That's correct, but you have to take in to account that if you want to sell on eBay and Amazon you pay a percentage of the sale, listing fee and optional shop fee. Companies like Shop direct who owns Littlewoods and Very they pay a lot for advertising. They are owned by the same company who owns Yodel so they would pay less for potage costs. On a high street or shopping centre you get people who visit the shops with low or no advertising.

As I mentioned before internet sales are lower than physical sales so an increase of 12% doesn't mean the internet is going to take over physical sales. There are also click and collect services which can count as online sales.

Many people only see the advantages of internet sales because it's something new. If online sales existed before physical sales people would be saying physical sales are better. It's like if radios were invented after TVs people would be saying how radios are better because you can take them around with you and go for a run or you can listen to the radio in your car.

Dont take my word for it., https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...Z6Pxs-SFZc3vNQ. There's some pretty bad news for high street retailers — online shopping just hit record levels.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC),

Those statistics show that 77.6% of sales happen offline in 2014. You also have to take in to account that click and collect sales are probably classed as online sales and the days and times when these online sales happened. My company's peak sales time is between 9pm and 11pm and on Sundays after 6pm which shows that most online shopping is done after most shops close for the night. I also mentioned before that many high streets were built in the times of small shops and less variety and now aren't suitable for modern shops as the shops are too small, some high streets no longer have electrical shops, furniture and supermarkets due to those kind of shops now having such large ranges they need to rent larger and cheaper retail park units.

Percentages can be misunderstood, try to answer this:

If something is 50% off, then 20% off and then a further 10% off what is the percentage off the original price?

Forever 21 seem to be exiting the UK

Glasgow announced for closure major shock this one was only built as part of a new development 3 years ago

http://www.expressandstar.com/busine...re-in-glasgow/

Trafford one gone, Westfield. Seems strange as this shops almost as busy as Primark.

I dont have a Forever 21 near me, so ive only been to one of their stores twice, but I do own a shirt from them, its a nice design but a few points.

1. the quality isnt great
2. the shirt I bought was in the sale, by which I mean it was last season style the design they couldnt sell
3. I was about 30 when I bought that shirt (I was in a youthful head space where clothes are concerned at the time), but exactly their target demo
4. I had looked at their website, and never found anything else I really like

Forever21 is well known for designer knock offs, they had a lawsuit against the from H&M for copyright infringement, been sued more than 50 times.

The High Street as we currently know it will cease to exist in the years and decades ahead for sure. The only industry which will continue to survive are petrol stations, supermarkets and undertakers.

If I walk through town, there seems to be a lot of empty shops. How depressing

I went into Sainsburys and soon to be sibling store Argos today, and I dont see it.

Sure there is some stuff in Sainsburys that can be taken off shelves in favour of the Argos collection point, BUT Argos has a fair amount of display, and an awful lot of stock room, if Argos was only a collection point for the website sure it could work but I dont think Sainsburys has near enough warehouse space to carry everything the average Argos does.

That said whilst its going to be a few years before Argos stores start to close, and certainly a few years before its in any number, so alot of cities may benefit from having an Argos collection point in Sainsburys, and an Argos store elsewhere.

The current Argos in Sainsburys im sure are working otherwise why else buy the whole lot, but without more warehouse space, I cant see them working as a replacement for a full Argos store. If anything I could see some of the city centre Argos stores becoming an Argos & Sainsburys Local, before they close.

There's a forever 21 in Birmingham and I don't rate it much. I go shopping in Birmingham often but I have only been in here a handful of times

There is one I now of, they signed a long term lease and had to move other shops so it could be in the shopping centre but it seems it was a pointless if it's closing down now.


They said the same about mail order and in the 90s they said the same when Amazon was launched. They said markets were going to cease to exist when shopping centres and supermarkets came. They said shopping centres would cease to exist when retail parks became popular.


That's due to high street buildings not being suitable for most modern shops these days, this can be seen when new high street buildings are built or when there are long high streets with different ages of buildings. If you look at supermarkets and cinemas they are now in huge retail units usually in retail parks and clothing now have so many ranges they are in former supermarkets and department stores. There are some high streets where they don't have shops any larger than 1,000 sqft which is very small for modern shops these days and due to the small shop sizes it fails to attract big names so shoppers don't go there.


The original idea with Argos and their approx. 200 page (although not all pages had products on them) was they had one of each item on the shop floor, a large stockroom and helpers on the shop floor similar to shops like Currys today. Buyers see the items they are interested in, order them at the tills and collect them at the collection point. The original idea was it would save money due to the items being stored in the warehouse and warehouse staff being paid less but now their ranges are so large they have less stock and minimum wage now means there's less staff in the stock room and they get paid the same as the shop floor staff. Shop Direct already tested Argos in Homebase and it seems to have worked.

There are many Argos stores already so they don't need to open new stores but it would be better for them to move stores in to the Sainsbury's stores. Argos bought some stores from Index so some towns have more than one Argos store.

Wrong

Petrol stations will go when electric and driverless cars take over. At that point they will be redundant.

Supermarkets are shutting today look at Tesco.

Major developments will last. You will always need a shop to try a suit on and new developments in Edinburgh will be future proof the footfall is always there. Same with retail parks.

Towns, market towns, villages that depends on rent but I believe banks, post offices, many major chains will leave.

For shopping if it means going into the city so what? We see towns today serve more for bargain or essential shops and I believe they will keep going as they don't relay on an online presence.

So yes things may change slightly but not doom and gloom like every shop shutting. Shopping will remain and for many it's a hobby. Malls these days in cities work well as they have cinema, restaurants, gyms, bars and shops so the footfall is massive so if all shops shut we would have to stop going for meals and gym so that won't happen. Malls like ones in Leeds will be safe and around for decades to come.

This is true to a degree but look at York. Full no empty shops but they have made great use of old buildings

In some cases around here many of the old buildings are let to go to ruin by the council or the rents too big. Some old buildings can be altered e.g add more floors upstairs. The decline in towns is due to landlords not changing with the times.

The most successful turn around has been old supermarkets where possibly the previous tenant has to put the building back into good use. When any store leaves they should have an obligation to help get the building ready for a new tenant. How often do you see lots of junk mail, dirty Windows, old posters and old signage still up no wonder tenants don't move on if these shops are let to rot away?

The future of streets is just charity/mobile phone/betting/'Cash Converters' type shops. We get what we pay for.

How many years are you thinking?

Electric and driverless cars are not going to take over from petrol and diesel for a long, long time. Even then 'petrol stations' will still exist as people will need to get electric somewhere.

I would think they will be buying themselves out of that lease, they must be happy to do that.




its been a long slow decline for the high street and markets, each of those factors have played a part, along with expanding cities.

linkinpark will deny it but it appears to me you're either a shop owner or have close connections to somebody who has a shop and who themselves are struggling but in complete denial mode about the impending doom on High Street. There's little doubt it's happening and steadily eroding away as the years push on. The bustling High Street as we knew it up until a number of years ago is gone and will never return. linkinpark needs to open their eyes to the reality after they remove their head from being buried deep in the sand.

The high street will never be what it used to be which is a shame. It's what people want I guess. People want everything digital at home and when I was younger i liked buying music and books and I remember here in Glasgow there was so many places to buy things like that and I'm not talking about big major retailers, i'm just talking a book shop that just sold books and that was it, no fancy names or nothing and talking about books, I remember when Border Books closed in Glasgow and that was 3 floors and massive and that was a good few years ago now, that was one of the first big name stores that went after the recession. I think in that particular case, the advent of the kindle etc had a hand in book shops closing but even then in 2009, it was the recession that caused that to close.


And I think with many other big brand stores, the recession had a lot more to do with it than people's lifestyle and buying online, it's definately had a hand in things, things are definately heading that way but our high streets are the way they are mainly due to that recession in 2008.

Our local high street is a lot more bustling than it was when I moved here in the late 70s. It went through a rough patch maybe ten years ago when a lot of mobile phone shops and estate agents opened and made it feel like there was no point going there unless you wanted a new phone or house.

Lately, though, it's become a destination where people go to shop, eat and socialise and if anything it's too busy for comfort on Sundays. Other high streets may well fail if people don't want to spend time there, but there will always be streets that people just enjoy strolling along, chatting and spending a few quid.

Listen I have read this garbage from 2008 when woolies went under now today almost all have been filled. We lost many names in this thread new brands have been born and expanded Bargain stores, Dunelm, The Range, Poundworld, H&M, Hobbycraft these are many are middle market retailers debt free setting up new stores. I follow retail a lot as many know but it's ones like Next which have been struggling now. Retail is changing by the year some have better years than others New Look for example were struggling but now have turned it around. Clinton cards and HMV are great examples of lesser stores in better locations.

I myself post plenty of doom and gloom threads but I visit many places up and down the country and I can assure you retail has a long future and we will have stores for the next generations.

As I say for all the major names like Comet and Focus DIY which have gone these units were hot property and has fuelled fresh expansion with many of the retailers mentioned above. There's loads of stores planning 20 plus new shops this year I believe Tiger is another exciting up and coming brand.

No doom and gloom here..

Some high streets may be worse I have a few near me which have poor landlords however the over all retail picture is positive good locations, exciting brands expanding. If your town is being left run down its an issue with the council not retail.

Footfall on Britain's high street fell by 4% last month as shoppers turned to online retailers for their Christmas gifts

Published: 12:00, 18 January 2016 | Updated: 11:59, 18 January 2016

Footfall across Britain's high streets tumbled by 4 per cent year-on-year last month, as shoppers turned to online outlets for their Christmas shop, according to a report published today.

In Britain's shopping centres, footfall fell by 2 per cent last month compared to a year earlier. The only shopping area to see a rise in footfall were out-of-town retail parks, Springboard's findings for the British Retail Consortium suggested.

Retail parks across the UK saw their footfall increase by 2.1 per cent year-on-year last month. That was up from a 2 per cent rise in November.

But while high street and shopping centre footfall fell, online sales surged by 19.7 per cent year-on-year in December, according to data from the BRC and KPMG published last week.

Yes I never said some sales wouldn't go online but people won't be ordering Lynx and food online I know you can from asda but not many do those van deliveries we all have cars and many enjoy a trip to down.

Gadgets and larger items are the biggest sellers online possibly clothing. But you can't try before you buy so not everything is online. I often click and collect the idea being people spend in store too USC give a fiver for online click and collects same with sports direct so I always use it up.

People who don't enjoy shopping will be glad of all shops shut I remember bingo is the same you can play that online it shut many clubs however there's still a place for bingo halls.

People need to see there will be less shops in towns in particular but cities have the footfall so they won't change.

High Street shops on the increase seem to be Coffee Shops, Bookies and 'Chinese / Thai Medicine / Massage' shops.