Retail Therapy

There's a big debate going on at the moment about why our High Streets are failing, with Mary Portas being brought in to advise and try and reverse the decline. Well here is one of the reasons that the High Street is struggling - 'Edge of/Out of Town Retail Parks'. I can find most of the shops I would find on the High Street right here as well as a large Sainsburys, cut price petrol station, coffee shops, restaurants and even a garden centre. I can park right outside the shops I want to visit and the parking is free. Compare this to a High Street where there is no on street parking, and where many of the side streets have no parking or strict parking restrictions - enforced by many parking inspectors who seem to be very happy to write out parking tickets for even the most minor offences. Add to this outlandishly high rents for in town premises and you'll go a long way towards explaining why no-one wants to open a shop or go shopping in our town centres any more.