Why Is Sheffield So Far Behind Many Other Uk Cities?

[crookesey 635]

Should have mentioned that Sheffield could have been far ahead of Leeds and Manchester in entertainment if it’s inept council hadn’t chased the Stringfellow brothers out of town.

[Jack Grey 1,602]

Maybe the fact that Sheffield is a series of Valleys that might hinder it 

 

When I go to Manchester it's immediately obvious because you can drive for ages in just one straight line with no inclines

[Padders 2,880]

50 minutes ago, echo beach said:

I used a Facet calculator. Wish I had one now!

You’ll no doubt also recall Crookesey the army of  comptometer girls who used to punch away at their calculating machines.

 

echo.

 

 

WOW!

That brings back memories Echo.

I used to check for any errors made when I worked in the cost office at Firth Browns..

That was a boring job, but I did get a bonus, I dated a couple of them. (not the errors)

[cressida 1,575]

32 minutes ago, Jack Grey said:

 

 

When I go to Manchester it's immediately obvious because you can drive for ages in just one straight line with no inclines

True,  I'm in Trafford and it's the same,  Chester Road from Manchester goes in a straight line through to Altrincham.

[ECCOnoob 1,051]

5 hours ago, crookesey said:

Please tell this mindless idiot the names of the surviving department stores, I have no problem with being educated, but by you, I Prop think so.

 

Perhaps someone should tell this mindless idiot about the realities facing stores in decline all over the country.  

 

Atkinsons is a department store. So is Next. So is Marks & Spencer.  So is TK Maxx. Even Primark will fall into the dictionary definition of one.  All still going. All still in the city centre. All so far keep changing and developing to suit the changing habits of consumers.

 

You are clearly mourning the loss of so-called "traditional" department stores, well, there's a reason why they don't exist in Sheffield.  They barely exist nationally.  Debenhams (inc Pauldens) went bankrupt.  Allders went bankrupt (and wasn't even in Sheffield City centre in the first place). House of Fraser (Inc Walshes, Rackham's) went into administration and is just clinging on with nearly half of its properties closed down with more to come.  The Coop group department stores (like Castle House) closed down nationally after a change in retail strategy.  The United Cooperative department stores (such as Sunwin House) closed down nationally after their merge with the rest of the service.  Peter Robinsons were nationally defunct by the 1970s. C&A was nationally defunct by 2001.  Woolworths nationally defunct by 2008. BHS nationally defunct by 2016.  Even darling of the middle classes, John Lewis made a catastrophic loss resulting in several store closures and is still running at a loss even today.....

 

Do you not see a pattern here?

 

Yes of course there are a few high end outliers  but the reason they keep going is because they cater for a very selected clientele in very limited locations. Even those businesses are having to constantly evolve their offering and market to keep going. Plus most embrace online presence which is arguable the biggest factor in the declining traditional bricks and mortar retail.  

 

The 60s are over maaan. It's 2023.  Cities have evolved all over the world.  The population of them evolved and their work habits, spending habits and that "buzzing nightlife" that you claim to be lacking is still there but different. People's taste and trends and styles change.

 

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's dead.  As I've  pointed out, the city is far from worst in the country and look around will show the masses amount of investment and development happening right now.

 

Something you would learn if you bother to come down into the city to see for yourself instead of wallowing in nostalgia from behind your keyboard.

 

[*_ash_* 88]

9 hours ago, gaz 786 said:

Why don't you go for prime minister you got my vote 😉 

Haha! 

 

No where is perfect, I'm not saying everything is perfect here, but it's so much better. 

[crookesey 635]

18 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

Perhaps someone should tell this mindless idiot about the realities facing stores in decline all over the country.  

 

Atkinsons is a department store. So is Next. So is Marks & Spencer.  So is TK Maxx. Even Primark will fall into the dictionary definition of one.  All still going. All still in the city centre. All so far keep changing and developing to suit the changing habits of consumers.

 

You are clearly mourning the loss of so-called "traditional" department stores, well, there's a reason why they don't exist in Sheffield.  They barely exist nationally.  Debenhams (inc Pauldens) went bankrupt.  Allders went bankrupt (and wasn't even in Sheffield City centre in the first place). House of Fraser (Inc Walshes, Rackham's) went into administration and is just clinging on with nearly half of its properties closed down with more to come.  The Coop group department stores (like Castle House) closed down nationally after a change in retail strategy.  The United Cooperative department stores (such as Sunwin House) closed down nationally after their merge with the rest of the service.  Peter Robinsons were nationally defunct by the 1970s. C&A was nationally defunct by 2001.  Woolworths nationally defunct by 2008. BHS nationally defunct by 2016.  Even darling of the middle classes, John Lewis made a catastrophic loss resulting in several store closures and is still running at a loss even today.....

 

Do you not see a pattern here?

 

Yes of course there are a few high end outliers  but the reason they keep going is because they cater for a very selected clientele in very limited locations. Even those businesses are having to constantly evolve their offering and market to keep going. Plus most embrace online presence which is arguable the biggest factor in the declining traditional bricks and mortar retail.  

 

The 60s are over maaan. It's 2023.  Cities have evolved all over the world.  The population of them evolved and their work habits, spending habits and that "buzzing nightlife" that you claim to be lacking is still there but different. People's taste and trends and styles change.

 

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's dead.  As I've  pointed out, the city is far from worst in the country and look around will show the masses amount of investment and development happening right now.

 

Something you would learn if you bother to come down into the city to see for yourself instead of wallowing in nostalgia from behind your keyboard.

 

I much prefer the delights of the Peak District  National Park on my morning dog walk. Why are you so annoyed with my ‘throw away’ remarks about SCC?

[*_ash_* 88]

8 hours ago, Delbow said:

Thanks. To be fair, China is probably at a peak now, having industrialised incredibly rapidly. What you are describing sounds similar to Victorian Britain but with modern technology. Like all other capitalist economies, it's probably a slow journey to stagnation from here onwards. The UK is visibly in decline, which in a way is not surprising since it's a tiny island that only got rich through selling slaves and robbing other countries. That said, places like Switzerland and Denmark are also small but manage a decent standard of living for most people, so it's definitely possible to do better than the UK even in late stage capitalism.

I think it peaked a few years ago in terms of growth, however, even during these bad times, and poorer growth following the pandemic, in general things are still much better than UK/USA.

 

The growth rate is still higher than most countries, but they seem to sort things better. Far fewer private companies (though the current house thing is an issue) - but in day to day life, people tell me it's just harder than pre-pandemic - perhaps because of fewer tourists (both domestic and international).

 

-

I noticed that big companies were talked about in the last couple of pages... here, my experience is that city centres have lots of big companies, but where I live just outside town, there are absolutely 0% big companies. All single companies (one man bands).

 

 

 

 

[Irene Swaine 1,072]

M&S is a department store, yes. TK Maxx is probably just about one., though it doesn't have a cafe. Next is a clothing and furniture shop. Primark is a clothing shop with select homeware collection. 

 

Traditional department stores were Castle House, Sunwin House, TJ Hughes etc. All of those had dedicated staff for each departments and a cafe.

[*_ash_* 88]

In one recent film, whilst running around on my electric bike in rural areas (basically a moped, but electric) I found an area in the middle of nowhere,  and a little girl was pumping water out of the ground. Me and my friend went to talk to them, and asked I asked (in Chinese) if I could record them, and they said, yeah! A lovely family, all smiling, and curious why a foreigner would want to see them. In England, people would say, wow!! such povery, but they had land, food, all smiling, and seemed happy. I was quite moved. 

 

I thought to myself, when I was selling my house, I had loads of foreigners saying 'can I come into your house to take things', and these two experiences were completely different. In England they wanted to steal my things. In China, they welcomed me into their house even though they didn't know me. It's a completely different mindset and place that has blown my mind really.

[ECCOnoob 1,051]

23 minutes ago, Irene Swaine said:

M&S is a department store, yes. TK Maxx is probably just about one., though it doesn't have a cafe. Next is a clothing and furniture shop. Primark is a clothing shop with select homeware collection. 

 

Traditional department stores were Castle House, Sunwin House, TJ Hughes etc. All of those had dedicated staff for each departments and a cafe.

Think you need to read up the definition of  department store. 

 

Shall we take Next on the Moor for example.  A large store split up into several departments selling a range of different goods from beauty to clothing to homewares.  Oh it has a cafe in it too.  Some of the bigger Next branches even have their own separate concessions.  You know just like a.... 

 

Should have paid more attention in your "business diploma"

Edited November 16, 2023 by ECCOnoob

[Irene Swaine 1,072]

12 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

Think you need to read up the definition of  department store. 

 

Shall we take Next on the Moor for example.  A large store split up into several departments selling a range of different goods from beauty to clothing to homewares.  Oh it has a cafe in it too.  Some of the bigger Next branches even have their own separate concessions.  You know just like a.... 

 

Should have paid more attention in your "business diploma"

It's more of a clothes store with a few home bits in the corner. Whereas Atkinson's has dedicated department staff and dedicated desks for each section, for example the furniture has its own desk and the electrical department has its own desk. Next is more of a shop with a few frills. The cafe is run by Costa and not unique to Next.