Can High Street survive internet?
Closures and mergers is the future
I drove past ASDA in Heathfield and Sainsbury’s in Ayr Road, Prestwick, at the weekend – two huge local employers who have announced a proposed merger.
Will they both still be there this time next year?
I also drove past Ayr’s Tesco and Heathfield’s Booker - two huge employers who have already completed their merger.
Will they both still be there this time next year?
And finally, I ventured past past Heathfield’s Homebase – another big employer - which will definitely not be there next year.
In fact . . . it won’t even be there next month! And its neighbour, Carpetright, has already announced it will be closing shortly.
BHS in Ayr’s High Street currently lies empty – its next tenant probably hasn’t even been born yet.
A trolley dash away - Marks and Spencer staff are waiting to discover if they are among the thirty shops the retail giants plan to scrap over the next five years . . . or the sixty who are to have their clothing range removed.
And further up the street Hourstons has more rumours about it closing down than it appears to have customers!
So . . . does anyone see a pattern here?
If thousands of you do - then I hope at least a handful of you are members of South Ayrshire Council.
And before you vote on the Great Off-White Elephant that will stand for decades to come on Ayr’s High Street . . . please spare a thought for what Ayr’s High Street will be like in decades to come!
Building for the future is one thing – building for a future we can only guess at is quite another. And do we really want to take an £11 million plus punt on a “guess”?
The single word that permeates through all the above is “internet”.
I picked up a sheaf of newspapers last weekend - and there was no escaping its power and its influence.
Russia’s attempts to sway elections in the UK and USA, and Facebook’s data leaks, still dominate the headlines.
ASDA and Sainbury’s proposed merger is their attempt to tackle the threat of internet shopping.
Our very own Ayrshire Post exposed a rise in sex crimes that carried a warning from our MP Bill Grant on the dangers of internet “grooming”.
And a Sunday Times survey revealed that one in four six year olds now owns a mobile phone.
More interestingly, another story revealed that the richest man in the world is no longer Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The man who brought access to the internet into our homes has been usurped by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – the man who has exploited that access.
Twenty two years ago, Jeff was flogging books from his garage.
He is now worth over £100 billion
. . and currently earning £30 million a DAY!
What will our High Streets need to survive in 22 years time?
It’s anybody’s guess . . but I doubt it will be an off-white council office block!
The way things are going – local government administration will be by mega-computer . . run by a handful of people working from home!
But the threats to our traditional retail outlets – and hundreds of jobs - aren’t 22 years away . . . they’re here already.
And the first local authority to grasp, recognise and react to a whole new way of living - from employment, recreation, shopping and travel right through to health and education – will be ahead of the game . . . instead of behind it.
Please spare a thought for what Ayr’s High Street will be like in decades to come