Loss of large retailers in Hastings

[seahermit]

I know that many town centres are suffering from the same malaise, but the turndown in high-street retailing seems to be hitting a small town like Hastings particularly hard. When you compare the current scene with how it was just a few years back, the difference is quite shocking.

Woolworths, Littlewoods, BHS, Burtons, Next, River Island, Peacocks, Mothercare, some I have forgotten. And now Topman and Debenhams. There also used to be several good mens' outfitters - Wards, a shop called Scorpio which was great for leathers, jean's etc.

There are now almost no quality shops in the town centre, it's just stores selling cheaply made stuff from China or else fast-food outlets, betting shops, charity shops and too many estate agents (the only ones making any money!).

I remain convinced that a contributory factor has been the greed of landlords/property companies together with excessive rate demands from councils. Hastings Council built tall, ugly office blocks near the station (which are still largely unoccupied) instead of encouraging the retail sector (e.g most other towns have free short-term parking). Some of the shops mentioned above have retained really nice large premises in Eastbourne, hence the centre of Eastbourne is crowded and lively, whilst Hastings centre is often half-empty and a dreary place to be on a wet afternoon!

[Richard]

People have adjusted to shopping online, retailers employ fewer staff there, don't have to pay rent and rates unless the government change the picture by taxing them somehow.
Charity shops have not helped, taking custom away from small shops.
Debenhams lost the plot many years ago, their goods were not competitive, even before Primark appeared. Their designers were not much cop either.
Philip Green's Arcadia group have gone bust, a shame for the employees but he was not a business man/retailer really, he was basically an asset stripper.
Mr Green was last heard of on his super yacht in the sun rather than heading back to deal with the crisis.

[seahermit]

What I have never understood is how, to many observers, it is glaringly obvious that the goods in stores like Debenhams are not what the punters want (nor at the right price), yet the stores have stumbled along (until now) for years in the same old way. Do top executives never walk around their branches, watch what people are buying and try to guage the mood?

Debenhams, like some other department stores, used to sell a higher quality of goods than you would get from a small high-street outlet. E.g. really nice men's woollen overcoats, duffel coats, woollen suits, Van Heusen shirts - I bought things there. But the store is confused about its identity - to some extent they have tried to retain older customers but the stock has largely become very dated and stuffy. At the same time, like shops such as Burtons, they have tried to attract younger customers by going downmarket. The result is a mass of cheaply-mad, flashy, ghastly shirts, sports shirts, outdoor jackets etc. as well as suits which are almost universally polyester. I have tried on numerous jackets and trousers - the cut is usually awful and ill-fitting. Added to which, young people just don't go into Debenhams! To them, it's an old-fashioned shop for the oldies.

Mark's has problems not much different. Again, I find the clothes expensive, yet stuffy and dreary. A female friend of mine wouldn't be seen dead in there. If you want cheap clothes, you can go into Primark etc and pay half the price of Mark's for the same article. I even picked up a really smart flat cap in ESK for a fiver! For decent stuff, you go to quality outfitters (still some around) in Eastbourne or Brighton.

That's why, when I go into the men's section of Mark's (even at Glyne Gap), I am very often the only customer. In Debenham's it's a little better - on a Saturday you might see three or four!

I find it sad. Whatever has happened to this country, business entrepreneurs seem to have lost the inventiveness, imagination and acumen of the past. Can you imagine the original founder of Mark's being satisfied to find his first little shop largely empty all day and being outclassed by rivals?!

Is it about money? The desire to make quick bucks selling a load of cheap goods, made abroad? In the past, there were many stories of French people doing a day trip to south coast branches of Mark's, to replenish their wardrobes with Shetland pullovers and lambswool coats. That was long ago ..

[seahermit]

Philip Green is the embodiment of the modern-day, cynical, ruthless business leader. Take what you can for yourself out of the business and regard morality as an inconvenience.

His chief talent is not as a business entrepreneur but his caniness in evading the various regulators and ensuring that he atleast is financially ok and still keeps the yacht.

[seahermit]

The other sad thing about the town centres is the sheer quantity of small shops which have closed down. It is hard to see what high streets will look like in the future, rather unlike the past certainly. A lot of old-fashioned places e.g. longstanding family concerns, specialist clothing shops, tool shops (great one still hanging on in Bexhill) will not return. The money has gone and there are likely to be more temporary, transitory shops around selling cheap goods and working on thin margins. And a lot of empty premises.

[Richard]

Most of the smaller shops received a grant from the government that was generous in the first lockdown and a further grant recently. Probably more money than they would have pulled in normally. Some took the money and ran.

[seahermit]

I am not sure that many small shops received enough support/grant to enable them to actually survive. The stories in the press tell things differently, many shops (including recent and successful start-ups) desperately trying to hang on but going from decent profit to absolute broke.

The reality is that government budgets, like everything else, are limited. There is no money flowing around and it simply isn't possible to help everyone. Already the extent of government borrowings and debt must be enormous - and will take years to pay off.

[Richard]

The smaller shops that sprang into existence in the last few years and were not making good profits anyway, saw the picture on the wall, took the free cash grant and ran.
Most of those along Queens road are still in existence.
I have spoken with the manager of a foreign (Kurdish) hairdresser's along Queens road, who thinks that the government can't keep draining itself of cash and that small businesses can manage to survive, until better times return.

[seahermit]

Some traders may be managing just about (there will always be a big demand for haircuts) but many small businesses can NOT survive. Hence the quantity of empty premises everywhere. I think that Kurdish shop manager has poor eyesight.

The other range of small convenience shops are not a genuine example. Those come and go continuously, taking government grants, probably knowing perfectly well that there won't be much trade, disappearing after a year or so. One has opened directly opposite Morrisons - ridiculous! Not a hope of competing long-term. Worst possible location for a convenience shop.

[Richard]

Which small businesses cannot survive?
And for what reasons?
No speculative business that fails to find a market will ever survive regardless of x, y or z.
Where are the quantity of empty premises everywhere?
Which convenience shop has opened directly opposite to Morrisons?
When and in this climate how can that be funded?