www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2382352/Chocolatier-Simon-Dunn-gives-frank-explanation-customers-shut-Wilmslow-shop.html

this is really near my dad, we used to go for coffee all the time. the british high street is properly fucked.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:03, 6 replies, latest was 12 years ago)

That's really depressing

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:07, Reply)

it's true though
places like wilmslow will be full of supermarkets, restaurants and beauty salons. i was on the high street there with my friend and she needed a cable for her dvd player - there was literally nowhere left to go to buy it. places that are less affluent will end up with desolate high streets. it doesn't take much effort for people to support local shops as well as shopping online ffs.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:09, Reply)

Shop owners don't have a right to be supported just because they aren't a supermarket.
I don't support local shops unless they sell something I want. Otherwise fuck 'em
( Peej, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:14, Reply)

i think that's all they are asking for
people who do want what they sell to use them. it's not really just about local shops, it's about all retailers. will you be patting yourself on the back for saving a tenner on your holiday when thompson goes bust and thousands more people are shoved onto the dole and your pension makes no money because the fund isn't receiving rents from its property portfolio?

it's just about making a bit of effort to spread custom, not to change your lifestyle completely.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:21, Reply)

I'll buy from a local shop if they can match online prices.
If they can't, well fine. I don't owe anybody a living except me.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:24, Reply)

no you won't
you're dyed in the wool online. fine, but this country will be a damn sight poorer when the retailers are all online, employing far fewer people, and you can't just pop out to browse for books or nice stuff for your flat any more.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:33, Reply)

Basically your entire argument is "I like it better the way it is, I don't want it to change waaah"
But, as you've admitted yourself, you don't shop on the high street anymore than anybody else does.

At least I'm being fucking honest.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:35, Reply)

where did i admit that?
i said i try really hard to split my business - eg books. i buy about 30% from second hand or independent retailers, about 30% on amazon, and about 40% in waterstones
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:36, Reply)

www.b3ta.com/questions/offtopic/post2035209

You use supermarkets and online as much as anybody else. Plenty of people shop on the High Street and they STILL can't compete. It's like HMV and the giant panda. If you can't adapt, you die.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:39, Reply)

omg it's like you're deliberately not listening
if everybody just split their shopping a bit, it would be fine.

there is no need not to use supermarkets. and no need not to use online. just use a bit of everything.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:43, Reply)

Why should I split my shopping?
I don't owe these people
( Peej, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 15:36, Reply)

Convert the abandoned high street shops into social housing
kill two birds with one stone.
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:28, Reply)

and where will they work?

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:31, Reply)

from home
earning big money for stuffing envelopes and phoning vulnerable pensioners as "Windows Support".
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:47, Reply)

Stop buying things in supermarkets then

( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:10, Reply)

i try v hard to split my shopping
a bit online, a bit on the high street, a bit in shopping centres, and a bit in supermarkets. there'd be plenty of cash for all retailers if people made a bit of an effort to mix it up; it doesn't need to be all or nothing.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:12, Reply)

The local retailers can't compete with the prices, it's just the way it is
I'm anti-battery hen farming in principle, but I have a family to feed...so it's 7 quid for one chicken, or 3 for a tenner. Sorry local butcher, but I'm off to Tesco. This is the way of the world and it's only going to continue that way.
( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:13, Reply)

it's not a good way for the world to go, in my view
it's not like i preach about only buying local, or only buying organic, because i don't and would be fucking hypocritical if i did. but at the same time, ending up with everything being bought at the same massive supermarket is pretty fucking depressing
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:18, Reply)

I disagree
I know what you're saying...it's a shame for someone who's worked their whole lives building a business, only to be undercut by a giant supermarket...but this is just what happens. We don't buy our milk from a farm, because it's more convenient to get it from a shop. We don't go to a tailor, because there are loads of shops that sell clothes off the peg. We don't buy stamps, because we have sms and email.
( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:24, Reply)

... and then people whine because their clothes are being made by children in a sweatshop
or their burgers are full of horse
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:29, Reply)

Nope
Because if you complain about the sweatshops, they end up getting closed down...then loads of people who are GENUINELY on the poverty line LITERALLY starve to death.
( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:32, Reply)

lots of people are stupid, though
wah wah poor children, i had no idea, despite the fact that i only paid £5 for this shirt AND skirt
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:34, Reply)

It's what happens when you only have a few massive retailers who can force the suppliers to accept less money for their goods
than it costs to make them, and therefore have to rely on either government subsidies, or they go bust.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:53, Reply)

If I don't need to buy anything from a local shop why should I make an effort to support them so they can stay open for me not to buy anything from them?
I don't watch football and my local team is going bust, why should I give a fuck about saving them?
(Captain Give-A-Fuck #internetpals4eva, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:14, Reply)

sure, nobody should ever have any independent enterprise

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:16, Reply)

Not if it isn't sustainable, no

(Captain Give-A-Fuck #internetpals4eva, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:16, Reply)

that's right
now, get your apron on, tesco will pay you a fiver to sweep that floor
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:18, Reply)

But not next week - zero hours contract.
Pay the rent you say?
(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:23, Reply)

That's a ridiculous statement to make.
"I can't really be bothered to walk to the shops, let's take the car"
"YEAH AND EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE THEIR LEGS CUT OFF AND LETS CHOP DOWN ALL THE RAINFORESTS WHILE WE'RE AT IT"

Have some perspective.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:23, Reply)

but by "the shops" you mean a massive giant warehouse where everything looks the same?
lovely.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:30, Reply)

Well no, in this case it'll be a van bringing me my goods that I ordered online to my door.
You know, the way it already happens?

Swap "the shops" for "the beach" if it makes you feel better.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:33, Reply)

choosing stuff online is fine sometimes
other times it's just not the same.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:34, Reply)

www.b3ta.com/questions/offtopic/post2035264
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:36, Reply)

Everyone complained when the last of our traditional cinemas closed in Portsmouth
I reasoned that if we all went there to watch movies instead of the non-sticky floored, much bigger seats VUE cinema, it'd still be open. The corporations offer a better experience/better prices/more choice...if you can't keep up, then back out.
( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:17, Reply)

I fucking love my local greengrocer/fishmonger/butchers/independant-supermarkets.
If they're done right, they're way better than a super market.

If I drove, I don't think i'd go to the big supermarket.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:55, Reply)

Good.
We don't need it anymore. I'm sure he will do alright out of his 6 other shops and online business. Lovely free advertising in the mail though.
( Peej, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:12, Reply)

What a fucking cunt
Plus, the gayest of all job titles, even gayer than 'gay porn actor', is surely 'chocolatier'.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:13, Reply)

I thought chocolatier was gay slang for someone who was deviantly gay.

( Peej, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:15, Reply)

You'd know!!!!!!!!

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:16, Reply)

I may be a homo but I'm also a homeowner

( Peej, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:18, Reply)

I read this in the style of 'The Killers'

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:19, Reply)

He can always get a job in Tesco
They sell chocolates.
( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:14, Reply)

that's all anyone in wilmslow reads
that and the torygraph
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:15, Reply)

I don't care if the High Street dies.

( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:18, Reply)

so long as your virtual second life high street is alive and well

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:19, Reply)

Seriously, I couldn't give the slightest shit if it goes.
My prediction for the future is for increased online purchasing, large warehouses outside of towns for delivery and what used to be the High Street largely residential with pubs and cafes etc.

THe High Street is a relic.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:21, Reply)

This is precisely where we're heading.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:24, Reply)

it's as depressing as fuck as well

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:28, Reply)

No it fucking isn't.
I'll be well happy when there aren't crowds of witless spastics milling about on the street with their screaming, bratty children getting in my way.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:29, Reply)

but why will you be on the street?
a haircut once every few weeks? a generic starbucks coffee? and?
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:30, Reply)

And what?
Lower traffic both pedestrian and vehicular, quieter town centres and a pub on the corner. Sounds perfect.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:32, Reply)

no, it sounds dull and horrific
like a ghost town
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:35, Reply)

www.b3ta.com/questions/offtopic/post2035264
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:35, Reply)

your world sounds shit and i hope you're wrong and that you die in a chilli-infested ant fire

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:38, Reply)

It depends if it gets
redeveloped in the way that the Frenchie is envisioning. I see what he is getting at in that you will have a more residential high street so they will return to the Victorian style with cafes and "service" shops and no garish chain stores.

This may not be the reality though
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:36, Reply)

what will happen will be that the affluent parts will revitalise
and other places will become ghost towns
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:38, Reply)

I don't care if a bunch of Northerners and povvos spend their time drinking in third rate shit holes.

( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:40, Reply)

says the man who works in uxbridge

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:41, Reply)

Crucially, I don't live there.

( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:43, Reply)

Possibly
but it could go either way. I have seen lots of plans that include the residentialiastion (made up word alert) of high streets that look very well thought out, and they are also fairly cheap, so if that's the case it could be made to work. you will then have the drip feed of artisan shops from the affluent areas.... or it could go Detroit
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:41, Reply)

this is britain
have you seen the average twat that lives here?

what part of the average brit makes you think that anything will ever work out well?!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:44, Reply)

In a positive frame...
What you are expressing is the lowest common denominator I would suggest that the "average" brit is significantly better than you suggest. Yes there are many mouth breathers but the point of them is they are more visible than the mean. They are the ones cluttering up the high street when you want to do anything so they become the vision of average.
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:53, Reply)

Also will put an end to "shopping" as opposed to "buying"
"shopping" being code for "wandering from shoe shop to shoe shop with all the directional sense of a fart in a colander but never actually buying anything. All. Fucking. Day."
(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:39, Reply)

And good bloody riddance to it, too.

( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:40, Reply)

you wait
you'll be the one who is made to box them all back up and post them back and then spend hours pissing around waiting for the online retailers to refund your money when we HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO TRY THEM ON FIRST
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:40, Reply)

It's not our fault women's sizes are retarded.
Ours are done in inches. If you don't know what measurement your waist is, it's your own bloody problem.

Besides, plenty of women I know buy online without sending them back and I've never heard them complain about excessive delays.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:42, Reply)

you wait
by the time you and OG have kids, and you have to buy their clothes online because mothercare went bust ages ago, and you are spending every lunchtime queuing up in whatever replaces the post office to send back little charva's babygros... you'll look back and go, fuck swipe was right
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:45, Reply)

What it comes down to is me arguing legitimate points backed up by observable market trends
and you going "but I don't LIKE it!"
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:46, Reply)

no, i am saying the trends point in a sad and worrying direction
i deal with closures of these shops every day; i see how many people lose jobs and how many landlords lose properties over it. it's a crying shame.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:48, Reply)

It's nothing of the sort.
Adapt or die. That bloody chocolate shop isn't shutting down, it's still operating online. It will continue to do business online even if his other six shops close. It's not a shame, it's progress.
( Kroney, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:52, Reply)

Yeah, cos no-one ever buys an imperfectly fitting but exceptionally good looking shoe.

(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:44, Reply)

that's a different complaint
and an entirely legitimate one.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:45, Reply)

Besides, Next (for example) deliver to your door, and will then collect what doesn't fit.

(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:50, Reply)

yup

( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:25, Reply)

Who the fuck was he paying 1300
worth of wages to a week... maybe if he was a bit more astute he wouldn't have had to shut,
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:27, Reply)

Is that weekly???
I thought that was per month!! Jesus Christ.
( Two Hats 🎩🎩, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:37, Reply)

He had a weekly breakdown
So looking at the size of that shop and assuming he was paying an average of £200 pw per staff member (semi part time hours) he had at least 6 staff in there...
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:39, Reply)

he's right though, it was always v v busy

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:39, Reply)

6 members of staff busy
I doubt it?
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:42, Reply)

i don't think they were all on at once
he was open from breakfast to supper, 7 days a week, i think
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:45, Reply)

then £200/week is again too much for part time work

( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:51, Reply)

YEAH...

(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:54, Reply)

I suspect he had 3 Eastern Europeans on something piddling and paid himself the rest

( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 15:01, Reply)

I agree.
He's paying far too fucking much for lots of things in his 'open letter'. It is perfectly possible to run a successful independent business, but you have to work hard keeping on top of your costs, and checking and renegotiating prices and purchasing terms almost weekly. People whine about things costing too much, but spend their time complaining rather than doing anything about it.
( MEATSNAKE Richard Hammond, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:41, Reply)

YEAH, plus he's probably a fuckin bender

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:43, Reply)

EXACTLY.
And if he's a bender, he's probably a nonce too. We know this from credible scientific research.
( MEATSNAKE Richard Hammond, Thu 1 Aug 2013, 14:44, Reply)