You can't expect a commercial business that depends on profits to pay its staff and invest in improvements to stay open if they're not getting enough customers owing to their location - footfall, rents, rates etc. People with cars and, generally speaking, greater spending power, like out of town shopping centres with easy access and parking.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@Obelixx if a business isn't getting enough customers it will obviously close at some point. If a business is profitable until for example, the rent trebles, it's a very different matter. Why is it apparently better for a property owner to have it sat empty than to have it occupied and having an income?
You can't expect a commercial business that depends on profits to pay its staff and invest in improvements to stay open if they're not getting enough customers owing to their location - footfall, rents, rates etc. People with cars and, generally speaking, greater spending power, like out of town shopping centres with easy access and parking.
Yes but in Watford up the way from us there is a large shopping centre with plenty of parking and J L still closed the store there, it was always busy whenever we went. The next nearest is at Brent Cross near the N Circular. Now very firmly in the London ULEZ zone, how long will they keep that one wonders?
I don't know @Allotment Boy but maybe there's better public transport at Brent Cross and they didn't know about the coming ULEZ which must be having an adverse effect on that IKEA too.
@KT53 I can see no justification for tripling rents unless it's a deliberate move to get rid of tenants, empty buildings and, sell the land for development or convert private house and flat rentals to Air B&B. I see New York has banned Air B&B as of 5th of September.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@Obelixx you could well be right. There was a Sainsburys in the middle of Gloucester which was mainly used by the many elderly people who live centrally. That closed at least a couple of years ago and stood empty ever since. It has recently been announced that it is being developed into flats. There will soon be nothing other than flats, student accommodation, pubs and cafes in the centre of Gloucester. It's very nearly there now.
I think we might be in a CD, Sony Walkman, Blockbuster Video situation. High Streets are becoming a thing of the past. I'm part of the problem, I'm sure. I will go to a shop to cop a feel of a bit of electrical equipment, for example, feel the weight and the quality, judge the size and then go off and buy it cheaper online. I would never buy shoes online but you can't stock a high street with shoe shops. I suspect that eventually there will be touchy feely shops where you can bond,or not, with a product and then order it online to be delivered soon after you get home. These places will not be in the high street.
Augmented reality will take over soon enough. You'll use your phone's camera to view something and the product will be superimposed onto whatever it sees in three dimensions. You should be able to interact with it too.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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@KT53 I can see no justification for tripling rents unless it's a deliberate move to get rid of tenants, empty buildings and, sell the land for development or convert private house and flat rentals to Air B&B. I see New York has banned Air B&B as of 5th of September.
I suspect that eventually there will be touchy feely shops where you can bond,or not, with a product and then order it online to be delivered soon after you get home. These places will not be in the high street.