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John Lewis Birmingham

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once a busy vibrant full of lifes characters shopping area that was a joy to shop in i am afraid the city is rapidly turning into a ghost town..boring as well as everywhere looks the same...it really started when the new metro lines were being laid...many shops along the routes closed...my thoughts are that the plan is to turn the centre into more of a social place for eating and drinking geared up for the young.. and to build many more high rise buildings that will most likely lie empty for years...soon the little outdoor market and the indoor market will go marking the end of era leaving the elderly knowhere to shop apart from places where they have to try and negotiate lifts and massive escalators:( just my opinion but there again i am an old brummie who remembers how it was back in the day.. always said i am not against change it has to happen but it seems that the citys planners have given no thought to the eldery and disabled people of this city...only time will tell

lyn
 
This is happening all over the USA Big name stores closing down. Huge malls closing Internet buying?
Internet purchases have been on the increase for while it appears, however lockdown has been a reason for many to turn to the internet I have my groceries delivered now and rarely go into a shop, but that is due to our age more than choice.
The last few years has been a boom time I think and many shops opened and others expanded, now is the time of reckoning.
Off topic I know, but all those glass office blocks in Birmingham will be unused if the trend for home working continues. It is easier to heat and light someones house than an office and the employee has no travel expenses. I renewed my car insurance today and the young woman was at home.
 
The bricks and mortar (or mainly concrete) end of the retail trade seems to be very short-sighted when in comes to borrowing huge sums of money to build retail shops and malls. The writing has been on the wall for many years, long before the advent of coronavirus, and only last week the owners of a group of large shopping malls, including the one in Manchester, went into administration. Do these people look no further than the ends of their noses?

The penultimate multi-floored department store in Bournemouth closed last September (to be converted into flats) and the last one has been in administration for quite some time. Boots has announced the closing of 48 stores today, and there are many more such instances throughout the country and, as oldbrit has pointed out, in the USA as well. More and more people have been successfully working from home for months and that trend will continue. Which leads me to my point..........

Is the huge investment in Birmingham's tram infrastructure and rolling stock justified when you look a few years down the line? Answers on a post card please. Oops, they don't make them any longer! :scream:

Maurice :cool:
 
Internet purchases have been on the increase for while it appears, however lockdown has been a reason for many to turn to the internet I have my groceries delivered now and rarely go into a shop, but that is due to our age more than choice.
The last few years has been a boom time I think and many shops opened and others expanded, now is the time of reckoning.
Off topic I know, but all those glass office blocks in Birmingham will be unused if the trend for home working continues. It is easier to heat and light someones house than an office and the employee has no travel expenses. I renewed my car insurance today and the young woman was at home.
RR I think you are spot on about those glass office blocks, as in the US and I am sure most industrialized countries. I was was watching a business show a few days ago and one of the panel seemed pretty smart and rational said that regarding working from home we are now where we thought we would be in 2024 because of COVID.
if you have any investments in commercial real estat, I would get out before that day of reckoning is upon us and it’s coming very quickly!
Apologies for being off topic......
 
I guess some of the unused office blocks could become luxury apartments of even more student accommodation. ;)
 
The bricks and mortar (or mainly concrete) end of the retail trade seems to be very short-sighted when in comes to borrowing huge sums of money to build retail shops and malls. The writing has been on the wall for many years, long before the advent of coronavirus, and only last week the owners of a group of large shopping malls, including the one in Manchester, went into administration. Do these people look no further than the ends of their noses?

The penultimate multi-floored department store in Bournemouth closed last September (to be converted into flats) and the last one has been in administration for quite some time. Boots has announced the closing of 48 stores today, and there are many more such instances throughout the country and, as oldbrit has pointed out, in the USA as well. More and more people have been successfully working from home for months and that trend will continue. Which leads me to my point..........

Is the huge investment in Birmingham's tram infrastructure and rolling stock justified when you look a few years down the line? Answers on a post card please. Oops, they don't make them any longer! :scream:

Maurice :cool:
Absolutely Maurice, and when they go into administration or bankruptcy in the US its the tax payer that gets hit in the shorts and banks et al right off bad debts!
 
Thanks all for contributing to this thread. It’s now run it’s course so will be closed for further comment.

Members who have contributed may receive a message saying a new thread has been started on this subject, but it hasn’t it’s just been moved to the General Discussion section, so thinks it’s a new thread !!

Viv.
 
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