Your comment sums up what has gone wrong with the High Street. Nobody wants high standards of customer service anymore and COVID has made the retail industry have to RESET. Its sad i know My local town Sutton Coldfield died when Beatties was bought by House of Fraser some years ago and they 'modernised it for the 18-30 age group and ruined and even back in 2017 there was no one going in only to the restaurant and cafe.

The quality of mostly everything now has gone downhill too.

yes I must agree Angela lambert introduction of Bowens department store where her voice encapsulates the viewers watching the clip and the nice elderly gentleman spoke so refine about his dress tire and the old lady the glasses; when asked do you come to the west end anymore she replied I just don't bother in that lovely calm English accent.

Me too ❤❤❤

It is not the internet that changed retail, but humans themselves. They want cheap goods, which come from Commie China 🇨🇳. They did not care that their jobs fled overseas until it affected them personally. That, and corporate greed, is what caused steep declines.

@@frothe42 In the 1980s there was no Internet. But there was certainly a change in how consumers chose to spend their money. And yes, it was towards purchasing lower price goods produced in China as opposed to higher priced domestic goods (regardless of whether we are discussing the UK or here in the US). Everybody likes to talk a good game about supporting domestic economies, but when it comes to parting with their money, they won’t demand it and will easily gravitate towards lower prices inferior goods being offered by businesses. The Internet today just makes it so much easier to obtain these lower prices goods.

@@sfoeric I wouldn't say the internet gives the best deals, but it makes it easier to shop, especially when one lives in a rural area like myself. The pandemic also helped change the way we aquire goods. Now, people are pandemic weary and want to go back to going into stores, as I do. But as you stated, many of the stores both you and I grew up with are now gone, bankrupt, thanks to Ghetto Mart (aka Walmart and that evil Walton family).

@@frothe42 Agreed! Take good care!

@@frothe42 When I see "commie" I know there is a high probability the writer is native to the USA. Yes, people strive to satisfy their needs at the lowest price, (Adam Smith 1776). That's life! Communist nations have never satisfied the needs of their own residents, let alone profitably exported goods on a massive scale to other countries. I have seen much. Developed western nations have never lost sales to Communist countries. In the 1970s and 1980s they lost evermore sales to avowedly capitalist economies such as those of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia: the Asian "tigers" run by autocratic right wing regimes put in place and kept in place by western developed nations, as a bulwark against communism. Later, when China adopted capitalism, (Deng Xiaoping: "The colour of the cat doesn't matter as long as it catches the mice"), it began to export massively to western developed nations. Western developed nations discovered that when the free market they pretend to desire, actually exists, they cannot compete with poverty-stricken peasants willing to work gruelling hours for little pay to improve their desperate lives. When capitalism is permitted in a country with such people, they will out-compete those carrying much more body-fat. However, most US residents are poorly educated, and will continue to bleat about "commies" and put their faith in a non-existent god for decades, if not centuries. That too, is life.

I can understand wanting to be young again, but really? 1982? Mass unemployment. Constant threat of nuclear war. AIDS on the horizon. The worst violent crime in Europe in the UK in the 80s.

@Factual Truth King Yes, pretty well so. The big supermarkets are losing out to home deliveries and Argos whose business model cuts out shoplifting and breakages havem without a need for putting goods on display, got into this very sensible arrangement probably saving a fortune on rent

BHS, Littlewoods, etc went bust because they were seriously badly managed, chasing shareholder value at all costs, sell your freehold & buy back leasehold. Debt bought them down not necessarily retail sales.

Your comment has made me laugh so much!!!! We nick named it coats and ‘ats!!!!! 😆 God bless c&a!!!👍

Towards the end the quality was actually ok. I still wear a smart casual jacket I bought at C&A. It's as good as new and still looks good. Even on me. And I only recently stopped wearing a raincoat from them as the rainproofing had worn away.

@@ingiemummalove130 yes when by the statement cheap and awful.

Gary J Yes a real shame I grew up in the 1980s and remember all those stores.

Dixons exists under the guise of PCWorld which they bought in 1993. They rebranded all the DSG main stores as Currys PC World.

I'm aware of that.

Dickens & Jones seemed to go on for years without any customers, till it finally closed about 15 years ago. Ditto Austin Reed further down the street. In the end, all that will survive will be stores selling very expensive items, and cheap tat. It depresses me to see Oxford Street full of awful 'American Candy' shops and cheap luggage/tourist tat shops.

I loved Dickins &Jones. The interior was absolutely gorgeous. I remember going to Bourne & Hollingsworth in its last weeks & days. So sad. All of these department stores were like grand old ladies who'd seen better days.

HELLO YOOOOUUUUU!!!

Pretty much the same reasons of today. Overwhelming convenience and the death of the high street shops. Also, hi Larry. Didn't expect to see you here.

Amazon killed the High Street 😞

Exactly

The plan was already in progress.

After leaving school in May 1981 my late parents would book what we now call a 'mini break of 2-3 days in London. We would always stay at the ROYAL LANCASTER HOTEL, Hyde Park but in the main THE STRAND PALACE HOTEL and would book to see some West End Shows My Mom and myself would always make a trip to Dickins & Jones. It was what i call 'top draw' I know the business was bought by Harrods at the start of the 20th century and then many many years later part of House of Fraser but D & J had something extra for me

@@joanne26 Yes, they had top quality and top design stuff, but without any pretension. They were also a bit of a "hidden gem" in that people would overlook them and head to Harvey Nichols/Fenwicks etc. I used to get my "smart" clothes there in the sales in the 1990s - Ungaro, Nicole Farhi, Romeo Gigli, Armani at unbelievable prices. Beauty department, homeware all fantastic.

Jonathan lee. there is old saying if you got it flaunt it e\, meaning show of your finest . finery . people don't have money anymore for the finer clothes. charity shops have taking over sales and gross income in most department stores here in Ireland. such as Dunnes stores pennies and . and Dorothy Perkins. that is due to price rise in clothing and textiles . as for overheads some business have to expand or else go under plus you have to pay for tax and vat on all items you buy in as well you should know. And that is more burding on the customer .

Globalisation that's crept up since WW2 after which military Containers were then used to transport goods worldwide. No matter which country you're in, most High Streets/ shopping malls look identical. No diversity there! Pity.

broadway, bonwit teller,

L.S.Ayres, Lazarus, Broadway, Robinsons May, Bullocks, Parisian, Jacobson's, Block's, Carson's, and on... I dislike Macy's and Walmart because of how monopolizing they have been.

In Canada is has happen as well. We lost of Canada’s flagship Eaton’s goes back to 1869 base in Toronto it went bankrupt in 1999. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) founded in 1670 is one of the oldest in Corporate company in the English world based in Toronto. Has bought many Department store chains Saks Fifth Ave, Lord & Taylor but is steadily going down hill. I so sad, but people are changing like it or not. But it’s we that have the controls to make changes in the first place. God Bless Cheers 🇨🇦

que je sois

Not all are. Some, like Selfridges, are excellent and continue to thrive because they sell products people actually want to buy. The ones that don’t (BHS, Debenhams, C&A etc either go bust or have to withdraw from the local market). Incidentally, Whiteleys has now also closed as a shopping mall (it is being redeveloped).

@@Chris-ln6so Woolworths was great for bargains but became tatty and not particularly nice to go to. Selfridges has always been upmarket but now only caters for the young, pretentious with lots of money. I don't bother going there anymore.

I used to love Woolworth's and spent every Saturday in my local one. I would buy all my Christmas presents there and would come out of the shop with some PICK AND MIX. I'm going back to the early 1970's

Woolworth was extremely busy on a Saturday, you could barely move. Extremely busy store = high sales

Me too...

But you can, shops still exist... what's stopping you from going?

@@Tgoo89 it's not the same loads of shops are closing and going into liquidation..

@@Tgoo89 all the idiots worried about covid-19 and not letting you try on clothes and stuff like that.

@@Natalie-Smith-1111 Yes! The Plandemic. The Great Reset & Fourth Industrial Revolution. All happening as explained by founder of World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab. All Govts talk about 'Build Back Better' but it won't be better for us, just for the Few.

Yup, that is how capitalism works

It started dying over 20 years ago in UK, the same time as more severe cuts to all essental services. The NHS, that was formed in 1948 was already being dismantled in late 70s!

He’s probably dead

Not much! In retail we took pride in wearing a smart uniform - till it was taken away for something more casual. Smart uniforms generated respect from customers. Not like today!

Yes, he had to “dress down” he said, whilst wearing a shirt a tie!🤣

@@rachelm7525 having worked in retail myself for years, it was only the most pompous, narcissistic types who thought like that. The world moved on and we no longer wanted to live in "are you being served".

@@th8257 well, I still like standards. 🙂

Certainly very convenient but shoppers shoot themselves in the foot when using online services & self service check outs bc it means ppl lose jobs. The horse has bolted though & there's no turning back. Shopping in central London isn't pleasurable anymore bc of the tension of constant demonstrations. I won't go on about the violent crime bc that's almost a given in cities worldwide, sadly.

@@citizen1163 Such a shame. The young, I suppose some old people too, are buying clothes and shoes, of all things, online. What if they don't fit properly? "Send them back.. and again, and again." The worst case scenario I know of was my well meaning daughter buying 'vegan' shoes, off a website. I think the shoes, made from 100 % natural ingredients, lasted about a fortnight, because the soles turned into a type of porridge (!) during days of prolonged rain.

@@jasonayres I sympathise with your daughter. It's difficult to judge quality of products & too easy to be conned by labels like 'vegan'. It used to be difficult back in the day to complain despite Trading Standards but trying to get a refund for substandard products online is sometimes impossible! I found Twitter to be useful. Sometimes shaming a company works. I got a £1500 energy bill halved when I tweeted the company. I'd spent AGES emailing the company & when they refused to listen I finally compiled masses of paperwork that Ofgem demanded in order for them to investigate. They couldn't help. I tweeted to the fuel company to find out how to pay outstanding amount & a representative said she'd do a 'Health Check ' on my account. After a few minutes she came back to me & halved the £1500 outstanding bill!! It was time consuming & most ppl don't have that time & just give in. I hope your daughter has better luck in future!

@@citizen1163 Thanks very much. 🤔 I guess the old adage of "The pen is mightier than the sword" has moved to the keyboard (or phone, etc). 🤔👍

@@jasonayres Serve them right. You wear shoes on your feet you don't eat them. Vegan shoes, whatever next

lol

It’s not only that. But the rise of the supermarkets, line sainsbury, who now owns Argos

Tesco changed the retail climate back in the 90´s.

yes remember those shops like Laskey's where you could get the latest in Hi-Fi and all kinds of tapes cables etc. A lost age

"people prefer the old ways of service and interaction". Obviously not, otherwise so many of those stores wouldn't have taken a nose dive.

@Shlomo Golnenbaum Shekelberg you're trying to say HFC Bank stood for decency??? I used to work for the financial ombudsman and they were notorious for how bad they were.

@@th8257 as it states in the film, Harrods, Selfridges, F&M etc are destinations because of quality and customer experience, still true today.

@Shlomo Golnenbaum Shekelberg The Financial Ombudsman & run by Banks for Banks!

@m v yeah, largely true, but big ticket items need so much research before you buy now because JL shop floor isn’t staffed the same way.

That's what older people in every generation say, I'm afraid. As we get older, we start to feel that the world is leaving us behind. It happens to everyone.

I miss well spoken presenters

Well, everything comes back. I used to live in the states and remember hearing people take about how the malls put the main streets out of business. Then, the malls declined because shops wanted to move back to the main streets and boulevards, which is occurring now in the states, according to my folks. I think the internet has definitely made an impact, but I also think high rates/rents in places such as malls as well as the lack of security and violence/thuggery caused the decline of malls as well.

Absolutely true. Everything is constantly changing and nothing ever lasts forever.

On social media and the web, the "still shot" is called a "thumbnail." Click on the thumbnail to open the graphics file to reveal a + or - surprise. 🖥 📦

‘Woman’ from Hinge & Bracket? LOL!

@@AtheistOrphan Probably means "Maud".

Brent Cross is still open. ❤️

I was working in the West End when Bourne & Hollingsworth closed which would put that report at 1978

How can you comment on what people’s motives are

A billionaire doesn't need to make an impression on anyone.

@@mypointofview1111 Not any longer, it seems. In times past, the super-rich felt differently about making an impression. They would have generally felt the need to live up to their status. Times really have changed. Standards, I suppose, have declined.

Tech creates new jobs for high level programmers etc, while making the rest of the population redundant and irrelevant hence the "Great Reset" or "4th Industrial Revolution", which admittedly has long been wanted by the elites but would have happened anyway, seeing as tech has improved VASTLY in the past ten years. So what to do with the billions of now useless eaters? Hmmm.... some kind of ruse is needed to make the world look the other way, while a new system is put in place that also disposes of the useless eaters at the same time.......hmmm.......pretend there is a killer plague, then offer the solution a.k.a vaccine = mRNA gene modifier = mass gen o cide event.

@@EgoShredder wow you went down the rabbit hole with that one..

@@AchtungEnglander Yeah its hard to not go down the various rabbit holes; infact even when I have deliberately tried to avoid doing this, I always end up at the usual suspects etc. I'm more interested in the information that is purposely kept hidden from the public, than the official line spoon fed to the lazy. This gets you tarred with the conspiracy tin foil hat brush though. However why should we pay attention to those only willing to follow?

@@EgoShredder Resist 💉💉 Poisons at all cost.

@@EgoShredder you're clearly nuts

I remember as a kid in the 70's being taken on the bus into Birmingham City Centre with my late parents and loved going into Lewis's Bull Street. The shop was well known and the Food Department was amazing. Also i remember as a child being taken to Rackham's and going to the Toy Department on the top floor. They had everything you ever dreamed about and so many Train Sets. My dad purchased a Hornby Set for me. I have not been into Brum for over 2 years and i buy most things ONLINE. More choice

Why do you keep putting stuff in upper case? You do realise that it's akin to shouting?

@crazyclive No I was never a fan of what you describe. So uncomfortable they were for me when I was a kid and in my teens When I did start full time work in 1981 in an office I could then wear high heeled shoes. They just made you look sophisticated and smart 😁😁😁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

@crazyclive Please don’t swear😖👎 I was 16 when I started full time office work and wore high heels like every girl at that age wore them They were fashionable in the 80’s Now everyone wears sneakers👎👎😖😖

That was Princess Diana chic in 1982!