High streets suffocate in 'Clone Britannia'

[T_i_B]

Just thought this might be of interest here.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=555919

Britain has become a nation of "clone towns" where chain stores are spreading "like weeds in a garden" and the traditional high street is a thing of the past, according to a report published today.

Thousands of local businesses and small independent traders are being forced to close by the increasing homogenisation of even small towns, experts have warned.

The report by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) says independently owned general stores are closing at the rate of one per day. Between 1997 and 2002, 50 small, specialist shops such as butchers and fishmongers were shutting every week. Twenty traditional, non-chain pubs cease trading every month, and in the past 10 years, the number of bank branches has fallen by one third.

Ashford in Kent, Guildford in Surrey, and Kirkcaldy in Scotland are among towns named as "clone towns" in the report.

[jeff30997]

1. Welcome to America !

[roguevalley]

2. this is too bad. one of the MANY things I like about your country are your

commercial town centers. York is wonderful. Box stores suck.

[D-Notice]

3. Yep...

Every town needs a HMV, Starbucks & Woolworths!

[non sociopath skin]

4. I assume you're being sarcastic, english guy.

As someone who uses both HMV and Starbucks a lot, I'd rather have them there than not. And didn't Kingfisher make the decision long ago to make Woolworth's a suburban-and-small-town operation rather than High Street?

The all-high-streets-are-the-same stuff has been around for a long, long time. Seems to me that it's only an issue if it means that the big boys are putting the smaller traders out of business and I see enough indie record stores and cafes in my city, Newcastle, to suggest that this isn't the case.

BTW, just got back from York and the small businesses there still seem to be doing passing well.

The Skin

[Guy_Montag]

5. Large cities

like Newcastle, Glasgow & Edinburgh (the ones I know) have enough people to allow small traders to survive. It's the smaller towns that struggle - if there are enough people to support several record shops, then you might get an HMV & a indie record shops. But if your town can only support one record shop it will generally be an HMV/Virgin/MVC.

Cafes are slightly different since a small village that can support only one cafe is probably not of much interest for Starbucks.

[non sociopath skin]

6. What do you mean by "Smaller" towns, Guy?

I find that HMV/Virgin/MVC are no more interested in smaller places than Starbucks. A town big enough to support one of the Big Boys often has the people/resources to support at least one specialist music store, just as you can usually find an independent bookstore in any town big enough to support a WH Smiths.

In small/market towns you'll tend to find either a Woolworth's or a small record store with very limited choice - chart stuff, rock "classics" and a lot of Easy Listening. As a person of eclectic taste I'd rather have HMV or Virgin who will tend to carry some Classical, Roots and Jazz, however small the branch.

The Skin

[Guy_Montag]

7. I'm thinking of places like

Kirkcaldy & Motherwell. c.20,000 - 40,000 people.

Motherwell is a perfect example having: WH Smith, Woolies, ASDA, Dixons, Clinton Cards, Holland & Barret etc. all on the high street. In fact off the top of my head I can't think of a single indie store of any type there.

Durham, where I currently live has an MVC & a small indie shop, but there are plenty of towns just smaller than Durham, which cannot support two record shops.

Where's your name from Skin?

[T_i_B]

8. Yes

It does depend on the town but you do get some towns such as Chelmsford (where I live) where there is a real lack of small shops such as butcher's, fishmongers etc and lots of chain stores.

But by the same token there are similar sized towns where small businesses are thriving. I guess it depends on what the local council wants to a certain degree.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. It also depends on the disposable income of the area

The better off the shoppers are, the more likely the town is to have independent shops. My town divides in two; the richer half has 2 butchers, a greengrocer, an independent bookshop, a Safeway and a Waitrose (and tons of estate agents); the poorer half has a Safeway and Tesco, no butcher, no greengrocer, and all the chain stores (WH Smith, Boots, Littlewoods, a chain record shop). I don't think it's up to the council (which is the same for both halfs) - they can't discriminate on the basis of how many branches a store has.

Indie record shops follow the students.

[non sociopath skin]

10. A lot of truth in that, Mu.

And you're right that the Council has little say in it. Business premises are pump-primed by private investors - all Councils can do is flag up what they'd LIKE to have in their area plans and, within tight limits, act as funding partners. They also have licensing powers which can protect town centres from turning into one big pub/sex-shop/amusement arcade.

The Skin

[Guy_Montag]

13. Right enough...

the two I chose as examples (they are the only two towns of that size I know reasonably well) are both fairly poor. So that really backs you up.

And the indie shops & students is definately true.

[T_i_B]

15. Not nessessarily

Chelmsford is not exactly a poor town yet it fits the "clone town" description very well, yet some of the most best areas of London for diverse businesses are amongst the poorest areas. Income is not the only factor at play here.

York has already been cited on this thread and that brings to mind one point. History. A town with a bit of history is less likely to be a "clone town" without decent small businesses than a new town such as Milton Keynes for instance.

And yes, what the council wants does play a part here. A good example is a pub in Chelmsford called the Army and Navy. Once it used to have live music on some nights, gay nights on others but the council withdrew the licence and allowed an idenikit chain pub to open up in its place. As a result outside of V2004 weekend the nearest decent live music to me is in London and Chelmsford has become even more of a boring old "clone town". :-( Councils can encourage small businesses but they don't always do that.

[Guy_Montag]

16. Don't get me started on chain pubs

:grr:

[T_i_B]

17. Join the club mate

I can't think of anything worse than huge chain bars such as Edward's, Yates and Lloyd's offering crap beer, crap food, crap music, and all in crap surroundings where all you can really do is stand there with a bottle of lager in your hand sulking cos's it's too loud to have a conversation, nobody's dancing and for some unfathomable reason it's packed like sardines. Why people like these places I simply do not know.

I'm a member of the Campaign for Real Ale so that should give you a clue as to where I'm coming from.

[Guy_Montag]

18. I never understood the...

too noisy to talk, but no-one dancing.

Can anyone explain it? :shrug:

[sweetheart]

19. you lucky!

We've only got a scottish COOP and a morrison/safeway. To get to
a tesco is 1.5 hours drive... and what i'd give to have a waitrose
nearby. However, there is a computer games arcade... a must have.
:-)

[non sociopath skin]

11. The name comes from the way I met my wife. (grin)

I first contacted her via AOL/IM because I'd realised we had identical tastes in music .. and her first reaction was to point out that she didn't speak to sociopaths. I managed to convince her that I was a Good Guy in spite of my shaven head! :)

BTW, I was in Durham a couple of weeks ago showing round some friends from New York who had never been there before.

The Skin

[Guy_Montag]

12. Did you manage to convince her to come to Blighty?

Or was she already here?

I need to go up to Newcastle more often - last time I was up it was full of Rangers supporters. Urrgh.

[non sociopath skin]

14. We met in New York (it's quite a story) ...

... married in Louisville KY six months later and she moved to the UK six months after that (although she knew "Blighty" well and had visited many times.)

Yes, I was in Newcastle on the day the Power Rangers invaded (shiver). Try to choose a non-match day next time, Guy - that way you get a South American band under Grey's Monument rather than a drying-out clinic! :)

The Skin