Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

Reading ukdaves post makes me ask this question.
The amount of retailers that have closed lately is horrendous leaving people jobless which in many cases leads to hardship and marriage breakups or going bankrupt. I would reckon this is mainly caused by the internet with online selling and downloading. Is it progress..I dont know so much.
With social networking sites it causes a lot of bother by pervs and idiots who abuse these sites.
On the plus side the internet allows us into a world we never would have known.
Its six of one and half a dozen of the other depending on how you use it.
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The Clan Chieftain

IanAl · Joined: 15 Jan 2013 Posts: 60

There can be no doubt that the internet has an affect on retailers on the high-street. I must admit to being an internet shopper. If I am looking for a CD or DVD the first place I look is Amazon in the same way that if I am looking for parts for a car I go straight to Ebay. Convenience is the only reason but I also have to say, I am quickly learning that the internet does not always offer the best deals and I do miss the whole experience of trawling classified ads in motoring magazines or browsing the shelves in HMV.
Did you see the TV series 'The Highstreet' it showed in some detail how modern times are killing the shops and it is no longer restricted to the little family owned business,

V8 Nutter · Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 605

No doubt the internet has had a lot to do with retailers closing, but in our little world how many old cars would have been scrapped if we hadn't bought spares of the internet?

I must admit I have been a bit guilty. I have just bought some wheels for my bike. The best local deal was at Halfords about £90 for a pair of average quality wheels and £25 for a seven speed cassette. The independants were much more than that. The cassette may or may not have worked with my gears. On the internet I bought a pair of real high quality wheels for £62 and a proper six speed cassette for £10.

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:28 pm Post subject:

I suspect the total number of people in jobs doesn't see too much change over the longer term. Yes the high street stores close down, but then the online retailers need staff to pick and pack the parcels (quite a few, judging by the size of the Amazon warehouse on the edge of Swansea), not to mention the delivery. My local sorting office has recently had some new vans, except there's at least 3 more than they used to have - somebody must be driving them, and it's (desperately needed) jobs in the Valleys rather than jobs in Cardiff, Bristol or London for a change. And I know a lot of the stuff I end up buying online I just wouldn't be able to find in high street stores anyway, the big chains have shot themselves in the foot over the last 20 years or more by only selling what they want to sell rather than what people actually want to buy.

I tell you what really annoys me though - councils that talk about the "death of the high street" when those same councils got greedy for parking charges and bloodyminded about traffic flow AND nodded through the planning for the big out of town retail parks that the shops have moved out to. Sometime in the last 10 years that I've been living in the Valleys, Newport was made a city - yet M&S has just moved out to a nasty tin box on the edge of town. Some city, that has no M&S in the centre... Rolling Eyes

JC T ONE · Joined: 30 Oct 2008 Posts: 1139 Location: Denmark

colwyn500 · Joined: 21 Oct 2012 Posts: 1745 Location: Nairn, Scotland

clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

Bitumen boy hit the nail on the head. Shops in Motherwell are closing because of high rents and stupid one way systems and no parking. Its encouraging shops like Poundworld and B and M and others who all more or less sell the same products.
Big foodstores like Tesco and Asda are selling electrical and sports goods which were hitting Comet and the like.
By the same token some of these large stores which closed were selling online so they are bound to have realised this would affect their stores.
Now there is talk of a shopping complex on the old Ravenscraig steelworks site and if that happens it would virtually kill off Motherwell as a shopping centre.
So I suppose you cannot blame the internet for everything.
As for car spares before the internet you had to rely on car magazines or the Exchange and Mart but now we have ebay even although some prices are sky high.
On line banking has its downside though with peoples accounts being hacked. It almost happened to me.
I still reckon its six of one and half a dozen of the other, but I am leaning towards BAD.
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The Clan Chieftain

ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4279 Location: South Cheshire

Funnily enough folk had this same debate in Victorian times, similar pressures on local economies , only it wall call "Railways good or bad" Very Happy

Dave

Greg · Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 445 Location: Dreamland Margate

I can agree with a lot of the above, but I think there are a lot of good things about the Internet too.
If it wasn't for the Internet I wouldn't be on great forums like this and although I don't get involved in things like Facebook, I can understand that for some, it is a good way of keeping in touch with people.
My Sister lives abroad but uses Facebook to speak to all her friends back home and also in other countries.

Also I can imagine if you are not able to get out much whether it be a disability or maybe just the cost of travelling, you can still see what's happening in your particular Hobby via the Internet.

Salopian · Joined: 05 Jan 2010 Posts: 354 Location: Newport Shropshire

Nothing stands still - there were many harness making businesses once - could be still again if oil runs out.
Apart from the time I waste when I follow an interesting trail I feel the internet is an incredibly useful and powerful tool whose upside is greater by far than the downside. The free exchange of facts and ideas does certainly frighten a few politicians too!
Shopping is to me a horrible experience ranging from trouble parking cost of same time taken etc etc. Most of mine is done on the internet and I enjoy the time saved choice available and general convienience. Food and some clothing items I buy locally.
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Jonathan Butler
Alvis SD 12/50 1928 MG TD 1950

peter scott · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7219 Location: Edinburgh

47p2 · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2009 Location: Glasgow

Great for the consumer, not so great for the high street

I was looking for a bulb for the cooker hood, at the giant DIY store they are £3.00 each, so a search online and I can buy 6 for £5.00. A win, win situation for me and I don't have to waste fuel going to the store.
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

Jason · Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 623 Location: Todmorden, Lancs.

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22820 Location: UK

Peter_L · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 6:27 pm Post subject:

Just as some others have said on here. Times change.

Maybe in 50 years, town centers, as we know them now will have vanished.

Maybe shopping malls will go the same way, with more and more major purchases done "on line". Could the likes of Asda/Walmart become nothing more than central hub warehouses and we will be doing our shopping by going through a virtual reality store and selecting goods.

I can remember the first "supermarket" opening in Barnsley. Carlines I think it was. Doubters were sure that the novelty of walking along the shelves and placing what we wanted in basket, was nothing more than a passing fad.

A bit like that electricity thing that I am sure will never ever really catch on.