Off Topic > The Pub
Is This The End Of Retail?
Torslanda:
**Note to mods: Please don't move this to POBI unless it gets ugly.**
Maplin, Toys'R'Us, Poundlandworld, M&S restructuring, House of Fraser on the brink...
Is this the death knell for retail as we know it? Or is it just a sea change?
Leave aside the evil of the government, do the banks want to own entire empty high streets of retail premises? Will there be nothing left besides charity shops? Can local government manage without the business rates?
What are we gonna do now, Butch?
rogerzilla:
It's not just about price. It's about range. If a shop has to order stuff in, you might as well order it online yourself.
The future of the High Street can only be in service-heavy retailers like you. Box-shifting won't cut it. Clothes retailing should work because people like to try for fit and the online version of that is a bit tedious.
pcolbeck:
Service is key or a USP.
A shop where you can go and ask advice about what you can buy should survive such as a great hardware shop. Unfortunately a lot of them have been kicked out by huge business rates and rents been predicated on the massive profits the chain shops such as Next could make per square foot in the 80s and 90s. There will have to be a drop back to sensible rents and business rates or the whole high street will be empty.
Paul H:
End of retail? Are people buying less?
Yes the High Street is changing, some clever companies have seen this coming and used their physical presence to display goods without intending to do much supply from there. Think Apple stores or in the bike world Specialized concept stores. That's what the High Street will look like in a decade, somewhere to go look before buying online. With HS income coming from suppliers wanting display space.
I was in Jessops a few weeks ago with a friend looking for a camera. Knowledgeable staff, helpful with information, not bothered about making a sale, very bothered that you knew they'd price match and could get anything delivered next day. I don't know if that's their business model, it certainly fits my theory and I can see how it would greatly reduce their costs not to have lots of stock.
ElyDave:
I commented on this a few days ago to SWMBO, to the extent that I reckon it's the death knell for large department stores, John Lewis seeming to be the exception, but they have the integrated supply chain through Waitrose as a drop point.
I reckon "department store" shopping can only really survive online.
The high street will regress to nothing more than charity shops and coffee bars. Interestingly this weekend, I spent more on our farmers market than in the supermarket.
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