09-03-2018, 06:09
A report this week has revealed that Consumer spending fell for the first time in five years with many citing a perfect storm of slow wage growth, record levels of personal debt and the looming hike in interest rates means we are cutting back and spending less, especially on clothing
A slew of famous names have announced a wave of closures in recent months. New Look announced a slew of store closures and job losses yesterday - while even John Lewis' profits have plunged 77%, it was revealed yesterday. and luxury items.
high street businesses are having to contend with soaring overheads, including steep rent rises and excessive business rates, not to mention issues that put people off venturing to the high street such as rising parking and public transport costs. The number one factor behind this move away from the high street is the internet. An increasing number of people are opting to shop, order food and do their banking online, hitting high street businesses hard and contributing significantly to the downturn in footfall.
Some of the name announcing closes are :
M & S - six stores to close in April & a further eight planned
New Look - 60 stores (after entering CVA)
Nat West Bank = 197 branches
H & M - 170
I know that H & M only opened a two floor store in my local shopping mall about 18 months two years ago, and my my gut instinct tells me that could be one of those stores to close and only recently the local Sainsbury's made redundancies. Their acquirement of Argos sees the branch here closing and moving into the store so that's another empty outlet on the high street and I have no doubt that would be either added to the flat/apartment space that is based next door or taken up by yet another fast food outlet.
But what would really hit my town hard would be the loss of the John Lewis store - they have been one of my town's biggest investors and to me the building they occupy would be the real loss to the town and would prove very difficult to fill.
Having worked in retail for the last 12 - 13 years with WH Smith, since 2005 and have to say the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, the austerity cuts & the rise of online shopping have all left their mark IMHO. The online thing especially has been the highs street's biggest enemy for the last few years.
The last few months I have seen my hours stretch from 1pm to 6pm three days a week & 9am to either 2pm or 3:30 on Wednesdays, plus the odd Monday (which is usually my day off) where it is based most shops are closed at 5:30 I would say that hand on heart, that the crisis in my town is probably felt right across the land and I would say that it all comes down to the local council handling it's budget and the housing crisis is also another possible factor.
My gut instinct that if things continue as they are, my local high street could be totally closed in 3- 5 years and that would be a very depressing sight to see.
And at my age (56) finding another job would be very difficult.
What can be done to save the high street and more importantly what has become of the Portas plan?
A slew of famous names have announced a wave of closures in recent months. New Look announced a slew of store closures and job losses yesterday - while even John Lewis' profits have plunged 77%, it was revealed yesterday. and luxury items.
high street businesses are having to contend with soaring overheads, including steep rent rises and excessive business rates, not to mention issues that put people off venturing to the high street such as rising parking and public transport costs. The number one factor behind this move away from the high street is the internet. An increasing number of people are opting to shop, order food and do their banking online, hitting high street businesses hard and contributing significantly to the downturn in footfall.
Some of the name announcing closes are :
M & S - six stores to close in April & a further eight planned
New Look - 60 stores (after entering CVA)
Nat West Bank = 197 branches
H & M - 170
I know that H & M only opened a two floor store in my local shopping mall about 18 months two years ago, and my my gut instinct tells me that could be one of those stores to close and only recently the local Sainsbury's made redundancies. Their acquirement of Argos sees the branch here closing and moving into the store so that's another empty outlet on the high street and I have no doubt that would be either added to the flat/apartment space that is based next door or taken up by yet another fast food outlet.
But what would really hit my town hard would be the loss of the John Lewis store - they have been one of my town's biggest investors and to me the building they occupy would be the real loss to the town and would prove very difficult to fill.
Having worked in retail for the last 12 - 13 years with WH Smith, since 2005 and have to say the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, the austerity cuts & the rise of online shopping have all left their mark IMHO. The online thing especially has been the highs street's biggest enemy for the last few years.
The last few months I have seen my hours stretch from 1pm to 6pm three days a week & 9am to either 2pm or 3:30 on Wednesdays, plus the odd Monday (which is usually my day off) where it is based most shops are closed at 5:30 I would say that hand on heart, that the crisis in my town is probably felt right across the land and I would say that it all comes down to the local council handling it's budget and the housing crisis is also another possible factor.
My gut instinct that if things continue as they are, my local high street could be totally closed in 3- 5 years and that would be a very depressing sight to see.
And at my age (56) finding another job would be very difficult.
What can be done to save the high street and more importantly what has become of the Portas plan?