So today I tortured myself with a weekend visit to my local high street, because as much as I prefer online shopping, once in a blue moon it’s better to go and visit the high street to physically buy something. That’s my issue with online shopping, you get to stare a photo of the thing you want until it physically arrives, whereas in a shop it’s there Infront of you.
Anyway, after what felt like an eternity trying to find a parking space big enough to squeeze my car into whilst leaving enough space to be able to open the doors wide enough to get my son out the back and paying way too much for parking, we set off in search of food, because If I’m going to have to tolerate shopping I want to do it on a full stomach.
Whilst sitting noshing away on a steak bake that for once was actually warm, staring out the window doing a spot of people watching, I started to notice the buildings above the bustling crowds, staring down silently, watching the crowds go by. It’s funny when you’re rushing around a high street, how often do you stop and just look at the actual buildings. I’ve been down that high street hundreds of times and that was the first time I’d ever properly paid attention to the architecture and not just the next shop I’m going to have to drudge around whilst wishing I was at home. It’s only when you step back and look at the building you realise how much history even the most boring of shop can have. Looking up at particular high street stationary brand that recently changed its name, the building its in looks like an old bank or solicitors, a very official and grand looking building with exposed timber and big glass windows. They recently re furbished it as well so it looks all the grander, whilst downstairs is an unexciting business.
Of course there are businesses that show off their buildings architecture, like my favourite eaten chain Wetherspoons, because they buy out grand old buildings that most businesses would just cover over to make some boring box space, but the old Spoons’ business leans into the architecture, highlighting its history and even having photos of notable events in the building, and usually somewhere will be a poster or area where you can learn the full history of that particular building. There is one flaw with them doing this though, and that is when it comes time to visit the bathroom. It’s a well-known gag now that the Wetherspoons toilets are either up fourteen thousand flights of steps, or in the next county, but it’s true. I can name at least three Wetherspoons I’ve been to that involved needing a Gurka guide to get to, and one where I had to hike for three miles, to the point I was sure I’d ended up in a building down the road. I don’t mind though, because I love a Spoons.
Admiring a high streets building is going to be the only thing you can do soon though, because It seems that every single shop is closing. Independent businesses have always had quite a high turnover, someone’s dream coming to fruition before sadly fading away, but even massive chain stores and hanging up the dreaded closing down sign, which ironically is when they get their most customers, all in search of a bargain. And I think that’s half the issue. People are always after a bargain, which is why online shopping is the way to go for cheapness. Even I’ll admit I’m guilty of it, I was in a garden centre and saw something perfect for the pond, but instead of paying their prices I went online and got it a lot cheaper. We’re now in a world where its easier and much cheaper to have the thing you need delivered to your house, rather than having to pay to get into a high street to see its much more expensive than the world wide web.
And that’s the issue. High streets are a nightmare to get into, you must pay to park in a car park with space too narrow for your car, where parking wardens circle like vultures with stop watches desperately waiting to ticket your car. And that’s after in some cities having to pay congestion charges to get to the car park in the first place. I know they want you to use the buses to get there, but no. I like my car.
Then once you get into the high street, you’re met with closing down signs, next door to barbers and vape shops, and when you do finally find the thing, you were after its more expensive than it needs to be because of the amount it costs the business owner to have a physical shop and not a website in the first place.
It really is a shame because as much as I hate the high street and shopping, I will admit there are one or two shops I do like going into. I love the smell of a bookshop, getting lost in a maze of bookshelves full of entire universes and stories. I love going into hobby shops and gawking at the model kits I can’t afford. I love a charity shop as well, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve found a hidden little bargain or book I’ve been after, heck my jacket is even from a charity shop and it’s perfect. It really hit home the other day when after finding a book, I’ve been after in a charity shop, I was shocked to see the price had shot up to nearly what the new one would have cost, bearing in mind it was clearly well used. I of course don’t grumble too much because its for charity and complaining is up there with the sorts of people who return things to get a refund from a charity, but I digress. When I asked the person on the till why the prices had gone up so much, they said it was because the landlord had put the rent up.
We do need to save the high street, but I feel like it’s at a point where the bigger high streets will just about hang on thanks to bigger chain stores keeping buildings open, but we’re going to see a massive decrease in the amount of smaller high streets in local towns and cities. We need to rethink how we do high streets, merging the out-of-town retail parks with high streets. I think we should design them like shopping outlets, finding a space somewhere for a giant parking area, convenient and easy to get to from the outskirts, without having to pay for clean air. Then people can simply walk straight down the streets of shops. Think Clarks Village in Somerset, Or Bicester village. We also need the councils to being down costs, and to limit how much a landlord can screw a business.
I think the magic of shopping has been lots of thanks to online shopping, we rarely hear of people going to town for a little retail therapy, it’s always sitting on the phone scrolling through websites, I hate the high street but even I’ll admit up until a few years ago a sprawling busy high street just before Christmas as the lights were coming on had a certain magic to it. But it seems that the only people busy this Christmas will be the delivery drivers.