Why the retail industry is failing

[@AurumUsagi]

HMV are actually having a bit of a renaissance, since they've recently cashed in on the vinyl revival and booming demand for pop culture items.

[@wisteela]

I also love that they've got loads of Stranger Things and Umbrella Academy T shirts.

[@TANGARASandOSCARS]

3 words: Car centric lifestyle Back in the day, you would walk/train/cycle/bus into the town. Now everyone drives, the aim of the game has changed.

[@AurumUsagi]

There's the biggest issue of parking fees. Here in the Berkshire/Hampshire area, fees have increased, and Reading has the worst fees. For a few hours of parking, you might as well hop on a train to London, where there's obviously still variety.

[@InfinityR319]

If you wanna know what a car-centric urban planning looks like, just look at North America.

[@AurumUsagi]

@@InfinityR319 We have the closest example to that in Milton Keynes. Even the roads there are based on the American grid system, though it doesn't have the same type of signalled intersections at each end of them. It's mostly just roundabouts at each end.

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

Maplin was a huge loss. Often you are in a position of having to get something to work again and Maplin could help you out. For example at work a vendor wanted a cable for a projector, they just went across to Maplin and got one. Both Maplins in the London Square mile had to operate multiple tills just to keep up with the demand.

[@mumboking]

6:09 That building with the clock on it was Times Furnishing. It used to have the store's name on it with animated neon. You can see it in action in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZScoayZj6l1paM (10:27, if it doesn't skip there automatically.) Sadly, that building is being mostly converted into flats too, with an extra floor being added on too. They've removed the clock (which hasn't worked for years) too. 7:58 This is now a furniture/tat shop. 12:08 Not only was this Woolworths, that building was built specifically for them. 13:40 That's not just any M&S clock, that's an M&S clock that hasn't show the correct time for quite a while and both sides say a different time. 13:51 That M&S was the women's one, and has closed. The one with the clock was the men's one. 15:27 Fremlin Walk was built where the Fremlin's Brewery used to be. They knocked it and several other old buildings down to build... that... thing. 18:52 This building was built for Burton. I think someone said there used to be a pool room upstairs? Yes, this building is now empty. 19:29 Yep, there are way too many of these around. You can see another one from there a few doors up from Burton. 20:03 The Royal Star Arcade, originally the Royal Star Hotel, which was a coaching inn. The lights are often buzzing in there. Sadly, they removed the bandstand. David Bowie played there before with The Manish Boys, and there's a blue plaque there. 22:32 Oh, they're planning on building apartments there too. 23:01 That old design was so much better than the horrible light-up blocks and no canopy... Yeah, that's not the original design. Just search for Stoneborough Centre and you'll find a photo of the original design. 23:21 I hate the makeover they did. The old ceiling and floor were fine and looked better. 26:18 They're giving the bus station a makeover too. It was meant to be finished in June... They're still working on it. Gone are the glass blocks, now you get coloured pillars and metal railings... Ugh.

[@gl-glamorganlifts2902]

In Wales it’s not out of the ordinary to see a prison near a high street, Cardiff and Swansea have prisons in the city centre. Around Swansea prison there are signs saying ‘no drones’. But of course, that won’t do anything.

[@grassytramtracks]

Why wouldn't they put them a bit out of the way? Most people don't want to be around prisons

[@gl-glamorganlifts2902]

I’m assuming it may have something to do with how buildings were positioned years ago, since a lot of the time, the courts would be next to the prisons; keeping them in close proximity for obvious reasons. Courts would probably have to be placed in city centres for whatever reasons.

[@xav500011]

30 years ago there was shops like Dixons that sold overpriced fat back 24" TV's and VHS video recorders for around £400 each. And in those times it was old fashioned British customer service where grumpy shop assistants had moods like the weather. I am 46 years old and I love the availability of cheap consumer technology. Now I am living a nerd dream where I have a collection of retro computers and other stuff.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

MiSTer

[@MajorCaliber]

Zooming out a bit, to a societal level, is it good for retail to go away from local shopkeepers who can afford a middle-class life, and towards a few billionaires running mega-corps (Amazon, etc.), and paying dirt wages to exploited employees? The advance of display tech from durable/repairable "fat-back" CRTs to throw-away flat-screens has nothing to do with the retail outlets.

[@EEverything360]

18:53 Arcadia, they also owned Debenhams.

[@AurumUsagi]

They did until the late 1990s, but still maintained close links through concessions placed within their stores. That led to a domino effect where both chains collapsed, and subsequently got bought by fashion giant Boohoo, with the remainder of Arcadia going to competitor ASOS, and the plus-sized Evans going to some Aussie company.

[@barnabas5688]

Yes, Arcadia as owned by Philip Greed. If you think Mike Ashley is bad, that guy was on another level of capitalist twattery.

[@gigteevee6118]

Great "Time Walk".....I've done this with my local area, luckily it's aged better than Maidstone, but everywhere history is great via Street View!

[@OofBerry1]

M&S just annoucned today they are closing the store with the clock.

[@brandonfrost6540]

The bus station has been revamped recently and its nowhere near as grotty as it used to be though there is a muriel just outside and that got vandalised within a few days of it being open

[@ezrqil]

What’s happening to town centers in the UK is sort of like the dead mall crisis over here in the US, These huge and ugly shopping malls aren’t doing well because of many different reasons (tacky shops, bad decisions, anchor stores like macys/Dillards/JCPenny/Nordstrom/other department stores leaving, and also COVID as well as the main reason being that there are too many of them that are too close to each other for example, there are TWO BIG WESTFIELD malls that are only 7-8 miles apart and are both off the same highway meaning they are litterally like a 10-20 minute drive between the malls) most people have migrated to those big shops and surprisingly town centers.

[@harrymcandrew1447]

5:55 a sue rider shop took place in a carphone were house that didnt do to well near me thinking theyd not last long they seem to still be oddly still active

[@dxmedia9258]

Just look at Rotherham town centre. Even Poundland has closed down now

[@Andrewjg_89]

Well it’s not just Rotherham. It’s everywhere. I live near Basildon and Southend-on-Sea in Essex and both towns are sort of empty with empty shops. Even Chelmsford has some empty shops. And I used to live near Norwich and there were only few shops closed down including a big Debenhams store.

[@dxmedia9258]

@@Andrewjg_89 Rotherham is by far the worst. The only shop left there is home bargains.

[@Andrewjg_89]

@@dxmedia9258 Ok

[@itznoah8796]

I'm from Worksop and I've visited Rotherham Argos in 2019, it was empty then. Both are declining and I feel bad for Rotherham who have to survive with Meadowhall. Parkgate is good though.

[@itznoah8796]

I am a teen but know my stuff about business, I am very interested in your explorations and information. I also like department stores. Thank you for your channel.

[@dykodesigns]

I quite liked department stores and computer stores such as Dixons. As a kid I regularly visited video rental stores, kind of have nostalgic memories to them. I think one of the problems is that there so many chain stores that are more of the same dominating the town centers. It’s not much different in the Netherlands, lots of vacant stores and brands that have gone the past 20 years.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I remember Virgin Megastore before it was taken over by Zavvi but they too disappeared. I wish that Virgin Megastores did come back.

[@ZLDSmogless]

Sauchiehall street in Glasgow and Princess Street in Edinburgh have been hit hard as well. They just have crappy tourist shops, empty units and overpriced small shops

[@ReubenAshwell]

It's really a shame that retail on the high street is declining. It's nice to be able to shop and have a look at things in person before buying them. This isn't gonna last long due to online shopping getting really big.

[@TheDragonFire123]

We had a scare when Myer temporarily shut quite a few of their stores due to COVID-19, leading many to believe the end was nigh. Thankfully they came back; I wonder what about Australia is more conducive to high end department stores surviving.

[@NANA-jt4dq]

Yeah, Australian stores seem to last a bit longer especially the 60’s department stores. If you know Knox shopping centre which I assume is like 50’s centre obviously Westfield owns it but most of the stores are still there like Myer or David Jones.

[@TheDragonFire123]

@@NANA-jt4dq Unfortunately I don't live in the same state as Knox, but it seems interesting. I'd have to look it up.

[@NANA-jt4dq]

@Xi Xi That’s so awesome!

[@357account]

somerfields ? i used to have a somerfields (now waitrose) but it was a very small one but it did have lifts it only went 1 floor up tho so the shop is downstairs and the tiny car park is upstairs

[@joshlunt7827]

RIP Blockbuster, Woolworths and BHS (as physical shops)

[@357account]

oh yeah this is also happening where i live in southend lots of the shops in the high street are closed

[@jfwfreo]

I think a big contributor to the death of the UK high street is the growth of big shopping centres outside of town (or in the suburbs) anchored by a big supermarket.

[@jupieterr]

It’s sad, since even in the 90s shopping was going slightly downhill.. a big department store in my town closed in 1998, and that was around for 120 years! It was one of the only two locations in the uk, the other one was in Oxford I believe.

[@Finnstransportvideos12]

14:21 Speaking of multiple shops my local boots has 3 stores in the same high street boots 1 pharmacy boots 2 makeup health and beauty and boots 3 optisions

[@WarrenBrown-t9t]

My local is actually owned by Morrisons. It’s a bit like their version of a Tesco Express or Sainsbury’s local.

[@aziz75568]

Places I know that shutdown: M&S, Debenhams, BHS

[@joshlunt7827]

Interesting video, Beno!

[@SummerADDE_Elevators]

This reminds me of Stockholm City's decline of BIG CORPORATIONS office space. Back in the 1950's, the entire city center was utterly destroyed and redeveloped, replacing beautiful city architecture to make room for the new fancy metro and the BIG CORPORATIONS office complexes. Now, 70 years later and the BIG CORPORATIONS are moving out to Kista and Solna as the rent are way too expensive and neighbouring communes and office zoning competes to have the BIG CORPORATIONS headquartered there. The empty office spaces in the city center has been converted to hotels or are rented out to small business.

[@zabolsh]

yea offices especially bank offices not needed as the banks dont have to pay rent as employees at home working from now on it seems.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I agree with you Beno. I think its so sad that retail industry is failing and so many high street shops are closing because of Covid-19 and Brexit. As most people blame Brexit for it. But there's more than that. Even the government are also to be blamed.

[@connorlikessimulation8561]

It’s not Brexit

[@Andrewjg_89]

@@connorlikessimulation8561 Ok 👍

[@SamsVlogstrainsmore]

Totally Agree Beno

[@joesbustrainplaneliftadven9118]

Do Chatham

[@realfrowz]

Debenhams is closing, gap is closing. Whats next Mc donalds

[@wisteela]

Excellent video, and very interesting.

[@matthewsmith2787]

National lockdowns should never have went ahead, it’s been bad for peoples mental health. The elderly and vulnerable should have been the ones who were shielding

[@scottflannigan3062]

Thatvwas the problem people was shielding wiyh non shielding people, the whole problem Capitalism can't cope with these sort of things

[@EdgyNumber1]

Decline of the high street happened way before lockdown. Some would argue before internet shopping became a big thing over a decade ago.

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

Rents, Business Rates, and Parking prices... the free market economy alone is not going to solve the problems here. In my opinion rents and rates need to be charged based on the profits the actual shops make. Unfortunately, that level of control is a dirty word. However, the free market alone cannot solve the problems.

[@nelsonahlvik6650]

What keyboard switches do you have?

[@CameronBullion-hb8xo]

I’m so last but it’s fun to see my own town

[@dennisthefireengine2761]

When ever I go to Matalan I feel like those Otis lifts are still there but they have turned into a staff area. But they are probably gone

[@archiecampbell3211]

It happened in Bangor Northern Ireland it has absolutely nothing that town has had a bloody awful decline

[@ytzaika]

Lived in Maidstone for the majority of my life. When i was a kid in the 2000s, i remember everything so fondly and i haven't been in about four years and it was a SHITHOLE.

[@itsthatsebguy93]

Interesting stuff.

[@dragogos]

I do expect that the city center streets that have been redesigned to be pedestrian only are gonna be turned back into normal streets cause, well, every shop there will be a shitshow. Eh, what do you expect when online shops exist, like for example in the United States, shopping centers die and have almost no shops because of online shopping. It's interesting to see that in England shopping centers still survive, and in my home country (Romania), shopping centers are very popular from some miracle. I guess we will have to wait and see what will happen to Maidstone's city center 🤷.

[@techtinkerin]

Lmao at your colourful description 😊❤️

[@BluestarFanOfficial]

Should try bargate Street in Southampton a lot changed and around Central Southampton

[@isaactimmins8959]

town centres need more than shops to survive but even the leisure activities like restaurants & cinemas are pushed out & with it most retail parks are a nightmare to get too as a non driver as the car is king, bus users are 2nd fiddle, although given the way some in the community treat their assets no wonder we are all separating there is no community spirit anymore,

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

Maplin went bankrupt but they are now back but unfortunately they are now online only

[@danjumliftsandpublictransp371]

Hi do you still work on skyscrapersim?

[@janetfryer4922]

Interesting video, some good insights. Have you ever, or would you ever do a Q&A/ Ask Me Anything about you, your videos, your interests and how you got started?

[@benolifts]

I have done a couple of times in the past. I attempted to do one a few months ago, but I didn't get many questions that I found interesting. Also a lot of questions were about past projects or video series that I have not worked on in years. There were not many questions about current projects, and the questions that were were asking about upcoming trips. I can't talk about upcoming trips as there will be someone watching who will think it is funny to go and bait it. If I got questions on technical details about subjects that I know a lot about, I would find that interesting for a video.

[@janetfryer4922]

@@benolifts Ah, I'm clueless on technical stuff so I couldn't even attempt to ask anything to do with that - my questions would be more on how you got involved with exploration, what triggered the interest in lifts, how do you find your exploration partners, do you read a lot of background materials on your subject location, is there anywhere you want to do, is there anything you would think is too difficult or inaccessible, are you worried about getting caught or trapped & do you visit and risk assess beforehand etc etc...... Probably questions that you might not find interesting but I would (& others might). I enjoy watching your stuff - I'm 56 & have an interest in architecture, buildings and especially the tube & London and you go into the places that I am too old, too inflexible and too scared of heights to get to. Keep it up! :-D

[@dennisthefireengine2761]

YAY MAIDSTONE

[@S2artrail]

Funny how Wilko has “disappeared” and is meant to return after December

[@Mike-77-YT]

Wilko went into administration, and the holding company decided to re-open some of their locations, such as the one in Exeter, and Rotherham Parkgate.

[@ka9910-p1u]

I live in Maidstone

[@griffithsgriffiths1529]

As a gerodie I was glad when Mike Ashley sold Newcastle United football club because he ran the club down and it was embarrassing to support them because of how much of a shithole football club he made it and I only buy my trainers at Sports Direct because they sell Nike air max which I need because if I need to walk I walk for 1 hour

[@gtavstepfordcounty1733]

Block buster still exists in America in bend Oregon

[@zac7062]

500 Gate City Hwy Bristol VA

[@stuartrayfield1448]

Where Primark is used to be the Littlewoods store before it was a Primark and yes it is not big enough that one They closed one of the Marks and Spencer's when the new one opened in Eclipse Park near the out of town Next/Next Home keeping the one with the food hall open, now they are closing the one with the food hall on January 8th and consolidating to the one store in Eclipse Park which is sad. Also thee used to be a Next in Fremlin Walk where River Island is and they closed that one when the big one in Eclipse Park opened which surprised me as I thought they might have closed the Next in the Chequers Centre because it's tiny Maidstone might be "failing" in your opinion but I think it's doing slightly better than Canterbury which seems to be doing even worse IMHO

[@windowsxpnt2347]

Hey Austin this is guys If CEX ever goes belly up, good fucking riddance, overpriced games, consoles, graphics cards and phones, that place is a major scam sometimes

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Whooooa! Xpnt put something at the bottom! CEX will sell you a scratched up Wii but sometimes makes up for it by throwing in new condition Wii remotes it seems.

[@Andrewjg_89]

Maybe CEX could change you from windows xpnt to Windows 10nt or even Windows 11nt 😉

[@windows7nt208]

Hey guys... yeah I have to be the one to agree...

[@KIRBZVIDS]

Swindon beconing very like this its sad to see a once good town go to wast swindon town center looks a dump latly thay cant even keep on to of pulling the weeds out the pavements

[@VerlorenMaster]

First

[@PrestissimoMasterStation]

Stagecoach

[@TANGARASandOSCARS]

Arriva

[@Andrewjg_89]

SE Trains

[@ReubenAshwell]

East Midlands Railway