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The collapse of the High Street retail trade?
I was walking over to the main shopping centre in the next town - this is on a dry, bright, not very cold Thursday afternoon, at around 4 pm. Underneath that church spire, above, you can see that the bus station and the bus are empty (my walk took me past it, on a bridge).
Around half the shops have gone - Argos, Pound Shop, bakers', a nail studio, a furniture shop, a shoe shop and many more.
Before 2020, you'd see more people than this first thing in the morning, or on a Sunday.
Of course, South Park got it exactly right a few years back, in the episode about Amazon. When there's a strike at the local depot, the boys try to remember where they used to obtain stuff they wanted before. It's just a couple of minutes long, and very funny!
'Because they previously worked in a mall,
they've had no human contact for some time'
Me outside Morrisons! Still no people.
Lovely photos, Terry. But the shopping centre has become a worrying reality in many cities and towns. Yet, perhaps now is the time to start thinking of turning some of the empty large stores into flats for people. Then maybe the smaller shops in the areas could benefit from local trade? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteLovely idea, J, and that would be applauded and put into action if the people in power actually gave a stuff, but sadly I don't think they do! Also, what I replied to Linda, below >>>>
DeleteThanks for this thought - oh that our world was a utopia not a dystopia!!! You read about it first in Wasteland ... Nutricorp buys up EVERYTHING!
I know what you mean. We were in our nearest city's centre late November and it was just like this. Which shops can carry stock when there is no footfall? And no, we haven't been back since. Not that we are buying reams off Amazon etc. We're just not buying.
ReplyDeleteLinda, my brother-in-law went into Newcastle a couple of weeks back and said similar. And the fewer shops there are, the less people will bother ... until it closes and Amazon reigns supreme! I guess.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that shopping moving online more is inevitable, and things change (sadly!) - I do most of my shopping online, but like to support small, independent businesses where possible; I bought almost all my Christmas presents this way, this year. I think that's something that the evil overlords hadn't factored in!!! Mwah-ha-ha- oops! Thanks for reading and commenting x