On the other side of the coin, it would be good if there were more food outlets that served healthyish stuff quickly. Plenty of places to eat shit.
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Easy to blame Brexit on stores closing but the Internet and ridiculous rents & rates are the biggest reason why our High Streets have become coffee & haircut zones!
In the next decade I can see lots of businesses disappearing:-
Travel Agents ........ lots of people book holidays online nowadays
Bookmakers
Book shops
Record Shops (HMV)
Departmental stores
I can even see libraries becoming obselete.
On the other side of the coin, it would be good if there were more food outlets that served healthyish stuff quickly. Plenty of places to eat shit.
If libraries will develop, they will form closer links with schools, and communities to become a community hub. I wouldn't like to see libraries go as they provide a valuable service to the youngest and the oldest.
I cannot see how WH Smiths and Hollands and Barrett survive on the high street.
Other than pizza I don't see many itialian takeaways
Bookies are thriving aren;t they? There seem to be millions of them.
I'm surprised travel agents are still going.
I think bookshops and record shops are doing better these days too.
I think high streets are evolving and more food and drink places are part of it.
go to Queen Street and you will see part of WH Smith's survival plan. They have taken over the role of the Cardiff Central Post office. I believe as a franchise, but don't quote me.
The down side of this is that the old Post office in the Queens Arcade lower floor is now empty the same as 6 or 7 other units all in the same place. It's becoming like a dead zone. Also when the post office moved they dismissed all the old Post Office Staff and put all their own staff in to the new positions. Half of them look very young and I wouldn't be surprised if they are at the lower rate of minimum wage.
They already are community hubs in places like Tremorfa, Gabalfa and Ely. They have internet for people to print CVs, coffee shops and all kinds of stuff as well as books. some good facilities for those that cannot afford things like a good PC or printing facilities at home.
The reduction in stake on their betting terminals must have had a huge impact, I remember reading there was some way around it and that they were exploring using paper betting slips for virtual cycling etc, not sure where that ended up.
I suppose most of them are already successful online but it's hard to see where the future for the bricks and mortar bookie could possibly be.
Libraries....ours has gone volunteer-led but serves more of a community function now. Cost saving for the council....yes. Does the idea work...so long as there are enough trained volunteers but I can see that changing over the next 10 years.
As for the others...apart from a bit of holiday cash, I used a travel agents 6 years ago and before that probably in about 1999. Banks are stuffed too. Bookies....going, going....
Record shops.... a few hang on and departmental stores are becoming a thing of the past. Basically the high street is no longer needed apart from grub and booze.
As mentioned in the thomas cook thread, brick and mortar travel agencies have been making a come back for years and actually the vast choice and confusion created online is a big driver for that.
If brick and mortar were on a level playing field as online in regards to tax dodging and business rates people would still prefer to go shopping, i don't think its a consumer choice just the cost to maintain.
Libraries down this way really are a community hub, linking a library, swimming pool, sports centre, skate park etc etc, got 3 around me that are purpose built
I popped to the swimming pool in Swindon last weekend, i was officiating at a swimming gala, the library it attached to the swimming pool, bounce park, ice rink and leisure centre, the computer section was fairly busy with people using the PC's
We seem to have had a decade where staples of the high street were shut down/forced to move to easily accessible "shopping malls" and replaced by outlets that preyed on fads such as vaping, coffee or cocktails. Maybe the next decade will see a backlash as public reach more for healthy and sustainable choices such as "no waste shops", vegan cafes and exercise based shops.
Has the past decade seen people become less interested in their community? Or maybe having less time or money to spend in their local community? Or maybe greater access to destinations further afield which seemed more of interest?
Bookies will continue to close. So easy now to bet online on your phone.
Certainly the ability to travel more easily on our increasingly clogged up roads means people are more willing to travel further afield for recreation. People will venture further as long as something is good. I think there's an onus on towns to provide facilities and shops that people will travel for.
I also believe people have less time for their communities. Working couples struggle to pay for a mortgage nowadays. Shift patterns are very different from 20 years ago. People less willing to give up their time.
I was in town on Sunday , high streets and shopping malls awful , but busy .
I then went down all the arcades , and was pleasantly suprised to see a good number of nices eateries , and independent outlets , the arcades in my view are our saving grace.
I dont think Brexit is effecting high streets its just folk are spending elsewhere such as eating out more , ,entertainment and the fact online sales of goods in 2017 increased by 15.9% according to ONS .
Pizza Express likely to be gone soon as they are in severe financial difficulty. Unless town centres solve the parking issues they will disappear within the next 20 years.