BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[briantrumpet]

Meanwhile they’ll bemoan all the coffee shops which are one of the things keeping any kind of life in the High Street (and Greggs which, like it or not, has managed to massively buck the trend in retail decline in the past decade).

Caffe Nero too. Couldn't believe how many there were in Leeds.

 

[First Aspect]

Caffe Nero too. Couldn't believe how many there were in Leeds.

You've been to Leeds? How are you feeling after a few days to recover?

 

[icowden]

I see it all the time on local FB groups. All the shops we need to rejuvenate the town (M&S is usually top of the list we I guess shows the demographic) yet we had most of these stores in the last 10-15 years

We've still got an M&S food but otherwise it's the same moan "Rituals has gone, and Monsoon, Debenhams closed, Gap went... we should be attracting big names not letting them close..."

They closed because no-one bought much. They went in for a look and then spent their money elsewhere.

 

[briantrumpet]

You've been to Leeds? How are you feeling after a few days to recover?

I'm shocked to admit it, but I liked it, not least as you can see what the wealth of the industrial revolution went to build. It makes Exeter look like some rural backwater, in comparison. (Well, it is really, as the last period of huge wealth in Devon would have been down to the farming and wool trade in the 15th century.)

 

[First Aspect]

I'm shocked to admit it, but I liked it, not least as you can see what the wealth of the industrial revolution went to build. It makes Exeter look like some rural backwater, in comparison. (Well, it is really, as the last period of huge wealth in Devon would have been down to the farming and wool trade in the 15th century.)

You still don't sound well.

 

[briantrumpet]

You still don't sound well.

I probably marginally prefer this, though it's close-run, obvs.

 

[AuroraSaab]

 

[First Aspect]

View attachment 12714

Isn't that cartoon sexist?

 

[AuroraSaab]

The blokes don't look to fare much better than the women. It's certainly a bit Loinerist.

 

[First Aspect]

It also isn't clear what JD Vance is doing there.

 

[BoldonLad]

I guess this is us on NCAP 😉

View attachment 12704

hmm... I wonder what the average age is, here on NCAP, there has to be SOME under 60's?

 

[BoldonLad]

Aren't business rates still an issue? Why is having something personally delivered more cost effective than getting it yourself? Also, high streets don't need to be a load of shops they can be other things, but creating an environment where everyone just stays at home sounds pretty miserable to me.

Exactly, High Streets do not have to be about shopping, indeed, my personal view is "why would I waste time and effort going to a shop, when I could be doing something I find more enjoyable?"

 

[AuroraSaab]

I think retail parks have a lot to do with the demise of town centres. Free parking and the kind of shops that used to be on the high street: Boots, TKMaxx, the modern equivalents of Woolworths like BandM and The Range, and fast food outlets. The ones round here are packed at weekends.

 

[First Aspect]

I probably marginally prefer this, though it's close-run, obvs.

View attachment 12713

Yeah I just spent a few days in the Alps and I can see the appeal. Brexit has been a real bummer for long term plans.

 

[BoldonLad]

There's a difference between justified moaning about business rates and making the (impossible) revival of the High Street to what it was in times past a central political 'wedge issue'. Dealing with high business rates isn't going to reverse inevitable decline, merely ameliorate the rate of decline. Reform are picking an issue which they will claim that only they can solve, as other parties know it's not solvable and won't make that promise. (Well, if they do make that promise, they are simply deluding themselves that their unicorns are more attractive than Reform's.) It's probably a good bet that people will vote for unicorns yet again, because they want to be lied to, and it's more comforting in the short term than accepting reality.

Reform need another 'wedge issue', now that we've left the EU, and immigration has collapsed. Obviously I'm not in the Reformy bubble (any more than their supporters are part of my wokey-liberal bubble), but I'd be amazed if the High Street & pub thing isn't plastered over every single social media channel they inhabit. Well, that, and people with brown skin needing to be deported, obvs.

As I type, I local Labour MP is posting on FB claiming that she is pushing the Government to help our local Labour Council, revive our local High Street.

The high street in question is not in decline, it is totally dead.