David Cameron has decided to appoint retail guru Mary Portas to conduct an investigation into the decline of Britain's High Street.Around 15% of High Street shops have become vacant.High Streets now look like derelict Ghost Towns and are a former shadow of themselves.I can remember growing up as a teenager and going into town to buy clothes,books and records from all the exciting family run independents.Going into town was an event we all looked forward to.You could spend a whole day thumbing through hundreds of Punk Rock albums and you where spoilt for choice in the numerous clothe shops that catered for just about every style imaginable.Shopping was an event to be enjoyed as well as a chance to meet up with friends and socialise.What a shame it is to see the High Street now virtually closed down completely.
The High Street has been attacked from all angles over the past 10 years.The supermarkets have been springing up everywhere.Not just content with closing down the butcher,baker and greengrocer they've now switched their sights to non foods.Non foods being white goods,clothing,DIY materials,stationary and just about everything else under the sun.Local councils have been an easy pushover for supermarkets.The promise of funding for community centres,schools or clinics seals the deal everytime.Councils only ever look at short term gain.They never look at the long term prospects for the local economies they claim to represent.Tesco has now moved into the small convenient store market.Where their huge warehouse size supermarkets have forced every small to medium sized independent out of business.They've now moved into the towns.Tesco has to be the worst example of corporate greed.They have been allowed to expand at an alarming rate without any regulation and at the detriment of our local economies.Tesco wants to put everyone out of business.They want the whole cake not just a healthy slice.You can buy almost anything at Tesco now no one is safe from this corporate monster.They look at a market or a business that's doing well and then they set out to destroy that business and take it all for themselves.In the small Wiltshire town of Melksham where I reside there are 6 major supermarkets as well as a Tesco Express and a CO-OP Local.The town has had the life sucked out of it.First it had to contend with the out of town Leekes Store and then all these Supermarkets.The only thing that kept the town relatively healthy was Woolworths,when that went so did all the footfall.So many businesses have gone to the wall and I don't think we've seen the last of it.
I am guilty myself of shopping in supermarkets and I have to say I find it a frustrating and miserable experience.I went over to Morrisons to pick up a few items and I kid you not it took me an hour and a half to spend 30 quid.The place was the size of an industrial wharehouse,it took me ages to find anything and people stand in your way making it a battle of wills to do a meagre bit of grocery shopping.The people that work in these empires are often miserable and havn't a clue where anything is either.I asked one lady where I could find passata and she looked at me like I'd asked her to explain Einstein's theory of relativity.I asked another shop assistant where I could find a nail brush and he went off to ask a colleague.15 minutes later he re appeared to tell me he didn't know.So I carried on searching,I was determined to find that nail brush..no matter what!I have come to the conclusion that shopping in these huge wharehouses is no longer an option for me.It frustrates me and it takes up too much of my time.So I now spread the grocery shopping with smaller firms like Lidl and Waitrose.Both offer excellent quality goods at a fair price and I can find everything I need in a quicker time schedule.This is what supermarkets used to be like 20-30 years ago.
What governments don't tend to realise is the amount of tax revenue they are missing out on with the rise of these supermarket giants.Surely having thousands of small to medium sized independents is better than having 3-5 monopolies that control everything.These giants employ shrewd accountants that will cleverly hide money.The jobs they claim to provide are usually flexi-part time pin money jobs so they don't have to provide sickness or holiday pay.Wasn't it Margaret Thatcher that once said Britain is a nation of Shopkeepers?What a sad state of affairs for the nations economy,what a sad transformation.The way things are going if you want to buy ANYTHING one day you will have to go to the Tesco Empire and buy it.Is this not reminiscent of a Soviet state?
More should have been done to protect our local economies.Supermarkets have been given free reign to ride rough shod over local communities.They should have been regulated more strictly.They should have been only allowed to sell groceries and planning permission should have been more tightly controlled.These corporate monsters even buy up land to try and prevent competition from setting up against them.Like all the other evils that have been forced on us the blame lies with the last shower of shit that where in power....Blair and his selfish champagne socialist party!
If David Cameron needs to appoint a show biz celeb to conduct an investigation into finding out the obvious then he should pack his bags get out of Downing Street and find a real job.For gods sake what does he expect her to find out what we don't already know?The high street is dying because of a few simple reasons.Supermarkets,out of town shopping malls,greedy extortionate parking charges,unreasonable rental agreements,sky high rates and that other monster the internet.
Many consumers are now hooked on buying on line.I can see the attraction,you can buy exactly what you want at the price you want.There are no ques,no miserable unhelpful staff to contend with,you don't lose time which means you're free to do other things rather than wandering round shopping centres.The only problem with the internet is you can't physically check the goods,what happens if you need a refund?What happens when your oven turns up and it dosn't work?Who do you turn to?The call centre based in India?The email facility that gets deleted?It can be a minefield and I've come across many stories of people being ripped off by fly be night internet companies.Nothing beats speaking to another human being in person.
Sadly I think the High Street is finished it will never recover.We've seen a lot of companies go to the wall,many household names that have been around for years.The High Street is another part of our culture and heritage that has been eroded by greedy big business and self serving parasitical politicians.When all the independents have gone and the big 3 control everything watch the prices go up.....They'll have us exactly where they want us!
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| Mary Portas to lead investigation into High Street decline |
The High Street has been attacked from all angles over the past 10 years.The supermarkets have been springing up everywhere.Not just content with closing down the butcher,baker and greengrocer they've now switched their sights to non foods.Non foods being white goods,clothing,DIY materials,stationary and just about everything else under the sun.Local councils have been an easy pushover for supermarkets.The promise of funding for community centres,schools or clinics seals the deal everytime.Councils only ever look at short term gain.They never look at the long term prospects for the local economies they claim to represent.Tesco has now moved into the small convenient store market.Where their huge warehouse size supermarkets have forced every small to medium sized independent out of business.They've now moved into the towns.Tesco has to be the worst example of corporate greed.They have been allowed to expand at an alarming rate without any regulation and at the detriment of our local economies.Tesco wants to put everyone out of business.They want the whole cake not just a healthy slice.You can buy almost anything at Tesco now no one is safe from this corporate monster.They look at a market or a business that's doing well and then they set out to destroy that business and take it all for themselves.In the small Wiltshire town of Melksham where I reside there are 6 major supermarkets as well as a Tesco Express and a CO-OP Local.The town has had the life sucked out of it.First it had to contend with the out of town Leekes Store and then all these Supermarkets.The only thing that kept the town relatively healthy was Woolworths,when that went so did all the footfall.So many businesses have gone to the wall and I don't think we've seen the last of it.
I am guilty myself of shopping in supermarkets and I have to say I find it a frustrating and miserable experience.I went over to Morrisons to pick up a few items and I kid you not it took me an hour and a half to spend 30 quid.The place was the size of an industrial wharehouse,it took me ages to find anything and people stand in your way making it a battle of wills to do a meagre bit of grocery shopping.The people that work in these empires are often miserable and havn't a clue where anything is either.I asked one lady where I could find passata and she looked at me like I'd asked her to explain Einstein's theory of relativity.I asked another shop assistant where I could find a nail brush and he went off to ask a colleague.15 minutes later he re appeared to tell me he didn't know.So I carried on searching,I was determined to find that nail brush..no matter what!I have come to the conclusion that shopping in these huge wharehouses is no longer an option for me.It frustrates me and it takes up too much of my time.So I now spread the grocery shopping with smaller firms like Lidl and Waitrose.Both offer excellent quality goods at a fair price and I can find everything I need in a quicker time schedule.This is what supermarkets used to be like 20-30 years ago.
What governments don't tend to realise is the amount of tax revenue they are missing out on with the rise of these supermarket giants.Surely having thousands of small to medium sized independents is better than having 3-5 monopolies that control everything.These giants employ shrewd accountants that will cleverly hide money.The jobs they claim to provide are usually flexi-part time pin money jobs so they don't have to provide sickness or holiday pay.Wasn't it Margaret Thatcher that once said Britain is a nation of Shopkeepers?What a sad state of affairs for the nations economy,what a sad transformation.The way things are going if you want to buy ANYTHING one day you will have to go to the Tesco Empire and buy it.Is this not reminiscent of a Soviet state?
 |
| Tesco the expanding Empire that wants to control the nations economy |
More should have been done to protect our local economies.Supermarkets have been given free reign to ride rough shod over local communities.They should have been regulated more strictly.They should have been only allowed to sell groceries and planning permission should have been more tightly controlled.These corporate monsters even buy up land to try and prevent competition from setting up against them.Like all the other evils that have been forced on us the blame lies with the last shower of shit that where in power....Blair and his selfish champagne socialist party!
 |
| Tesco get their own way everytime! |
If David Cameron needs to appoint a show biz celeb to conduct an investigation into finding out the obvious then he should pack his bags get out of Downing Street and find a real job.For gods sake what does he expect her to find out what we don't already know?The high street is dying because of a few simple reasons.Supermarkets,out of town shopping malls,greedy extortionate parking charges,unreasonable rental agreements,sky high rates and that other monster the internet.
Many consumers are now hooked on buying on line.I can see the attraction,you can buy exactly what you want at the price you want.There are no ques,no miserable unhelpful staff to contend with,you don't lose time which means you're free to do other things rather than wandering round shopping centres.The only problem with the internet is you can't physically check the goods,what happens if you need a refund?What happens when your oven turns up and it dosn't work?Who do you turn to?The call centre based in India?The email facility that gets deleted?It can be a minefield and I've come across many stories of people being ripped off by fly be night internet companies.Nothing beats speaking to another human being in person.
 |
| The derelict High Street-a symptom of Supermarket domination |
Sadly I think the High Street is finished it will never recover.We've seen a lot of companies go to the wall,many household names that have been around for years.The High Street is another part of our culture and heritage that has been eroded by greedy big business and self serving parasitical politicians.When all the independents have gone and the big 3 control everything watch the prices go up.....They'll have us exactly where they want us!
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