shopping in the high street

[bendan]

18 minutes ago, Moomintroll said:

I loves me a random bot.

It's amazing that bots can now do 10% of their shopping in real shops. They'll be in the pubs next.

[pub car king]

The high street has had it's day. Shopping has evolved to out of town retail parks where there are massive free car parks, adequate road systems to get in and out of them quickly and mostly a lack of sprawled out jake balls on the pavements.

 

[Todd_is_God]

Shopping in a physical store for me does not have long left. Unless you need something immediately, you can order online and have the product delivered to you in under 24 hours. It's no surprise high streets are dying.

Look at Glasgow around Central Station. It's an absolute midden. Why would anyone choose to go there to shop above a few clicks on their phone

[sjc]

It's a bit of a double edged sword really. Ideally everyone should use local butchers, greengrocers and fish mongers but they can't compete with the supermarket chains on price, hence they are disappearing from our High streets. It's a pity as the quality of product tends to be far better. By all accounts using supermarkets for tinned or boxed non perishable goods makes sense though.

Online shopping is gutting the rest of the majority of City High Streets due to its convenience. Certain retail chains have picked up on this, ie Woolworths, as they shut their shops, centralised their warehouses and moved everything online. 

People still tend to go clothes shopping but would rather make a day of it in Edinburgh or Glasgow than Perth, Falkirk etc.......hence the downward spiral.

[pandarilla]

Evolve or die.

Small independent shops have to team up and work together, creating a bit of armosohere in the same small area.

It can be done. People will still want to get out the house, especially when you have kids. Same with old folk and coffee shops.

These are all things the Internet can't really do. But cooperation is essential.

[invergowrie arab]

HMV are like the cockroaches of the High St. Who is in them? What are they selling?

[Melanius Mullarkey]

10 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

HMV are like the cockroaches of the High St. Who is in them? What are they selling?

Cockroaches.

 

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

33 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

HMV are like the cockroaches of the High St. Who is in them? What are they selling?

Reissue vinyl like Liquid Swords for £46 a pop.

[invergowrie arab]

1 hour ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Cockroaches.

 

Great first album but became self indulgent quickly 

[Dee Man]

52 minutes ago, HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows said:

Reissue vinyl like Liquid Swords for £46 a pop.

Bargain IMO.

[The_Kincardine]

11 hours ago, pandarilla said:

Evolve or die.

Small independent shops have to team up and work together, creating a bit of armosohere in the same small area.

It can be done. People will still want to get out the house, especially when you have kids. Same with old folk and coffee shops.

These are all things the Internet can't really do. But cooperation is essential.

I'm not an ardent shopper and I don't work on Fridays so usually go to Chesham for my messages and was there this morning.  A couple of points to note:

- The local butcher seems to be doing OK.  He's a nice bloke.  His lamb and beef is a cut above Waitrose  and he'll joint a chicken in a way that I want.
- The local Millets is closing down as is an independent furniture shop which sold cheap shite.  No great loss as you can buy online.
- There's a healthcare/whole foods shop looking to become a cooperative and asking for investors.  Not a bad idea and the upside is that they are trying to do something different and change the retail model.
- The jewel in the crown is, in fact, a coffee shop.  It opened six months ago and is always fucking rammed.  They bake their own cakes so that suits the morning coffee and afternoon tea crowd  but, more importantly, have a decent set lunch.  Much nicer than going to a pub.

So it's complex.  I think going for quality is important as is trying to do something a wee bit different.

Edited February 14, 2020 by The_Kincardine

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

6 hours ago, Dee Man said:

Bargain IMO.

Well, it is see-thru vinyl, and I was needing a wee treat to cheer myself up....

[effeffsee_the2nd]

maybe there's just a bit more to do now , especially in the virtual world?  Going for a look round the shops might have been a decent pass time when there was 4 tv channels and nae internet but im gony bet that a good number of those doing it hated it but were dragged along by partners, family or the necessity of having to buy something. I know I hate shopping.

To be honest you could change the topic to Scottish football attendances or local pubs being in decline or anything else that's been in steep decline since the turn of the millennium.  Basically , the things people can do and what they want to do , and the things people can and what they want to spend their money on have changed quite a bit in 20 years 

[Jacksgranda]

10 hours ago, The_Kincardine said:

I'm not an ardent shopper and I don't work on Fridays so usually go to Chesham for my messages and was there this morning.  A couple of points to note:

- The local butcher seems to be doing OK.  He's a nice bloke.  His lamb and beef is a cut above Waitrose  and he'll joint a chicken in a way that I want.
- The local Millets is closing down as is an independent furniture shop which sold cheap shite.  No great loss as you can buy online.
- There's a healthcare/whole foods shop looking to become a cooperative and asking for investors.  Not a bad idea and the upside is that they are trying to do something different and change the retail model.
- The jewel in the crown is, in fact, a coffee shop.  It opened six months ago and is always fucking rammed.  They bake their own cakes so that suits the morning coffee and afternoon tea crowd  but, more importantly, have a decent set lunch.  Much nicer than going to a pub.

So it's complex.  I think going for quality is important as is trying to do something a wee bit different.

Shome mishtake, shirley?

[tongue_tied_danny]

On 14/02/2020 at 09:27, sjc said:

It's a bit of a double edged sword really. Ideally everyone should use local butchers, greengrocers and fish mongers but they can't compete with the supermarket chains on price, hence they are disappearing from our High streets. It's a pity as the quality of product tends to be far better. By all accounts using supermarkets for tinned or boxed non perishable goods makes sense though.

Online shopping is gutting the rest of the majority of City High Streets due to its convenience. Certain retail chains have picked up on this, ie Woolworths, as they shut their shops, centralised their warehouses and moved everything online. 

People still tend to go clothes shopping but would rather make a day of it in Edinburgh or Glasgow than Perth, Falkirk etc.......hence the downward spiral.

That is true for frozen stuff but "Tesco Finest" products are often more expensive than similar items from butchers and fishmongers.

 

[sjc]

16 minutes ago, tongue_tied_danny said:

That is true for frozen stuff but "Tesco Finest" products are often more expensive than similar items from butchers and fishmongers.

 

I think I'd prefer to buy from the Butcher or fish mongers regardless tbh. 

[pandarilla]

Been using my butcher a lot more recently because there's just no comparison in the quality vs a supermarket. Not filling up landfill with unrecyclable plastic trays and wrapping too. Not sure my weekly £15 will keep it afloat but they seem to do a lot of trade on weekends at least.

Me too.

My diet is ridiculously limited due to health reasons but i treat myself often enough and the butcher gets a regular contribution.

My missus and two weans don't particularly like meat (yet) so quite often it's just for me, which is annoying. But i suppose for health reasons and environmental reasons that's a good thing.

[philpy]

Try and buy local produce as much as possible, there isn't a butchers in musselburgh for a start though. Anytime I'm out and about I'll try and stop at a butchers if I find a decent one, I never buy steaks from a supermarket.

[BallochSonsFan]

On 07/07/2019 at 16:15, Ylf said:

 

do you still shop in the high street? think i use 4 or 5 shops in dundee. do most of my shopping online. was in the centre for something in argos for the first time in ages. used to love going in town shopping but it seems a bit shit now.

 

Yes.

I havent been a regular recently but I'd still rather buy my vinyl from Assai Records than on Amazon or from HMV. I'd rather buy my shaving supplies from Gentleman's Groom Room than online. I use Perth farmers market. I'd rather use Waterstones than Amazon if I could, although that's often dictated by stock availability. I'd never buy clothes online - bought a suit last week from M&S and boots before that from Clarks. I'm going to be in Newcastle next month to take my mum to visit some family and a part of the trip I always enjoy is leaving the 2 of them for a catch up together whilst I have a wander through the city centre and the Grainger market.

I like shopping on the high st. I think that smaller retailers tend to give you far better service. Was in Assai before Christmas for the first time since they moved (and probably the first time in about a year) and Andy in the shop welcomed me like an old friend. Nothing ever too much trouble for them. I think it would be a real loss if high st retail disappeared. We need to support new businesses and to give people a reason to shop on the high st. Part of that will include a better catering offer. Part of it will be accessibility. Part of it will be folk who genuinely can't be arsed running a gauntlet of neds and beggers.

The increased move to interacting with the world online isnt always healthy.

[Dan Steele]

I definitely use the local butchers. Quality and standard compared to the plastic wrapped stuff in supermarkets is far better. Drove through to my favourite Arbroath fishmongers on Friday and am always amazed at the variety of fish on offer. Would never think of buying the seafood from a supermarket.