Does the High Street have a future?

“Every day we hear of retail stores closing down and putting jobs at risk.  Yesterday, William Hill announced the closure of 700 stores, a few days ago Boots confirmed the closure of 200 pharmacies and earlier this year it was the same for Marks and Spencer, BHS and so on.

Business Insider calls it the “retail apocalypse”, which involved around 7,000 stores in 2019 and it is not just happening in the UK.  The question is: would there be a future for retail stores and the high street, or do we have to start considering a new model for our city centres and shopping habits.  Kirklees Council has a strong positive opinion about this considering that last week they decided to give the green light to a very ambitious (and very much expensive) plan to rethink Huddersfield town centre.  

This is all great, but is that what is needed right now?  People are spending less money due to a general uncertainty regarding politics (in the USA, as in the UK, as in many other countries).  Also, more attention to environmental problems has started to make people question their shopping habits.  There is a general sense of tiredness and unhappiness around the world, with social media magnifying problems and exacerbating them.  Fake news and the desire of bullying other peoples' opinions are doing the rest.  There are a lot of talks about inclusivity, gender equality, acceptance, but everything sounds so far from everyday life.  We are all feeling more secure in our home, behind our screens.  So, yes, the high street is important, and jobs are fundamental to live.  However, many businesses went on for ages in the comfort of their strategic choices and got lazy and what they are paying today (on workers’ skin) is the missed opportunity to innovate when it was time to do so (and it is not just selling online instead of offline).  

However, instead of considering what could be done to help businesses to learn a bit of strategic management, I would like to focus on people.  What is it that people need right now?  Community, engagement, inclusivity, friendship, good feelings, respect for the other, civic morality, altruism….  They need to be remembered that being born on the right side of the world is just a stroke of luck, and we all should be thankful for this every day.  You are probably wondering what is all this about, and what it has to do with the High Street.  Well, before the high street was the high street, in many countries it was the Agorá.  It was not only a public place for assemblies and markets, but it was also the centre of the public life, the centre of the athletic, artistic, spiritual, political life.  Most of the ancient life was shared in this public space.  Looking at how consumers are more and more interested in living experiences, which are meaningful and significant for them, and less and less interested in spending money to purchase goods: why don’t we go back to think as the town centre as the centre of town life.  Yes, shops are important, like restaurants and pubs, but what about a bit more focus on people and a bit less focus on businesses?  A bit more towards values and less towards money?  I know that we are not all so lucky, and many are struggling even to have something to eat, but sometimes a friendly attitude, a smile, a nice word, is just what is needed.  Be considered for what we are… people.  So, I don’t have the answer about the future of the high street, but I have a utopian idea.  It should be more inclusive and provide meaningful experiences (and many businesses already know this), there should be open spaces, nice activities, safe and positive places to enjoy as a community.”