Adiebt Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Went into Game to buy a PS4 title , £49.99 , Amazon £40 , asked the manager could we haggle and do a deal , answer , an emphatic NO ! Title ordered from Amazon. Wonder if the manager will ever ponder this moment when he’s on the dole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Adiebt - 2019-02-13 5:27 PM Went into Game to buy a PS4 title , £49.99 , Amazon £40 , asked the manager could we haggle and do a deal , answer , an emphatic NO ! Title ordered from Amazon. Wonder if the manager will ever ponder this moment when he’s on the dole? He probably will - but that's because he pays business rates and taxes - I doubt if Amazon does. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 This is why town centre High street shops are dying. A few years ago i had a WH Smith voucher card for a Christmas present off a relative. I hadn't been to the shop in years so was amazed when i wandered in to find the place like the Marie Celeste. I went to the book department but they hadn't got the one i wanted so went to the counter to order a copy. The young lad serving replied, "i can order it if you want me to but to be honest you'd be better off ordering it from the online website as it's £3 cheaper and you'll get it delivered free". Who can argue with that? He was right....once home i ordered it and a few days later it was at my door! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet1956 Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 I think our high streets are destined to change more dramatically in the near future. Modern living means you can buy most things on the internet so businesses that populate our high streets are going to have to change to provide us with things that can’t be obtained online. It is not all gloom and doom, the industrial revolution with its seismic changes to the lives of people who lived through it will be replicated albeit in a different way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Bulletguy - 2019-02-13 6:11 PM This is why town centre High street shops are dying. A few years ago i had a WH Smith voucher card for a Christmas present off a relative. I hadn't been to the shop in years so was amazed when i wandered in to find the place like the Marie Celeste. I went to the book department but they hadn't got the one i wanted so went to the counter to order a copy. The young lad serving replied, "i can order it if you want me to but to be honest you'd be better off ordering it from the online website as it's £3 cheaper and you'll get it delivered free". Who can argue with that? He was right....once home i ordered it and a few days later it was at my door! Gift vouchers are ideal presents for those family members you dont want to see ... Not sure that W H Smiths do glamour mags , thankfully looks like you managed on line though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Business rates always were a government scam as a hidden stealth tax for easy money from shop owners when they had no competition from online, but the world has moved on and it's time other ways were found to get money out of retailers via their customers - an increase in VAT maybe for all non essential goods and services would be fair on all retailers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 antony1969 - 2019-02-13 7:06 PM Bulletguy - 2019-02-13 6:11 PM This is why town centre High street shops are dying. A few years ago i had a WH Smith voucher card for a Christmas present off a relative. I hadn't been to the shop in years so was amazed when i wandered in to find the place like the Marie Celeste. I went to the book department but they hadn't got the one i wanted so went to the counter to order a copy. The young lad serving replied, "i can order it if you want me to but to be honest you'd be better off ordering it from the online website as it's £3 cheaper and you'll get it delivered free". Who can argue with that? He was right....once home i ordered it and a few days later it was at my door! Gift vouchers are ideal presents for those family members you dont want to see ... Not sure that W H Smiths do glamour mags , thankfully looks like you managed on line though Your assumptions and wild conjecture appear borne out of bitterness from the miserable existence you lead. I almost feel sorry for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Tracker - 2019-02-13 7:19 PM Business rates always were a government scam as a hidden stealth tax for easy money from shop owners when they had no competition from online, but the world has moved on and it's time other ways were found to get money out of retailers via their customers - an increase in VAT maybe for all non essential goods and services would be fair on all retailers? I suppose that's one way to finish off the High street for good. What do you propose for all the thousands of min wage workers in coffee bars, phone shops, Poundstretcher stores etc? :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Bulletguy - 2019-02-13 8:21 PM Tracker - 2019-02-13 7:19 PM Business rates always were a government scam as a hidden stealth tax for easy money from shop owners when they had no competition from online, but the world has moved on and it's time other ways were found to get money out of retailers via their customers - an increase in VAT maybe for all non essential goods and services would be fair on all retailers? I suppose that's one way to finish off the High street for good. What do you propose for all the thousands of min wage workers in coffee bars, phone shops, Poundstretcher stores etc? :-| I take it that you have a much better idea then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Tracker - 2019-02-13 8:47 PM Bulletguy - 2019-02-13 8:21 PM Tracker - 2019-02-13 7:19 PM Business rates always were a government scam as a hidden stealth tax for easy money from shop owners when they had no competition from online, but the world has moved on and it's time other ways were found to get money out of retailers via their customers - an increase in VAT maybe for all non essential goods and services would be fair on all retailers? I suppose that's one way to finish off the High street for good. What do you propose for all the thousands of min wage workers in coffee bars, phone shops, Poundstretcher stores etc? :-| I take it that you have a much better idea then? Slash business rates/rents for starters and either limit multi storey parking to a max fee of £1 for 4 hours, or make them entirely free. I used to do all my banking by physically going to the branch in town, usually before i went to work. Parking the car back then was easy and cheap, in some places free. I'd have my banking work sorted after a few minutes, then take a stroll around the town or browse the market stalls. Often spot some tat or whatever i didn't particularly need....but i'd buy it. Multiply those actions by a few hundred folk ever day and you've got a bustling town centre, as my local town was back then. Once free parking ended and pay to park areas became prohibitively expensive, i started banking online and rarely go into the town centre now. The decline was pretty rapid and is now a shadow of it's former self. There's only so much a business can pass on to customers before they say 'enough is enough' and you drive them away.....usually for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 The worlds moved on, live with it. When I was a kid our village had couple of butchers, couple of bakers, four shops. With the advent of increased mobility due to cars people started going into town much more, this devastated the local shops, and now there's just two shops, should we try and get those all back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 colin - 2019-02-13 9:43 PM The worlds moved on, live with it. When I was a kid our village had couple of butchers, couple of bakers, four shops. With the advent of increased mobility due to cars people started going into town much more, this devastated the local shops, and now there's just two shops, should we try and get those all back? Can't really compare village life to a town centre high street though Colin. I've lived in two small village ares now for the past 37 years as i've always had a vehicle so it suits me fine. The first village i lived had just one general store, one pub and a petrol station. Only the pub and store remain. The petrol station was doomed as his pump price was around 20p a litre higher than supermarket stations. Even one of the neighbours who ran a Ferrari and Aston Martin never filled up there. Where i live now has two general stores, a butchers, two takeaway shops, one newsagent and one pub. Quite blessed really. We used to have a sub-post office but that closed down three years ago. The nearest sub PO is now a 15 mile round trip which is a bit of a pain, but at least i'm mobile. Many older folk living in the village might not have that facility and relied heavily on the little sub PO. Pubs began disappearing due to the smoke ban. Doesn't bother me as i rarely drink in UK but my village used to have three pubs, always busy before the ban....now there's only one and that's struggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Bulletguy - 2019-02-13 10:59 PM Can't really compare village life to a town centre high street though Colin. Why not? the village shops where wiped out by town shops, now town centre shops are being hit hard by a more efficient shopping method. Although it's interesting to note that what was our nearest M&S in a town centre which is deemed old fashioned and not easy to update is soon to close down, but a year or so ago a new bright modern shop opened closer to us, this is trithing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 In my view there will always be a place for the high st store. Last week I needed to buy two chairs for a new work station we had put into our home office. There is no way I was prepared to order chairs online without first ensuring they are comfortable. Solution is the store is small and only carries display stock. If you order it comes from the bulk warehouse. We buy lots of goods online that do not require "try before you buy" but there will always be some items not suitable to this sales model. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stvekay Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 About a year ago Tesco was offering a free bus service from town center to their out of town shop. They also included a free ice cream for children, and of course you could drive there and park free. We do now have free parking after 3.00pm, and of course last year for a while free parking all day. (thanks to russian spies) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 If you reduce government and local authority income by slashing business rates and car park charges someone else somewhere else will need to make up the shortfall if further cuts to essential services are to be avoided. Simple fact of economics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 colin - 2019-02-14 12:32 AM Bulletguy - 2019-02-13 10:59 PM Can't really compare village life to a town centre high street though Colin. Why not? the village shops where wiped out by town shops, now town centre shops are being hit hard by a more efficient shopping method. Although it's interesting to note that what was our nearest M&S in a town centre which is deemed old fashioned and not easy to update is soon to close down, but a year or so ago a new bright modern shop opened closer to us, this is trithing. Demographics....and bear in mind a village business can specialise where a town loses theirs. My town doesn't even have a butcher yet there is a family owned butcher in my village. The town also used to have a seriously efficient and well stocked electronics shop where you could buy anything electrical from a diode to a dishwasher plus get all the advice needed as the business was run by two brothers who were HAM radio operators and knew what they were talking about. That store has long gone to be replaced by large chain stores flogging overpriced packs of bulbs etc (annoying when you only need one) manned by assistants who haven't a clue what they're selling other than packs or boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Tracker - 2019-02-14 11:43 AM If you reduce government and local authority income by slashing business rates and car park charges someone else somewhere else will need to make up the shortfall if further cuts to essential services are to be avoided. Simple fact of economics. Then the 'economics' are skewed. I'm now paying a higher council tax rate for less service. Bin collections went to private contract and immediately dropped from weekly to fortnightly collections. The bin for garden waste...weeds, grass cuttings etc, we now have to pay a separate fee to have those emptied. Apply the same scenario to High street businesses and it's easy to see where it's all gone belly up. The crazy part about it is if they continue down this path, they won't have any businesses left to suck overpriced rates/rent from. Town centre businesses aren't a bottomless money pit and neither are customers pockets. If you want to do that you have to ensure the customer base has bags of disposable income, and apart from the very wealthy, not many have that luxury. Slapping rates/rents and prices up imo is counterproductive, the effects of which we are now seeing. It's a brilliant way to drive custom away and kill off business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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