[midasuni]

Your rant is from a decade ago. Everything is delivered nowadays. Sure in the 70s the average housewife wouldn’t work and would walk to to the local shops during the week. Nowadays everyone works, so shops need to be open more hours.

The restrictions on Sunday trading are the worst things - the one time I do actually go to a shop is when I’m doing something like DIY and find that I need something at 4pm on a Sunday and a redox is closed, or when I’ve been away for the weekend and can’t stop at the normal local Morrisons as it had to close early.

If you want a town centre to be appealing then make it worth going to.

[reacharavindh]

I live in one of the cities the Netherlands which for the large part gets around this problem because of a luxury(population density). We have both walkable shops and boutique stores, and if you’re the kind that prefers to drive to a big store that has it all, then they are in the outer rings of the city. Still bikable with a cargo bike to give you some context. But they have big free parking.

The thing that irks me is - I love shopping at these boutique specialty shops. But man they want to be open 9- 5 on weekdays and mostly are closed when I can actually go there to spend my money. This is just wildly illogical to me. Sure, the people who work there needs their evenings and weekends too.. but, who cares if they are at the shop on a Tuesday at 1 PM?

Looking at the next generation, I don’t have much optimism that such special shops would stay on for long. Some perhaps will cater to the niches and those that can afford very expensive shops. But, the largest parts of stuff is going to be delivered to home from industrial warehouses outside the cities.

Groceries (veggies, milk, meat and stuff) are probably going to be the o lot ones one has to walk into a neighbourhood shop for.

Need DIY stuff? Electronics? Clothing? Toys? Paper towel? Detergent? Anything non-perishable? You’re probably going to need to get online.

[DrBazza]

It's not a rant, but thanks for the sarcasm. It's an observation, given that I've lived through those decades.

You would have loved the 70s. Nothing open on a Sunday, and shops closed half day on Wednesdays.

[midasuni]

And a dutiful wife cooking that freshly bought food, with my pipe and slippers ready for when I get in, kids ready for evening inspection and off to bed, yeah sounds delightful.

[alienicecream]

Oh the horror.