Town centre or Shopping Mall.?

[Gazzer]

Ok so you may not enjoy shopping but where is it you would prefer to have to spend a day shopping with the family. A shopping Mall , where everything is in one place or a nice town where you would probably find items that you wouldnt in the shopping malls.

The reason I ask is because near by we have what was once a flag ship shopping Mall. I only use it because it has my bank there that have Saturday banking and late banking in the week. It also has free parking....at the moment. This Mall is divided into the main indoor and 2 outdoor areas. In the whole of the centre shops are closing. In one stretch there are 4 units closed and looking derelict...these are big units that used to hold the likes of B&Q, Sports stores, PC World etc.
3 local towns have paid parking and every other shop is a charity shop, probably 4 out of 10 shops are closed. On the plus side there are nicer shops and more friendly eating and drinking places.

Now I know this situation is the same all over most of the country but are the towns fighting back. I see in the papers many plans for town redevelopment but it rarely happens . Why are they not encouraging smaller businesses to get into this closed down shops. Surely it would look better to the visitor of the town than rows of empty shops.

Ok so thats my Sunday morning reflection done !

 

[peteablard]

If a small shop closes round here it tends to be a charity shop that takes over, If a big on closes it's generally one of those bargain shops that takes over, B+M, Home and Bargain etc..... I like going to the local retail park but only because there's a drive through KFC, I use my local town when I can, but generally I'm one of the many millions of people who shop online when I can from the comfort of my sofa.

 

[Gazzer]

That was going to be another thread Pete.
Shopping online ! but are we victims of our own greed . We may lament the closing of local shops or the rundown nature of towns but then we shop from the comfort of our own home. Seems though that teh only winners there is the courier /delivery companies ?
Debate ?

 

[DHTiling]

The nearest big Mall to me is over 30 odd miles away and Gateshead ( Newcastle) .. and there is a small shopping centre within Darlington.. but i rarely go shopping TBO..

Our town centre has been promised a major overhaul for yrs as back in the day it was such a lovely town centre and really good shops but then they sold the centre to a london based company , up went the rates and many independent retailers could not afford to stay.

So like pete said they close and charity shops move in as they get free space...

BUT it has happened , the mayor overhaul has started , a big section of the town centre has been flattened and making way for a new Aldi and then the main section of the town centre is to be revamped with new shop units and open plan feel . so hopefully it will attract better businesses to our town centre.

We are a biggish town for this area and do not even have a builders merchant or a B&Q etc etc , we have to travel at least 7 miles for anything like that... even tile shops are at least 7 miles away :lol: ..

 

[Andy Allen]

If more towns were to offer free parking, then more people might visit the shops, it cost a small fortune to park round our town centre, where as the retail shopping outlets are all free..

 

[DHTiling]

We have free parking ... so far anyway

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I love the charity shops - on my pension I couldn't afford YSL shirts for work and I even picked up a Pierre Cardin leather briefcase for £3 .
When a high street dies why don't they convert the shops back to houses/flats like they used to be before they became shops, get rid of the high shop rates and bring life back to the area.
Apart from Barnados, British Heart Foundation, etc. I tend to shop in flip flops with the sun on my head and an ice cream in my hand ( that way I can't go in any!).

My wife shops for England.

 

[DHTiling]

Wives and shopping ... ahh that is another story John :lol:

 

[Diggy]

The era of the 'Day out' at the Mall dissappeared with ending of the era of cheap credit. As for the local shops in town I suspect many shops are not re-inhabited due to high business rates and high private sector rents.
If they put some sort of levy on empty local shops it may encourage landlords to lower rents , but at the moment landlords have no reason to fill any empty shop as I suspect a lot of their portfolios are long paid for and therefore a rental income is more a bonus than a necessity , imho.

Diggy

 

[Peter]

Any town centres round here are dead. Car parking charges, having to park a distance away, getting soaked, places being closed for lunch and so on. Would only be at a town centre to go to a bank, try and avoid them at all other costs. No wonder they're dead when councils charge a small unit 5k a month in rates and then put double yellow lines outside the premises so that people can't access the shop conveniently.

 

[peteablard]

That was going to be another thread Pete
Shopping online ! but are we victims of our own greed . We may lament the closing of local shops or the rundown nature of towns but then we shop from the comfort of our own home. Seems though that teh only winners there is the courier /delivery companies ?
Debate ?

without a doubt we only have ourselves to blame, I'm the first to admit if I'm looking to make a purchase over a certain value then I'll go and compare in the shops then go and find the best price online.

 

[John Benton]

without a doubt we only have ourselves to blame, I'm the first to admit if I'm looking to make a purchase over a certain value then I'll go and compare in the shops then go and find the best price online.

And that's one of the reasons Comet went bust. They thought that most people like to touch, feel and see products they want before parting with their hard earned, but they were checking the goods before looking for the cheapest price on the net.

I do like going into a major city to shop as the shops tend to be more unique, most of the malls are just high street shops under one roof, nothing individual.