john lewis

lifes2short · Nov 16, 2019

greedy landlord high street rents and ridiculous business rates are killing the high street and of course companies that have tax avoidance schemes operating from sheds with low sq footage rents

philw696 · Nov 16, 2019

jonny said:
If only the rest of the country and social media could have mature, well-informed debates like this one on SportsMaserati.com, the country would be in a far better place.

Spot on Jonny.
I'm voting for you and Dean.

CatmanV2 · Nov 16, 2019

rockits said:
Jeff Bezos doesn't gain my respect I'm afraid.

Deserving rich?

It's a tough balance to get right, and I'm not sure we ever will but we need to keep trying for sure.

C

CatmanV2 · Nov 16, 2019

jonny said:
If only the rest of the country and social media could have mature, well-informed debates like this one on SportsMaserati.com, the country would be in a far better place.

It's quite remarkable, really, isn't it!

C

CatmanV2 · Nov 16, 2019

lifes2short said:
greedy landlord high street rents and ridiculous business rates are killing the high street and of course companies that have tax avoidance schemes operating from sheds with low sq footage rents

So nothing to do people preferring to shop from their living rooms?

C

rockits · Nov 16, 2019

CatmanV2 said:
Deserving rich?

It's a tough balance to get right, and I'm not sure we ever will but we need to keep trying for sure.

C

Of course deserving rich. I am not disrespectful of his entrepreneurial skill, ability and the many thing required to do and achieve what he has done. I massively applaud this.

However when you get there then this is the time to really make a difference. What an incredible opportunity to make such a long and lasting difference to our planet and the human race for many generations to come. I would love to have half of his skill, ability and wealth to have half to opportunity to do something truly great.

It is worse for me looking at someone like Zuckerberg. Facebook has created some of the worse mental and social issues that never existed prior to its dominance. I have no data or facts but has it created more good than bad? Or has it created more bad than good? Who knows but I suspect it is far from clear cut with regards to Facebook.

Dan! · Nov 16, 2019

jonny said:
If only the rest of the country and social media could have mature, well-informed debates like this one on SportsMaserati.com, the country would be in a far better place.

Wankpot

Felonious Crud · Nov 16, 2019

rockits said:
It is worse for me looking at someone like Zuckerberg. Facebook has created some of the worse mental and social issues that never existed prior to its dominance. I have no data or facts but has it created more good than bad? Or has it created more bad than good? Who knows but I suspect it is far from clear cut with regards to Facebook.

Zuckerberg; wankpot.

safrane · Nov 16, 2019

jonny said:
If only the rest of the country and social media could have mature, well-informed debates like this one on SportsMaserati.com, the country would be in a far better place.

Maybe we should restart the oil thread now?!?

philw696 · Nov 16, 2019

lifes2short · Nov 16, 2019

CatmanV2 said:
So nothing to do people preferring to shop from their living rooms?

C

of course that has a major bearing on the state of the high street as well, but high rents and rates just compounds the problem and the bottom line for profit & loss, mothercare and mamas and papas going going tits up is an odd one, will people simply buy pushchairs/prams/cots etc on line without even seeing/trying the real thing first, I remember the wife many moons ago trying different models in mothercare before choosing one, quite an important thing really

lifes2short · Nov 16, 2019

and this sort of thing doesn't help the high street either, effing ridiculous parking charges just pushes shoppers away from the town centres as well

Councils made almost half a billion from parking fines, RAC finds

Councils have raked in almost half a billion pounds from on-street parking fines, the RAC has found as experts warned authorities were viewing drivers as "wallets on wheels".

www.telegraph.co.uk

CatmanV2 · Nov 16, 2019

rockits said:
Of course deserving rich. I am not disrespectful of his entrepreneurial skill, ability and the many thing required to do and achieve what he has done. I massively applaud this.

And yet you feel entitled to judge what he should do once he's made his achievement.

Make no mistake, I am absolutely not having a pop, I just find it fascinating what we, as people, think we can and cannot make judgements on.

Keeps me going for days

C

CatmanV2 · Nov 16, 2019

lifes2short said:
of course that has a major bearing on the state of the high street as well, but high rents and rates just compounds the problem and the bottom line for profit & loss, mothercare and mamas and papas going going tits up is an odd one, will people simply buy pushchairs/prams/cots etc on line without even seeing/trying the real thing first, I remember the wife many moons ago trying different models in mothercare before choosing one, quite an important thing really

I guess some people disagree <shrug> As Adam and I have commented, we tend to buy clothes on the street. I'm an odd shape (nah, really?) and I like to check, but it's a PITA.

lifes2short said:
and this sort of thing doesn't help the high street either, effing ridiculous parking charges just pushes shoppers away from the town centres as well

Councils made almost half a billion from parking fines, RAC finds

Councils have raked in almost half a billion pounds from on-street parking fines, the RAC has found as experts warned authorities were viewing drivers as "wallets on wheels".

www.telegraph.co.uk

Simple way of cutting profit: Don't break parking rules.

Of course, people want to park, but abolish the rules and one car will sit there for some hours, whereas with the rules, in theory, several cars can sit there for a few minutes.

Which gives a better result for the high street? No idea, but I do know this: There are no more parking places so these are the only options....

(Or at least I think I know it

. Happy to hear alternatives!)

C

rockits · Nov 16, 2019

CatmanV2 said:
And yet you feel entitled to judge what he should do once he's made his achievement.

Make no mistake, I am absolutely not having a pop, I just find it fascinating what we, as people, think we can and cannot make judgements on.

Keeps me going for days

C

Yup, I feel 100% entitled to my opinion to judge what he should do. Likewise Jeff would be 100% entitled to judge what I do.

That he should care.or listen to my opinion or judgement is clearly his preogative. He puts his head.on the pillow at night the same as us all.

I guess actually he is less entitled to his own opinion or judgement on his own affairs as the rest of the world as he is in such a position of influence. Sounds weird but could be suggested as making sense.

I love our to and fros C and never take offence or anything personally. I love that we can we exchange such free flowing creative thinking in such a way. Long may it continue. We may even right the world

lifes2short · Nov 16, 2019

CatmanV2 said:
I guess some people disagree <shrug> As Adam and I have commented, we tend to buy clothes on the street. I'm an odd shape (nah, really?) and I like to check, but it's a PITA.

yup, my wife and I are the same, dinosaurs

, my daughters on the other hand it's all on line and the amount of stuff they send back is unbelievable, did I hear one outlet has now restricted the amount of returns??

linescanner · Nov 16, 2019

D Walker said:
It’s obviously posher than a happy sock!

You can spot a military man...............

safrane · Nov 16, 2019

I very rarely buy anything on line and hope our village high street survives to see me out.

I note when working from home the numbers of vans that visit next door in a day... mind boggling due to everything being purchased on line. I'm told its to save time, yet they and their son just sit in on the evening and weekend playing on line or watching TV.

Doohickey · Nov 16, 2019

I work in the property field and feel qualified to comment a bit on some of the statements here:

Landlords (generally) aren't greedy. The value of their estates only exists if they have tenants paying rent and therefore driving retailers out of business clearly isn't in their interest. Every time there is a CVA it is the landlords who take the biggest hit but get little or no say in whether it should go through. Look at the share price of some of the big landlords to see the impact it's having.
The rating system in the UK does needs reforming but it's a big source of income for council's who cannot unilaterally decide to reduce them.
The returns system for online purchases is actually keeping a lot of shops open and click and collect is becoming a major thing. It's the online only operators who really struggle with returns. I heard the other day it costs £5-7 to return each item which is why retailers don't bother.
Mothercare for example has been in trouble for years because it didn't adapt. It assumed that people would want to see a pram before they bought it but they were wrong. You can buy a car online without seeing it these days so why not a pram?

That's my threepeneth. Happy to be shot at!

BTW classic thread drift - from a JLP advert to the state of the UK hight street. Love it.

CatmanV2 · Nov 16, 2019

rockits said:
Yup, I feel 100% entitled to my opinion to judge what he should do. Likewise Jeff would be 100% entitled to judge what I do.

That he should care.or listen to my opinion or judgement is clearly his preogative. He puts his head.on the pillow at night the same as us all.

I guess actually he is less entitled to his own opinion or judgement on his own affairs as the rest of the world as he is in such a position of influence. Sounds weird but could be suggested as making sense.

I love our to and fros C and never take offence or anything personally. I love that we can we exchange such free flowing creative thinking in such a way. Long may it continue. We may even right the world

You're right. It sounds very weird. I shall sleep on it.

I'll raise a glass to righting the world any day of the week!

C

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