I was thinking this to myself late last week when a man asked me where he could get a reasonably obscure piece of cabling for his A/V equipment. There used to be a couple of shops in the local area that would have been able to conjure up this bit of cable for him in minutes. Maybe even custom made him one, tailored to his ideal length specifications. But those days are gone. Now the gentleman would have to turn to the convenient (but not exactly instant) internet, or travel to one of those big out-of-town megastores like PC World.
Why are these local shops closing? Because people aren’t making use of them and spending their money in them. Local specialist shops are closing all over the place. It’s not just local electrical shops, it’s all kinds of shops, as well as pubs and restaurants. These places cannot exist if people don’t visit them, but why aren’t people visiting them? What are they doing instead of visiting the places? Are they just sitting at home? Where are all the people? Even in the shop I work in it seems quiet. Almost eerie at times. Considering that the population is growing and there should be more people out and about, it seems quite strange.
