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The changing face of the high street

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With the recent announced closures of the likes of Maplins and Toys R us, the threat hanging over Bargain booze and the other announcement of store closures by two well known fashion retailers including new look the high street looks like its changing.

Just read about another, which has come as another shock, completely out of the blue, North East Game shop chain Graingers games has shut all 67 stores, also noticed the website just has a logo, and the facebook page has gone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-43588365

 

now its come out of the blue for me as i live in the North East so go to Graingers games often when i want to buy a used game, and with Chips originally going, gamestation going, that only really leaves Game.

Is the end of high street physical gaming coming to an end? :o

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Its never ending

Just read that Bargain Booze is heading there too. John Lewis profits down 77%

add to that 12mths from today we will be on our own (Brexit)

 

We started to knuckle down on the debt last autumn. Just got 1 loan left that hopefully fingers crossed will be gone by May.

 

I admit I like many others have contributed to the high street decline over the years. I flatly refuse to pay for parking in town centres and then be expected to pay a premium over having it delivered to my door via mail order. For the past 10yrs I've purchased the bulk of what I own used off ebay, I'm currently in the midst of selling it back from whence it came, and in doing so the tax man and vat man get diddly squat, multiply that by the amount ebay turns over every hour - is it any wonder the country is in such a bad way. I pretty much recoup what my initial cost was when it was first purchased.

I'm used to it now, had amazing bargains over the years. The tragedy is that my actions have caused the high streets to collapse. But considering employers no longer wish to award pay rises in the private sector, the blame ultimately lies with them. If we were paid more naturally we would have more to spend. But firms today know labour is cheap and pretty much expendable (employment agencies - the parasites feeding off the workers) , no pay rises, no sick pay no commitment whatsoever to loyal hardworking staff. their only concern is their own greed. That's fine, you reap what you sow. the high street will implode, interest rates will go up, we will leave the EU and Britain will pretty much be in a very dark place. Clearly those who own businesses and have made huge financial gains by exploiting the cheap labour market and those within the bubble of the public sector will be the very last to feel the pinch, by which time this country will be totally phucked. A nation whose capital city is mostly owned by foreign investors and a population of unskilled but highly qualified academics (students).

 

Yes Britain, you shall reap what you sow

Edited by mrcharlie

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Its never ending

Just read that Bargain Booze is heading there too. John Lewis profits down 77%

add to that 12mths from today we will be on our own (Brexit)

 

We started to knuckle down on the debt last autumn. Just got 1 loan left that hopefully fingers crossed will be gone by May.

 

I admit I like many others have contributed to the high street decline over the years. I flatly refuse to pay for parking in town centres and then be expected to pay a premium over having it delivered to my door via mail order. For the past 10yrs I've purchased the bulk of what I own used off ebay, I'm currently in the midst of selling it back from whence it came, and in doing so the tax man and vat man get diddly squat, multiply that by the amount ebay turns over every hour - is it any wonder the country is in such a bad way. I pretty much recoup what my initial cost was when it was first purchased.

I'm used to it now, had amazing bargains over the years. The tragedy is that my actions have caused the high streets to collapse. But considering employers no longer wish to award pay rises in the private sector, the blame ultimately lies with them. If we were paid more naturally we would have more to spend. But firms today know labour is cheap and pretty much expendable (employment agencies - the parasites feeding off the workers) , no pay rises, no sick pay no commitment whatsoever to loyal hardworking staff. their only concern is their own greed. That's fine, you reap what you sow. the high street will implode, interest rates will go up, we will leave the EU and Britain will pretty much be in a very dark place. C- learly those who own businesses and have made huge financial gains by exploiting the cheap labour market and those within the bubble of the public sector will be the very last to feel the pinch, by which time this country will be totally phucked. A nation whose capital city is mostly owned by foreign investors and a population of unskilled but highly qualified academics (students).

 

Yes Britain, you shall reap what you sow

 

If customers are not buying and shops and profits are in decline, how exactly do you expect the business owners to award pay rises?

 

Do you not see the causal link?

 

Its us consumers that is just as much to blame for "exploiting cheap" as much as anyone else. The reason companies thrive on cheap labour and cheap foreign made goods is because us consumers are demanding cheaper and cheaper price tags. When we dont get it, we shop elsewhere. If those shops stop offering it, we simply go onto the web and import it directly ourselves.

 

Round and round it goes.

 

If people want an ever increasing wage packet they need grow up and accept that increased wages = increased overheads to employers = increased prices at the till.

 

Businesses are not some community service. They are there to make money for their owners/shareholders - That includes a great number of us ordinary joes too by the way. Take a look at your average pension plan for example.

 

The collapse of any major company has impact far far reaching than just empty units on the high street.

Edited by ECCOnoob

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If customers are not buying and shops and profits are in decline, how exactly do you expect the business owners to award pay rises?

 

Do you not see the causal link?

 

Its us consumers that is just as much to blame for "exploiting cheap" as much as anyone else. The reason companies thrive on cheap labour and cheap foreign made goods is because us consumers are demanding cheaper and cheaper price tags. When we dont get it, we shop elsewhere. If those shops stop offering it, we simply go onto the web and import it directly ourselves.

 

Round and round it goes.

 

If people want an ever increasing wage packet they need grow up and accept that increased wages = increased overheads to employers = increased prices at the till.

 

Businesses are not some community service. They are there to make money for their owners/shareholders - That includes a great number of us ordinary joes too by the way. Take a look at your average pension plan for example.

 

The collapse of any major company has impact far far reaching than just empty units on the high street.

 

I can't speak for the whole clearly. But the company I work for is booming, yet they pay virtually everyone the legal minimum and regardless how loyal you are if you dare ask for a pay review the answer is always the same "If you don't like it, ***** off"....many have and been replaced by agency workers who are unreliable, lazy and more often than not quit within a week. We normally go through around 4-5 agency workers for each position that comes up until we stumble on someone who sticks it out.

 

Sorry, I don't buy "they're struggling" most employers are thriving off the never ending cheap labour supply. Don't quote me, but am I correct in that apprentice pay is less than £4 quid ph ? Yet where I am after the initial training "how the machine works" so-called apprentices are matching the output of so-called engineers within a month or two. It's not hard to see the savings made by employers.

Edited by mrcharlie

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When I worked collecting containers out of Felixstowe docks I used to take electrical goods to a place that stored them for Argos

One of the containers had microwave ovens in them that Argos sold for £30 mark ,at the time no manufacturer in the uk could compete with that sort of price so what one of the other posters put about people demanding things cheaper and cheaper is right

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With the recent announced closures of the likes of Maplins and Toys R us, the threat hanging over Bargain booze and the other announcement of store closures by two well known fashion retailers including new look the high street looks like its changing.

Just read about another, which has come as another shock, completely out of the blue, North East Game shop chain Graingers games has shut all 67 stores, also noticed the website just has a logo, and the facebook page has gone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-43588365

 

now its come out of the blue for me as i live in the North East so go to Graingers games often when i want to buy a used game, and with Chips originally going, gamestation going, that only really leaves Game.

Is the end of high street physical gaming coming to an end? :o

 

There are still the supermarkets to buy dvd's and games.

 

And CEX is pretty much everywhere these days, apart from the affluent middle class areas which tend to view videogames as a hedonistic, pointless working class frivolity.

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There are still the supermarkets to buy dvd's and games.

 

And CEX is pretty much everywhere these days, apart from the affluent middle class areas which tend to view videogames as a hedonistic, pointless working class frivolity.

Yup you can, but neither are in the same league as Game / Graingers games

 

CEX is ONLY secondhand obviously, and Supermarkets are only brand new, and only the bigger games.

 

Super games world will do well in Middlesbrough with the demise of Graingers games however, its a small independent games shop selling the new releases and related paraphanalia as well as being stocked floor to ceiling with second hand stuff.

 

---------- Post added 31-03-2018 at 13:24 ----------

 

If customers are not buying and shops and profits are in decline, how exactly do you expect the business owners to award pay rises?

 

Do you not see the causal link?

 

Its us consumers that is just as much to blame for "exploiting cheap" as much as anyone else. The reason companies thrive on cheap labour and cheap foreign made goods is because us consumers are demanding cheaper and cheaper price tags. When we dont get it, we shop elsewhere. If those shops stop offering it, we simply go onto the web and import it directly ourselves.

 

Round and round it goes.

 

If people want an ever increasing wage packet they need grow up and accept that increased wages = increased overheads to employers = increased prices at the till.

 

Businesses are not some community service. They are there to make money for their owners/shareholders - That includes a great number of us ordinary joes too by the way. Take a look at your average pension plan for example.

 

The collapse of any major company has impact far far reaching than just empty units on the high street.

 

I agree to a point, i admit i buy things cheap because i dont get much of an income, im normally either unemployed like now, or when i was working it was minimum wage, with not much leeway for paying a bit more.

I also think prt of the struggles with shops on the high street (as well as the high rents and business rates, competition from the internet, competition from other forms of entertainment etc) must also come down to the last 10 years of austerity? people have had less, wages havent risen generally, people have had to be more frugal which then means shops get less pennies through the doors.

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There are still the supermarkets to buy dvd's and games.

 

And CEX is pretty much everywhere these days, apart from the affluent middle class areas which tend to view videogames as a hedonistic, pointless working class frivolity.

 

And back in the real world, the affluent middle class folk don’t mind people spending money on computer games since software development has such a high-profile employment sector in this great Northern city of Sheffield.

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Several restaurant chains are shutting quite a few places and many pubs are closing.

The food is often over priced and of poor quality and with beer at £3.90 a pint and hurlimans at £4.60 it's no wonder.

Go out for a pub lunch and you are looking at £40 or £50 for two of you.

A food critic was bemoaning the fact that so many decent restaurants were closing because people weren't willing to pay the going rate.

When the restaurants he writes about charge £60 -£70 for lunch is it any wonder?

Only the well off can afford those prices.

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Several restaurant chains are shutting quite a few places and many pubs are closing.

The food is often over priced and of poor quality and with beer at £3.90 a pint and hurlimans at £4.60 it's no wonder.

Go out for a pub lunch and you are looking at £40 or £50 for two of you.

A food critic was bemoaning the fact that so many decent restaurants were closing because people weren't willing to pay the going rate.

When the restaurants he writes about charge £60 -£70 for lunch is it any wonder?

Only the well off can afford those prices.

 

As James Martin says in jest, a dollop of cream on the plate costs a few bob, but a Quenelle of the same cream puts it up by a tenner. Maybe there is money to be made on the high street with a restaurant that serves unpretentious food. Simply good nosh without all the embellishment.

 

Angel1

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Maybe there is money to be made on the high street with a restaurant that serves unpretentious food. Simply good nosh without all the embellishment.

 

Wetherspoons certainly makes some money on their low cost unpretentious food. Whether its "good" or not I couldn't possibly comment :)

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It's good for the price you pay.

 

I had fish and chips there the other week and the fish was a whopper.

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