People have been predicting the death of the high street since Victorian times. (see
http://blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk/futureoflaw/2013/03/how-retail-is-teaching-la...)
But the way we use the high street is changing. Wayne Hemingway (fashion guru and founder of Red or Dead) describes it best: the high street is a place where people meet, shop, walk, do “stuff”
We are seeing more:
- elision between social purposes (meeting friends), food and shops (e.g. bike repair shops with a cafe and free wifi).
- more specialisation (discount and !p store -v- local deli with locally sourced ingredients)
- theatre and gamification (think Hollisters with welcoming scantily clad young men and pitch black interiors/ Curry's client sat buttons)
With each change, so the expectations of the shoppers change and the bar is raised.
If your firm is on the high street, have you adapted to meet this changing environment? If not, why not?