Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadking
Business rates and rents have always been there. The complaints are that people aren't visiting the high streets and buying anything. Rents and rates are immaterial in that.
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Eh? Of course they’re material.
They are part of the cost of doing business in a high street. They are part of the reason why products cost more in a high street shop than from a web store like Amazon. The cost per square foot is one of the factors restricting the size of shops, in turn restricting the range of products on offer, again in comparison to the seemingly limitless choices on sites like Amazon.
Shoppers are not dim witted. They know they get less choice for more money on the high street, and are beginning to stay away in droves. The places making a fist of resisting this trend are the ones which can credibly sell themselves as a destination, so a family might make a day out of it and do some shopping amidst the eating and coffee stops.