was an independant one and was only there about a year). There are about 4 more EA's in the High Street.
* A Pizza place (but we have 2 more)
* Chemist (don't know why we needed two, a bigger one is just over the road)
* .... don't remember what the last one even was, but it was a tiny shop. maybe a jewelers. Either way, I won't miss it.

So 5 shops in a small town. Apart from Woolies, which I used a lot, I won't miss the others as they were duplicates of existing shops. In fact I like to think I played a part in the Pizza place's downfall as a waitress spilled red wine over me one time and was then really rude and I have boycotted it and banned friends and family from going there ever since (that was about 5 years ago... I do tend to hold grudges longer than necessary).

I don't know what shops will be moving in, but I would welcome some cheapy shops like Iceland, although the typical school-run 4x4-driving resident would probably be up in arms. There are definitely gaps in the market here; I never understood why there were so many shops selling the same stuff in the first place. What we DON'T need is another eatery, charity shop, EA or Pub; there are loads of each. Bring on some diversity.

rozeepozee

Parts of Sheffield are starting to look like it used to look when I first started to visit here in about 1993.....

Trix2

I know where all the Parisians are shopping! They've all come to Canterbury. The sales here were full of overseas visitors (mainly French day visitors I think) and less than the usual number of locals. Still - it is keeping the shops going and makes things a bit more lively than they sound in other areas people have spoken about. So at least the rotten Euro rate is doing a bit of good.

Squish_21

In Bristol the Broadmead town centre shops have all closed but they have all opened fancy new stores in Cabot Circus shopping centre. The town centre and The Galleries shopping centre (2min walk away) is a ghost town with LOADS of shops sitting empty.

baby_boomer

South London.

A blockbusters & an estate agent are boarded up next to each other. The Barclays bank one further down was only saved a couple of years ago with MP pressure, and will probably go in the next push.

Immediately around the corner from the bank a solicitor who also acted as an EA has closed, and the EA next to that has taken to putting blue squares to create a pretty pattern in the gaps where there aren't any houses for sale.

A third EA further down has called it a day and the shutters are up.

Only the Wetherspoons is doing any business due to the cheap beer and people's need to drown their sorrows.

When do we "technically" go into recession?

silvercar

Local High Street - empty Woolies, 2 estate agents have closed, Next shut half the store, choice videos shut, but we have 4 more, 2 independent cafes shut. New KFC, new Starbucks, M&S food moved to bigger store, Bodyshop, celebration cards and Laura Ashley opened.

longhotbath

Our high street always has shops closing. The landlords charge way too much rent and fleece the shop owners until they cant manage. Here the credit crunch is just escallating the situation. It looks busy enough, but there are few bags in hands!