Cre@tive
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Save Woolworths.. last few days before final closure on 5th Jan.
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Peoples-Woolies/#detail
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Peoples-Woolies/#detail
...saving 30,000 jobs and the 700 high street stores that have been serving the public for 99 years. The rescued People's Woolies will be a bulwark against the worst effects of the recession, employing local people, buying from local producers, easily reached by public transport, and providing the goods and services that people on low incomes need. We ask the government to do this as a matter of urgency, before Woolworths assets are stripped without any public benefit.
In our Town now we have three Pound stores and they are the shops that are always packed with shoppers all year round
This does have an upside though, High Streets face stiff competition from the big supermarket chains and the remaining shops may see a natural balancing of trade improvement as a result of Woolies departure.
I agree.
Firstly, pound shops and charity shops excepted, independent High Street shops cannot compete with the supermarkets on price, largely because the supermarkets get a far larger discount from the wholesalers, as is normal when buying in bulk. The corner shop where I used to live did a roaring trade, because the owner had sussed out his customers and his philosophy was "keep the bread and milk cheap even if you're only breaking even on it, and customers will come in, picking up other things while they're there for convenience without worrying about the price difference", but what he had to pay for things from the wholesaler was far more than what the supermarkets paid.
So much so that if, say, he was running low on spuds in late afternoon, the greengrocer's delivery not being until the next morning, he would happily just jump in the van and go round to Tesco's to buy a load more - their retail price was no more than the wholesale greengrocer's price. It also meant, of course, that regulars knew that if they called in on their way home from work, the corner shop would have their normal range in stock, no "Sorry, we're out of them until tomorrow", so the regulars didn't have to worry and, to save lugging things round on the bus and tube, would leave it until they'd got off the bus on the last leg home - a customer who gets what they want will come back again.
Secondly, a lot of people do their "big" shop at the supermarket, but visit the High Street for the odd specialist bits and pieces that the supermarket doesn't sell, and/or for various "nice" but not "essential" services. While they are there, they are quite likely to spend a few pounds in shops that they didn't specifically go there for.
When money is tight, the shopkeeper who cannot compete with the supermarket on price loses out, because customers think "Do I really need that right now or shall I wait until I go to the supermarket, where it's cheaper", the ladies in the family think twice about how often they have their hair done in that nice friendly salon in the High Street, so don't go there as often, etc., etc.
Result? You can see it in many towns already where the loss of a major industry which the whole economy of the town depended has resulted in massive unemployment - boarded up shops, a bleak and almost empty High Street, and the only things doing a good trade are the giant supermarket out on the ring-road and the bus that takes people there.