Retail

[Scot Dutchy]

London is fantastic!

You are joking surely. The worst capital city in Europe by far. Just the traffic alone is really shocking.

[Rum]

London is fantastic!

You are joking surely. The worst capital city in Europe by far. Just the traffic alone is really shocking.

Oh fuck off.

[Svartalf]

Well, London is fantastic, if you can afford it... and if you got time.

[Scot Dutchy]

London is fantastic!

You are joking surely. The worst capital city in Europe by far. Just the traffic alone is really shocking.

Oh fuck off.

I was born there. It was a dump when I was born and it has never improved. The worst thing they did was get rid of the trolleys. They were quiet and exhaust free.

[Hermit]

Sometimes, the restrictions on lorries is ridiculous. We have deliveries in London where the cost of the fine is incorporated into the bill for the customer.

All costs of all goods and services are always ultimately borne by the customer. It's either that, or the goods / services provider goes broke.

I used to hand over all my parking tickets to the prime contractor, who would take care of them, no questions asked. With about 150 drivers doing that you'd be a fool to think those costs were not included in freight rate calculations, which in turn finish up as part of the price you pay for every shirt or whatever else it might be you buy.

[DRSB]

In Zurich downtown you cannot buy the simplest of things like sunscreen without talking to at least one, usually 3 persons that come up to you with "Can I help you", sometimes before you are properly through the door. If your intention is to simply pick up the good, pay and go, it is not possible. Ultimately, these sales persons have their salaries and pensions funds that you pay for and there are no sunscreens below 30 EUR. No wonder people look to buy as much as possible online. Even bookstores are closing because I've been buying most of my reading in kindle format.

[Rum]

In Zurich downtown you cannot buy the simplest of things like sunscreen without talking to at least one, usually 3 persons that come up to you with "Can I help you", sometimes before you are properly through the door. If your intention is to simply pick up the good, pay and go, it is not possible. Ultimately, these sales persons have their salaries and pensions funds that you pay for and there are no sunscreens below 30 EUR. No wonder people look to buy as much as possible online. Even bookstores are closing because I've been buying most of my reading in kindle format.

The opposite of what they do at the other end of the market. My daughter has had temporary jobs in retail in between University courses (it feels like that anyway). She worked for several long stints in a computer games store where all the contracts were between 8 and 20 hours or so and they worked out from week to week how much staf time they would need and employ you accordingly.

Both 'models' don't seem to me to be sustainable.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Sometimes, the restrictions on lorries is ridiculous. We have deliveries in London where the cost of the fine is incorporated into the bill for the customer.

All costs of all goods and services are always ultimately borne by the customer. It's either that, or the goods / services provider goes broke.

I used to hand over all my parking tickets to the prime contractor, who would take care of them, no questions asked. With about 150 drivers doing that you'd be a fool to think those costs were not included in freight rate calculations, which in turn finish up as part of the price you pay for every shirt or whatever else it might be you buy.

Well, it's no wonder high street retailers are closing down, what with transportation costs. The actual logistics of getting deliveries into the towns, the fuel costs, the restrictions, the emissions limitation (that's understandable, but having to keep buying the latest "cleaner" trucks still cost), and of course, the shortage of lorry drivers (caused by low wage, expensive driving tests, etc).

[Clinton Huxley]

The former bike shop near me is now some hellish "Writers Collective and second hand bookshop". Smells like socialism to me.

I went in to have a look and a terribly frail old woman and her over-affectionate hound followed me about, licking me (the hound) and asking me if i was a big fan of whatever genre of book i was browsing (the woman).

The sooner it is turned into a Costa Coffee the better.

[Scot Dutchy]

Well it is not a Yummy Mummy shop. We had one. It did not last. TFC.

[Clinton Huxley]

There used to be a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye that only sold books about bee-keeping. It only traded for about 20 years.

[Scot Dutchy]

Some people have limited demands.

[Tero]

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018 ... ars-amazon

“I understand this because I worked in supermarkets for years, and the trend is either toward Whole Foods or, on the other end of the spectrum, toward Walmart. It’s a real polarisation.”

[Hermit]

Well, it's no wonder high street retailers are closing down, what with transportation costs. The actual logistics of getting deliveries into the towns, the fuel costs, the restrictions, the emissions limitation (that's understandable, but having to keep buying the latest "cleaner" trucks still cost), and of course, the shortage of lorry drivers (caused by low wage, expensive driving tests, etc).

That may be a major factor where you live. In Australia not so much. Properly licensed drivers are a dime a dozen. There are no restrictions for trucks getting into retail areas - not even into the CBD of Australia's biggest city, Sydney. I can tell you from experience, the running and standing costs, including finance, of a new truck is less than an older one. I owned two of each. Diesel and petrol costs have not even kept up with general CPI increases over the past 35 years.

The two main factors hitting the glass and brick shops the most, at least here in Australia, are skyrocketing rents and the internet making it possible to bypass those overheads via the internet.