Why is the High Street so mean to over-65s?
WE HAVE been told the reason the High Street is closing down is because people are shopping online rather than going to the shops. I am not surprised online shopping has taken off. The summer sales are on, so I decided to go to a couple of popular clothes shops in my local arcade. As I walked round the masses of rails of clothes, I realised I was wasting my time. It was difficult to find the right size and there were no chairs where I could rest. I was beginning to panic as my leg and back were giving up on me, thanks to arthritis and a damaged sciatica nerve. I had to sit on a low shop fixture — it was either that or the floor. It didn’t help that instead of offering me help, the staff and other customers simply stared at me. I cut short my shopping trip and drove home, where I could sit down and go through clothes catalogues in comfort. There was a wide choice of items I could order and try on at home. Come on, shopkeepers, be more friendly to the over-65s, who after all are the age group with the highest disposable income.
ANN CRUICKSHANK, Huddersfield, W. Yorks.
INTERNET providers are contributing to the decline of our High Streets, don’t pay their share of taxes and are helping to destroy the environment with their delivery vans. A simple solution would be a 30 per cent delivery tax with exemptions only for medicines.
GRAHAME DRAIN, Droitwich Spa, Worcs.
I AM A High Street shopper, but during the past year I have had to resort to shopping online because the local grocer and supermarket have stopped stocking my favourite items.
JOHN M. SEAL, Oxford.