BagOfCrisps 24 Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 The shops that remained open in some of the towns were pretty..... odd. Like little hardware shops run by an 80 year old that look like they actually come from a period 80 years ago! Who actually buys stuff from those places? Link to post Share on other sites
griller 9 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I think it's almost like a hobby they can't give up for some of those people. I doubt some will survive into the next generation. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I suspect that's why some of our little strip are now being revitalized. Ma and Pa are retiring and the kids don't want to take it over, and in the way it was done in the past neither does anyone else. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 Good to hear about the revitalized thing. Sadly lots of Japanese towns don't seem to be getting that. My local high street in Japan is just awful. (And there's no Costa Coffee!!) Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Very interesting to hear all that thanks. Is that "Woolies" any relation to the one that died in the UK a few years back? yes Link to post Share on other sites
ProbablyaCrazyPerson 2 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Didn't know that, interesting the Aussie one has survived. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 Very interesting to hear all that thanks. Is that "Woolies" any relation to the one that died in the UK a few years back? yes Still in rude health then are they? Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 I didn't feel as though Liverpool is doing as bad as some other places I went to this summer. Still a fair amount of empty shop fronts though. And apparently only more appearing with time. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Casualties so far in the last month in the UK Coment HMV Jessops Blockbuster All rubbish, but town centres are going to be just coffee shops and discounts by the end of the year! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I went into Jessops last time I was in England and was shocked at their prices. They hardly had any stock in either. Seemed a bit of a joke. I see HMV are not honouring gift vouchers even bought last week. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Wow! A company still selling gift vouchers when they have major problems is terrible!! They should HAVE to allow all gift voucher holders to shop from the remaining stock before liquidators get there. I found out yesterday that Myer in Fremantle is closing down on Saturday. This was the major department store in the old port town and has been there for my lifetime. A multistory car park attached at the back with entry to the building directly from the car park, and shops around the outside also (including a movie theatre), it was quite a hub. Will be gone by next week. Apparently there is rumor that the other discount department store (Target) will also close this year. It's not the chains that are closing but the shops within that city - there will be very little to bring people into Freo after that... Very sad. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Yes lots of people getting their HMV vouchers for Christmas - can't use them. It was widely known that HMV was in trouble so perhaps rather unwise to buy them as presents! Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Shops have not moved with the times. Whilst sites such as play.com benefited from the tax loops being based in Jersey, now they have closed those loops it will be interesting to see how internet shopping is affected. I used to work at HMV in Bluewater and it was amazing how much a CD costs, and also how much of that cost goes towards HMV and not the record labels. Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 When a CD is 17 quid in HMV and it's 8 quid on Amazon, you'd really have to be a nutter for buying at HMV. Especially when they are so impersonal and there's absolutely not ++ side. Difficult to sympathise. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I used to work at HMV in Bluewater and it was amazing how much a CD costs, and also how much of that cost goes towards HMV and not the record labels. Then there is the further level of how little goes to the actual artist. My brother told me the only independent record shop in Aberdeen is also closing, which with HMV going will leave the town without a record shop. A lot of big chain stores seem to have kind of surly and not-that-clued-up-to-be-honest staff, limiting sympathy for them, but independent record shops are generally run by enthusiasts who actually do offer something and will have something that is not X factor shite playing when you walk in. Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Niseko needs a supermarket.. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The bus to Kutchan drops you right outyside a supermarket about half way. Also, you have beans in the combini, bread and butter. What the hell else do you think you need? Link to post Share on other sites
gnarly-dude 1 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 If restaurants and stuff close out of winter, I can't see a supermarket wanted to open up shop. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Shops have not moved with the times. Whilst sites such as play.com benefited from the tax loops being based in Jersey, now they have closed those loops it will be interesting to see how internet shopping is affected. I used to work at HMV in Bluewater and it was amazing how much a CD costs, and also how much of that cost goes towards HMV and not the record labels. I was in Bluewater on Boxing Day. I was shocked at the queues everywhere. I was even more shocked to learn that the sales staff were at work from 5am with doors opening at 6am. I was extrremely shocked that the longest queues were at Next. WTF When I walked past, HMV had ropes for people to queue in. All the people were already inside, no queue. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 It's places like Bluewater that is killing the town centres. I've noticed a lot of kebab shops have shot up: 5. Greasy spoon cafes that open 24x7: 4. One pound shops: 2. Large shops such as those formerly occupied by Woolworths or Curry's empty, boarded up. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 High streets to be awash with semi-feral husbands 15-01-13 UNRULY abandoned men could become a fixture on the high street as music, technology and DVD shops collapse. They will find things on the floor and gnaw at them As HMV entered administration shortly after the failure of shops selling computers and cameras, experts fear there will soon be nothing in towns for men. Husbands and partners will be left in the street while their partners visit clothes and cushion shops, and will quickly revert to their natural instincts. Professor Henry Brubaker of the Institute for Studies said: “Men will be alone and rudderless outside department stores while their wives are occupied ‘trying on tops’. “For most it will be too early in the day to begin drinking alcohol, so a kind of survival impulse will kick in. “Within an hour they will start scratching around on the pavement for grubs and berries, also removing things from bins and sniffing them to see if they’re edible. “Then if an alpha male rugby player-type comes along the smaller men will lie down in an obedience gesture, and thus packs will be formed, waging war with each other from sheer boredom. “Wives and girlfriends will re-appear and say ‘sorry, was I ages?’ but it’ll be too late, their husbands are biting each others’ faces off.” He added: “Other men, overwhelmed by existential horror, will decide to become vagrants and simply wander off forever, walking hundreds of miles until they find an unoccupied cave. “Then they will freak out because it doesn’t have the internet so they can’t buy DVDs.” Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Too early to drink alcohol??!! Isn't that why any man goes with his woman "shopping" in the town centre? Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Too early to drink alcohol??!! Isn't that why any man goes with his woman "shopping" in the town centre? Post dating I don't think I know a single man who goes with his woman shopping in the town centre - especially not while she 'try's on tops'. It could very well be the best Gaydar known - man spotted 'shopping' with wife, prepare for impending announcement 'it's not you, I just like boys'. LOL Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Neither do I......but I know loads who say they're going shopping and end up in the pub Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Regarding the "new HMV", apparently you can now buy from Amazon directly to an iOS device, sidestepping Apple's prices and 30% cut in the ITunes store. With Amazon you even get a free CD! No wonder their share price is going down. Link to post Share on other sites
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