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Another one bites the dust
#1403758
14/01/2013 23:18
14/01/2013 23:18
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,159 ,
samsite999
OP
I AM a Coop
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OP
I AM a Coop
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,159
,
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21021073HMV looks like it may go under tomorrow, Jessops last week and comet only a month or so ago, is this the start of the death of the hightstreet? Its also a heads up for any one with voucher get them spent tomorrow!
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1403760
14/01/2013 23:23
14/01/2013 23:23
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johnnybravoturbo
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johnnybravoturbo
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Shame really,I think Internet shopping does offer a better service though which may make all outlets Internet only in the future .
Massive names though,and Being in the same position in the past I feel for the staff facing uncertainty so close to the new year.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1403774
14/01/2013 23:55
14/01/2013 23:55
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proccy
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proccy
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I read a report a week or so ago quoting Price Waterhouse who reckon they know of up to 240 major retailers who wont see 2013 out....we'll all be living in ghost towns unless you want fast food or poundshops. You reap what you sew
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1403821
15/01/2013 09:26
15/01/2013 09:26
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 21,071 Chertsey in the Thames
bockers
Hon Club Member 007
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Hon Club Member 007
Forum Fossil
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 21,071
Chertsey in the Thames
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Our local council is partly to blame. They managed to get rid of a load of parking spaces when they re-modeled the High Street and made the pavements wider. Then they introduced a 20 min limit and upped the cahrges on all the other car parks. The local businesses I frequent are livid with them as they saw an immediate drop off in trade. Like most High Streets it is now fast food outlets, Estate Agents, Charity Shops and Hair and Nail salons The real stores are now clustered into fewer big towns. The mid and small towns are dying, don't see that ever stopping either. HMV is sad as was Woolworths, but although I went into HMV on Saturday I would never buy anthing in there as I know it is invariably cheaper on Amazon and delivered the next day, plus I get download rights too.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1403825
15/01/2013 09:55
15/01/2013 09:55
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603 Corridor of Uncertainty
Jim_Clennell
Forum veteran
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Forum veteran
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
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Although it is a deeply difficult and worrying time for the employees of high street retailers, I'm not sure it's a cause for wringing our hands and bemoaning our failure to support these businesses. There's a difference between making an effort to save a sub-post office or store in a village and buying consumer goods from stores that use an out of date and failing business model on increasingly deserted and unwelcoming high streets.
What about the coal merchants that lost out when people moved to central heating, or the purveyors of hay to feed the horses that used to transport us?
Society is continually changing and we have to adapt. We become so attached to certain things that we can't imagine life without them (like fossil fuels, for example. What's it going to be like when they go...?)
What I think is quite wrong is for governments in countries like France (often at the angry demands of trades' unions) to step in to prevent companies from making redundancies or going out of business. This recently happened with Virgin in France. But it it an act of Canute-like futility.
Everywhere you look there are examples of how people have had to change the way they make a living: doing several small jobs rather than one big one, retraining, crowd-funding, and, of course, wearing 80s braces in a steel and glass tower in The City. Oh, wait, the last one is still called being a banker...
Anyway, I've run out of steam, but I'm very sorry for the redundancies, just not the high street.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: barnacle]
#1403836
15/01/2013 10:58
15/01/2013 10:58
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,159 ,
samsite999
OP
I AM a Coop
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OP
I AM a Coop
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,159
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You may have mis-spelt 'banker'. Agreed. Perhaps the town centre is just something that has to die, jobs will be created by smaller company's working from homes with smaller overheads and using the post for distribution. Business parks will grow because good transport links, low costs and free parking. The town centre will continue to be saturated with coffee houses, fast food chains and pound shops until there is no reason to go in to town any more, then these die off as well and were left with a development which isn't fit for residential or business use.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: bockers]
#1403841
15/01/2013 11:30
15/01/2013 11:30
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,280 West Berks
skinflint
I need some sleep
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I need some sleep
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,280
West Berks
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Our local council is partly to blame. They managed to get rid of a load of parking spaces when they re-modeled the High Street and made the pavements wider. Then they introduced a 20 min limit and upped the cahrges on all the other car parks. The local businesses I frequent are livid with them as they saw an immediate drop off in trade. In Newbury people use the local Sainsbury's car park to visit the town centre. Sainsbury's went to the trouble to create a second layer of free parking and it filled instantly. There's a 2 hour time limit so they make sure you don't spend too long in the other shops. Some others pay the exorbitant rates in the council run car parks. The result is that most people fill up on Sainsbury's goods / fuel etc. and visit the town for the bits they couldn't get in Sainsbury's.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: Jim_Clennell]
#1403842
15/01/2013 11:30
15/01/2013 11:30
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tim42
Unregistered
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tim42
Unregistered
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Being an ageing rocker I still like to have "physical" music, i.e vinyl in a sleeve or a CD case with lyrics and artwork. I still haven't got the download bug. Having said that I can't remember the last time I was in a music shop apart from trawling through charity shops and second-hand stores (there is a very good one just down the road from Flea's establishment in Bristol). I have always found HMV on-line very good on price and service - a lot of the stuff I like is not new and is often available heavily discounted. Town centres are anathema to me, just full of fast food outlets, banks, coffee shops and pound shops, all covered in food wrappers, beer cans and pigeon poo! I have to agree with Jim (again)!
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: ]
#1403847
15/01/2013 11:45
15/01/2013 11:45
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RICHB
Unregistered
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RICHB
Unregistered
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HMV will no doubt go down the Woolworth's route, they will have an online presense but no stores. They would do well to try to get into the download market somehow.
Being in the home media industry, sales of physical media are dropping by approx 8%-10% a year, although its happening slower than many predicted.
Many people, myself included, still want to physical item, I don't want a film I love sat on hard drive to one day be lost.
Same with music, I do use Itunes, but my music systems just highlights all the flaws in MP3 compression, so i'm very rarely happy with them sound quality wise.
Also digital photos, they just sit on a memory stick and rarely get printed.
Digital media become throwaway, therefor less valuable.
Give me a Steelbook Bluray in a high end Blu Ray player & home cinema system any day over downloading. That just my preference.
Very few younguns today care about sound & picture quality, as I said above, digital media has become throwaway...so they don't care....slowly this kills places like HMV who charge slightly more.
Rant over....
Last edited by RICHB; 15/01/2013 11:48.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1403859
15/01/2013 12:36
15/01/2013 12:36
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Kenno
Unregistered
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Kenno
Unregistered
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I agree with Sam. Digital media isn't throw away. It's the reality of where things are shifting to.
The vast majority of people aren't audiophiles and so are happy with reproduction of music on DAB radio's, iPods, spotify etc as what they're concerned about more is the content.
With regard to digital photo's, it doesn't matter that people don't print them. They put them on facebook or flikr to share with other people. Again, the significant portion of the public aren't keen photographers.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1403884
15/01/2013 14:10
15/01/2013 14:10
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Big_Muzzie
Unregistered
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Big_Muzzie
Unregistered
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I've just purchased 10 albums, and His Masters Voice was rammed!!
There is a place for music on the highstreet - a big place. You can't browse online, you can't get a feel for the album art that draws you in to have a listen, without physical CD's there is no sleeve art or pamplet with lyrics, band news / views or just spout there verbal diarrhea on the world. Plus, what the hell am I supposed to do at lunch? Spend more time at a PC than I do already????
MP3 doesn't represent half the quality of a CD track, as digital cameras are very poor in dull light compared to a similar (quality) camera using film.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: ]
#1403886
15/01/2013 14:30
15/01/2013 14:30
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Jonny
Unregistered
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Jonny
Unregistered
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I only said to a client last week that HMV would be on it's way out shortly It's easy to see the companies that won't last much longer unfortunately.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: Jim_Clennell]
#1403888
15/01/2013 14:46
15/01/2013 14:46
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,144 Southampton, Hants
Roadking
Club member 1809
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Club member 1809
Forum is my life
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,144
Southampton, Hants
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or the purveyors of hay to feed the horses that used to transport us?
How old are you, Jim As the horseless carriage was totally established before I was born, I don't think I share your pain here Jim.
"RK's way seems the most sensible to me". ali_hire 16 Dec 2010
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: ]
#1403898
15/01/2013 15:44
15/01/2013 15:44
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,159 ,
samsite999
OP
I AM a Coop
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OP
I AM a Coop
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,159
,
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I've just purchased 10 albums, and His Masters Voice was rammed!!
There is a place for music on the highstreet - a big place. You can't browse online, you can't get a feel for the album art that draws you in to have a listen, without physical CD's there is no sleeve art or pamplet with lyrics, band news / views or just spout there verbal diarrhea on the world. Plus, what the hell am I supposed to do at lunch? Spend more time at a PC than I do already????
MP3 doesn't represent half the quality of a CD track, as digital cameras are very poor in dull light compared to a similar (quality) camera using film. Im not sure where to start with that one, Spotify? you get the art, to listn before you buy and "band news" regards the quality, I high bit rate mp3 is going to be hard to distinguish a CD if not imposable with out very very very high end equipment. The poor performing digital camera is subject to the user pointing it. The difference is the poor git at the film lab sorts out your poor photo while in digital you are left to sort out your own mess. There is a place for music on the high street, I do agree but its going to have to scale back. I think the book shops will be the next to go, water stones for instance.
Last edited by samsite999; 15/01/2013 15:49.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: Jim_Clennell]
#1403909
15/01/2013 16:55
15/01/2013 16:55
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,144 Southampton, Hants
Roadking
Club member 1809
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Club member 1809
Forum is my life
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,144
Southampton, Hants
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Jim You clearly stated you used to be transported by horse. I on the other hand, never have been. Short term memory loss is an early indicator of Alzheimers
"RK's way seems the most sensible to me". ali_hire 16 Dec 2010
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1404014
15/01/2013 21:38
15/01/2013 21:38
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,748 Pistonheads
Brewster
Forum is my life
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Forum is my life
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,748
Pistonheads
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I actively do everything I can to avoid the High St in the town nearest to me. That town is Scunthorpe. There are three Greggs, a McDonalds, a TopMan, dozens of pound shops, a slack handful of SuperDrug type shops, a B&M Bargains, phone shops, bank branches, Primark, HMV, a couple of Buy-Your-Gold jewelers, a SpecSavers and that's about it.
As a reasonably affluent, childless bloke the only one of any of those I actually want to use is the bank. There is nothing I want from the others. Nothing. Not only that, but the majority of people who occupy that High St are unemployed, tracksuit wearing, foul mouthed, pushchair shoving, spitting, litter dropping, scum. They want the curb chain bracelets, the cheap deodorant, the Happy Meal, the 18 pairs of pants for £1, the steak bake, etc. I don't want to share my air with them. I know that makes me a snob, but it really is an unpleasant experience for any civilised human being.
Not only that, but parking is hard come by, expensive and insecure. Where is my motivation to go? The writing has been on the wall for HMV for some time now. I purchase all my music online and if I want a BluRay I pick it up in Tesco, much cheaper than His Masters Voice, while I'm getting groceries. As for clothes I wouldn't dream of attempting to squeeze into a TopMan T-shirt and skinny jeans these days. Since the advent of Faster Payment I rarely visit the bank either.
Marks & Spencer closed in the town centre a few years ago. There simply wasn't the type of clientelle to keep the place viable. Now they're trying to open an out-of-town shop and many locals are kicking up a stink saying it will finish off the High St. To me the High St is dead and M&S aren't going to open up another shop in town if their planning gets blocked for the big store. I would, however, gladly do some grocery shopping in an out-of-town M&S with easy access and good parking.
If I want to go shopping I simply drive to Meadowhall Sheffield. It has Ted Baker, decent shoe shops, decent electrical outlets, House of Fraser, free parking galore, it's open late and it's a 45 minute drive.
I know the death of the High St saddens some, but they're dreaming of halcyon days where nobody drove, the baker knew you by name and people spent their day to day cash on essentials there. Nothing is essential on the High St any more. It's just a big, expensive inconvenience for a lot of old tat.
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: barnacle]
#1404031
15/01/2013 22:10
15/01/2013 22:10
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tim42
Unregistered
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tim42
Unregistered
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The main benefit is to the local council in terms of business rates and car parking fees. However the goose is being cooked slowly whilst the golden eggs are getting smaller and rarer....
Why should I pay £2 in car parking to buy stuff in a pound shop when I can park in Asda for nothing?
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Re: Another one bites the dust
[Re: samsite999]
#1404287
16/01/2013 19:27
16/01/2013 19:27
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,617 SE Essex
charlie_croker
I need some sleep
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I need some sleep
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,617
SE Essex
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It's called progress, HMV failed to recognise that their customers were changing their purchasing habits, the days of desperately searching through rows of records looking for that rare import have gone, they were also guilty of profiteering back when CDs were the main way of distributing music, selling CDs at an obscene price. Electronic distribution of media is increasing, I suspect that the computer game stores will be next to feel the death grip of PWC, followed by a few newspapers. As for photography, while I carry my iPhone as my day to day camera, backed up by my X100, I also shoot an Olympus mju II and Yashica 35mm Electro 35 rangefinder film camera and the quality is superb, the excitement when the Postman drops my photos back is palpable. Ironically people now try to make their crisp digital images look like film using Instagram and it's ilk. Film has a quality that I don't think digital has yet got. The biggest advantage of having only 24 or 36 shots, is taking more time to think about composition and the shot rather than just pointing and shooting. Oh and the Yashica is a bargain, pick one up on ebay and you will be amazed at the quality of the images. The best deal in Rangefinder Photography? Yashica Guide Some sample images to show what can be achieved
Last edited by charlie_croker; 16/01/2013 19:34.
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