Yes the fun new game to play during the news is high street closing down bingo. And frankly it is quite a depressing game. Every time I hear that another shop has gone into administration then I think about the great empty hole that will create in shopping centres or high streets.
None of the shops that have announced that they are closing down are ones that I regularly visit, which is the whole problem really. The worrying thing is that it seems no shop can really hide from this economic downturn. Even Tesco made a loss over the Christmas period and that is Tesco.
And then what will replace those shops when they are gone? Those really naff boards about how your town is doing really well and here are all the things it has to offer?
One situation that I am quite angry about is in my home town of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is getting rid of all its independent retailers in the Cloisters underground market. It has seen better times - when the games shop closed it did mark the beginning of the end - but it is a lovely place. Instead it the retailers have been told to move out to allow the place to become a store room for the clothes shop H&M. The actual shop floor will be where La Senza is currently (so a good space not going to waste) but also the local bowling alley is being closed down to help create this huge sounding clothes shop.
Aylesbury has changed many times, but the biggest change for me has been when Woolworths closed down. I imagine most people felt this when Woolworths was the first shop to close down way back in 2008/2009. I still miss the shop even though it does still exist online but the idea of buying pic 'n' mix from the internet is not as appealing.
Speaking of which this leads nicely onto one of my favourite ever videos of one of old university tutors doing a piece about the last every bag of Woolworths pic 'n' mix being sold for £14,500.
Photo: osde8info via Flickr
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