I will concede at the outset that “love” probably isn’t the right word here – although the same could said of other posts in the “things I love” section. Don’t get me wrong I love “Band of Brothers” but not in the way I love cats or hot chocolate!
With that caveat established I nonetheless feel that the high street warrants inclusion. It comes to mind having had my first return trip to the high street on Monday (27th August 2020), in Leamington Spa.
The high street reminds me of bureaucracy: it may get on everybody’s nerves sometimes but we are better off with it than without it. A dystopian nightmare future will feature many facets; one will be boarded up high streets nationwide, leaving us dependent upon faceless online monopolies to provide for our needs. Sure Amazon does a great job at a great price now but do you think it will be the case in 20 years’ time, when it has little or no competition? What we have to look forward to is “fuck you” customer service and eye watering prices. Where else are you going to go? Actually, what is to stop Amazon from cutting you off if you dare complain? Too much power rarely ends well…
I’m watching a show called “Last Chance U” on Netflix at the moment. In the first episode they show the high street of the town the “U (niversity)” is in. A narrator in episode 1 points out that “the only functioning thing [on the high street] is a Coke machine, that says it all about Scooba (the town).” As is shown synchronously Scooba’s high street is indeed completely dead, nothing is left (well, Coke machine aside).
What’s already happened to small town America is coming to a town near you, unless that is you go and spend some money there. Alternatively, if you’re happy to entrust your future provisioning to Jeff Bezos (he seems selfless to me!?) then by all means carry on as you are.
Leamington is one of the most comfortable towns in middle England but you couldn’t miss that even there the high street is on its knees. The formerly prestigious House of Fraser breaks your heart when you see its current condition. It’s a hybrid of a Sports Direct and a closing down 3rd rate department store, whereas 10 years ago it was the highlight of the trip. Elsewhere many of my favourite boutiques and independents have disappeared, being replaced by shops or eateries that are unworthy of the space (note: there’s a “Planet Bong” on the prestigious Parade). Empty units are also scattered throughout, leading me to wonder how Merthyr Tydfil’s and Blackburn’s high streets are faring if that’s the condition of Leamington’s?
Obviously the high street has been clobbered by C-19 but it’s been in deep trouble for at least 15 years. This isn’t just a matter of evolutionary change in shopping habits, it’s underpinned by a deeply unfair competition between online and bricks ‘n’ mortar retail. Taxes and business rates fall disproportionately on the latter whilst Amazon is actually handed huge tax incentives to set up warehouses. This isn’t “free market” so much as “rigged game” in favour of online multinationals in particular. Politicians have the power to change this but they have actually made it worse (no surprises there then!).
A key problem here is that the high street is a public good; that is, its value is greater than aggregate individual spending decisions or capacity reflect. It’s the heart and soul of local communities and as a consequence towns look and feel dead without them.
A Tory government basically means “you’re on your own” so like it or not, it’s up to us. We should all do our bit to prevent the dystopian hell that we risk sleep walking into. If our scorched-earth/disaster capitalist “elite” are happy with the high street dying then it only underlines how people opposed to their values should act to keep it alive.
Here’s a few picture of the nice things I bought doing my bit. I know – what a hero! 🙂
Dr Martin James 