Bring Back Shops

[Ellie]

So um yeah, I need a book right this minute for something, and while it's readily available on the Internet, there's no way I can get it right now and it's pissing me off.

I mean, it's not vitally important. But given the number of former specialist bookshops around here that would have sold it... it's disgusting that they are all now Waterstones.

Waterstones used to be good but now, due to the advent of the Internet, only stocks the most popular titles. What's more, every Waterstones stocks exactly the same range of books.

Birmingham has three branches of Waterstones. There's one in Wolverhampton and one in Merry Hill, plus several others. That's all within a 10 mile radius of each other... And yet they all stock exactly the same books.

Wouldn't it make sense for them to stock a different range? Or are we all supposed to read exactly the same books and never travel further than our local highstreet to buy them?

I went to Hamleys, the largest toy shop in Britain, in London. Seven floors of toys. I went there specifically to find a Lego set I'd been after. I'd found it online, but that's just... not the same. Anyway, when I got there, I was frankly disappointed. The prices were more than other stores and they sold exactly the same range as Toys R Us, The Entertainer, hell even Tesco. If every toy shop sells the same things, what's the point of having different toy shops at all? No wonder people don't shop in high streets any more, every shop sells the same thing.

Even Dominoes - the largest independant toy shop in the country - sells exactly the same range as Hamleys and the aforementioned - which is pointless.

But then it's the same with everything. Supermarkets all sell the same groceries and all pricematch with other supermarkets now. There's nothing you can buy in an independant or department store that you can't buy in a large supermarket.

I mean, what's the point of shopping around these days? Not only do they sell the same goods, but they also have the same prices where possible. Supermarkets like Asda now even pricematch against non-food retailers, such as Argos.

No wonder Best Buy are pulling out of the UK. They actually did have a unique range different to PC World, Currys, and all the other price-war competitors. But because of this they were running at a loss. It's as if people don't want a range any more. They want to be offered the most popular things, and nobody wants independant, locally sourced, or unique goods any more.

...except they do, I can't be alone in my wish for independant, specialist stores to return.

I often find myself shopping in the local DIY shop (a family ran business that's been there for decades) over Wickes, B&Q, or Homebase, regional chains that run "big box stores". These BBS's only stock the most popular items.

Yes, you won't find everything in the local DIY store... but then because they are local, they stock things the locals want. It's a local shop for local people. It's not pushing the most popular range nationwide onto local customers. It's not forcing everybody to buy and do the same things.

Shops should be tailored to their locality and should change their stock respective to what people want. If a national chain does badly somewhere, then they are stocking things the local customers don't want, and not enough of what they do want or need. This is obviously going to be different from a megalopolis to a hamlet in the chilterns to a Welsh seaside town.

Woolworths was a deep loss as it sold everything everyone could possibly want but it went too far in this. If the branches were independant, smaller, and stocked what people in the local area wanted, instead of having giant stores attempting to stock everything, they wouldn't have ran at a loss.

A national chain my sister works at has various big box stores across this county of 2.2 million people. Some shops in the chain do worse than others. Some make a loss. Instead of changing the stock of those stores to fit the local area, they instead balance the books by taking accounts for the county as a whole. Now you don't have over/underperforming shops, you have an overperforming county. That's nice, but it means the underperforming shops are just going to continue on their downward spiral. When big management finally notices... the shops will be shut down.

Anyway, discuss :x

 

[BlueScope]

Not much to discuss... you're right in that differing shops are cooler for the customer than chains, but the latter is what gets the real big money with less risk and the shared effort of marketing, pricing and company policy. Giving up one of those, for example shared range of books, would up the costs while not gaining anything from it but a few single more satisfied customers.

Plus people are price whores... it's quantity over quality for a while now :/

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

agreed, i have to buy almost everything i want online nowadays

 

[Venetia]

lol I live in Tampa. We don't have shops at all. It's ALL big-name retail.

(well, not ENTIRELY. but you have to make a real effort to find a non-chain store or restaurant here).

i feel completely the same way as you ... And yet, I am just as guilty as the next person, because if I need to buy a thing, I know damn well the best price to be had will be found at a big box retailer. So I go there.

I make a real effort to support small/local gaming stores, even though they're like atleast 20-50% more expensive than what I could find online. But other than that and random groceries, I can't afford to shop at smaller places

For instance, there's this ceiling fan store a ways down the street. Their prices are like a bajillion times higher than Wal-Mart's or Lowe's.

Sure, they SPECIALIZE in ONLY ceiling fans, so their selection is wider. But the difference in price is ridiculous.

Sure, I could get a nicely-crafted fan that is quieter & more ornate ... But in the end, it's a fucking ceiling fan, something that people don't really look at, and which spin anyway, so what's the point in paying extra?

It's a nasty cycle ... But unless big chain retail is outlawed or something, it's one that will continue to perpetuate, I'm afraid!

(But then outlawing them would be dumb, as they create jobs!)

No good solution.

 

[Tindy]

The answer is easy -- well, in theory, anyway -- get rid of cars and reinstate trolleys, trains, etc etc.

Big box stores can exist, because we're inherently lazy. We'd rather just drive our car 10-30 minutes to get to a big box where the prices are cheaper than ride a trolley or a bus -- and we're SO lazy, in fact, that trolleys and buses have ALSO almost ceased to exist!

In places where more people walk locally than drive -- Portland, Seattle, small tight-knit towns, most of Japan -- there're many more small-time shops available. Mom n' Pop toy stores, book stores, candy stores, coffee shops. It's easy to support them because the community supports you -- everyone walks, or bikes, or rides the trolley, etc, and that's what's normal.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

That kind of plan is only feasible in cities, unfortunately. I live in a town with less than 5000 people in it, and the only thing that stores sell here is food and farming supplies, with a few small clothes stores. We have to drive 20 miles to the nearest city to get most of the things we need - it's the same story in almost every rural town.

Buses run only twice a day, early in the morning and late in the afternoon, which isn't very feasible for most people.

 

[BlueScope]

...that, and getting rid of cars would be kind of drastic ^^

There's another thing to it: Some small stores, like one that's pretty close to me just do what they do well: Specialize, price, market, franchise.
It's a comic store that's pretty well-stocked on collectible card games, especially MTG (naturally, I went there rather often in my earlier days ^^ ), and compared to big retailers, they don't only supply the goods, but also the mood. You come into that store and you're surrounded with dragon statues, dark environments and spooky-looking counters. The back has a large table that's almost always occupied with TCG-battling folks, and when you buy something, you don't just leave the place with a paper bag, but with one that has some kind of comic idol on it in a very fancy way. All that makes fans of that kind of stuff go there instead of anywhere else to buy there stuff, even if the Vader mask costs 180 bucks instead of 100.
I suppose it's much like going to an official car dealer rather than next neighbour's shack: Even though you pay more, you have a better feeling about it in the end.

Conclusion: Specializing in ceiling fans is pretty dumb, but if you choose the right speciality, you stand way more than a chance.

 

[Elf Wind]

Well, the main problem is people buy a lot of stuff online because it's generally cheaper. Amazon often has good prices on things. If people are buying things online and a shop isn't making money on a product, they would be stupid to keep selling that product. They whole point is making money, and selling what the majority wants makes money.

I agree with you though, but the world works in a shitty way I guess lol I shop mostly online anyway, lazy and what not lol Although I love looking in game shops at old games and such. I'm glad the pre-owned market isn't effected by this much.

Also... "It's a local shop for local people." lmao Just reminds me of The League of Gentlemen XD