BOUTIQUE owner Selina Bashir has said what most people have suspected for a long time that the internet is destroying our traditional high streets.
In Selina’s case fortunately it doesn’t mean the end of her business as she is shutting up shop in Huddersfield town centre and concentrating on forging ahead with internet sales. It also means her current four staff members will remain with her.
Running a shop is an expensive business when you bear in mind the cost of buying or renting the property, council rates, heating and lighting – the list goes on and on.
It must be so much cheaper to just sell online.
Let’s face it, people no longer have to leave their homes at all to buy all they need to live. They can get everything from food to clothes to TVs delivered directly to their door.
What must be most irritating for shops is dealing with customers who come in, try the clothes on, chat about sizes and prices with shop staff and then say they’re off home to buy it because it’s cheaper on the internet.
Times have probably never been tougher for many shopkeepers and the internet is making it even harder.
