RE: So Long, Farewell...
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I can see the appeal is indoor shopping when it's that cold, but many retail areas are in decline here too. So much has moved online. I'll admit that I don't go shopping much, but it can be nice to wander around town. It's just changed with lots of vape and second hand phone shops plus lots of cafés.
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Haha yeah, those do seem to be the norm everywhere. I think if you can find a nice downtown area in a small or larger town you can get a good outdoor experience, but many of the malls are basically dead.
My city (or rather, a group of very close ~3 cities) is not huge by any means, but it isn't small either. We have several malls, and except for the 2 or 3 that are largest and strictly in the center - all of them decline strongly over the last few years. Many of them had a har time in the covid years, people used to flock to them before, and through and after - never returned in full strength.
Small/independent businesses took a huge hit, and many of those simply closed or moved elsewhere, looking for 'new store in the block' effect. Those who are left are mostly big franchises/networks.
We spoke to shops assistants on some occasions, and many of those do not really profit much and are kept only for the prestige, or at least that's what the staff says. People from the shops that were closed said that huge amount of customers just walked in to see the products live by their own eyes, see which ones they like, talk with the staff about this and that, and then .. didn't buy. They bought them later online. Some even walked out of the store, sat at the bench in the hall, and bought the products online via mobile app.
Why? Because it was more convenient, delivery straight to home, all data/addresses/payments already in the mobile, no need grab&carry, no need to stay in queue/count cash/tell address.
And what does it mean to the shop? No actual profit. Because the shop is a separate entity from the online store, and the sale counted for the online store, not for the shop the customer visited. And that's assuming the customer bought it in the same market network. They could've found the same thing a few bits cheaper elsewhere, and didn't care where they saw it live.
Fortunately groceries, bakeries, and all other food stuff are still mostly not online, and those are disappearing at much slower rate
The whole retail sector is changing and businesses will have to adapt. Town centres are about more than shopping as it can be where people socialise. There are a lot of older people who do not really use online services and they will have less options.
Yup! Funny you mention socialising - another angle on that matter - we saw a very interesting evolution in our city over the last 15-to-5 years ago.
Before that, two main streets in the very center of the city, parks, theaters, cinema, etc, the best place for taking a walk and whatnot were full of restaurants, pubs, and small shops with the most various goods, from groceries to tourist trinkets. Over the years, the place was more and more popular, estate prices rose, and soon one by one all the businesses closed or moved away, and all the high-value places were rented to other businesses and soon all were filled with ... banks, insurances, home/flat rental, financial advisors, etc.
That was a bit over 10 years ago. I think. Give or take three. Over next ~years, that streets almost died out. The city still kept the rental rates high, since it was famous area and strict center, but really next to nobody visited them. Any people's place like a pub often survived max 0.5-1 yr, because of high costs and rare customers.. Only a few places that positioned themselves as high-tier with ungodly prices stayed longer.
Few years ago, maybe 5 already, the city council finally noticed that their "prestige area" is almost a ghost town, gradually cancelled (or just didnt extend) rentals for the banks/insurances/etc, lowered the rates a bit (idk how much, but I've heard they did, it was a rare thing to see). Gradually typical restaurants and pubs showed back, and now for the last few years I can say it starts looking good again. Along with them showed up some smaller businesses selling various beers/wines/pasta/pastries/etc, but mostly only those that can bump their prices by craft/eco/bio/vegan/etc labels (and they probably are true to that, since they taste much better).
I'm glad the city council took a turn. But it took I think almost a decade to realize that they can't have a lively city center without streets frequented by many, and in turn without places that those 'many' actually want to walk in ad hoc and stay for an hour or two, not just drive by and admire the building :D
The character of many town centres has changed. The local authorities ought to encourage more people to hang out there and then all businesses stand to benefit. I live in a village that just has a few scattered shops. A lot of the pubs have shut down and the remaining ones may not get many customers. People don't go out like they used to. There are a lot of new homes being built around here, so that could bring more changes.