250 Words

IBM Leave a comment

I keep telling myself I’ll  become more focused, more self disciplined and tackle some self-improvement. One of the ways that I feel I could do this, is by writing more. I’m not too good at keeping a diary, even though I start out with the best intentions.

So, to this end, I’ve set myself a goal of writing two hundred and fifty words a day. I’ve also decided to tackle more brain games, indulge  in a little meditation, and even try and walk ten thousand steps. 

Now, I’m ‘typing’ this on my iPad right now. Yes, I deliberately enclosed typing in quotes, as you can’t really type on a tablet; certainly not on a mini one!

I’m not sure, not at all sure, how I’m going to find the time to do all this stuff, particularly with doing nine or ten hour shifts at work most days either.

Aside from the time required, there comes the age old problem of what the heck to write about. I don’t want to bore everyone with politics, although I’m sure I will feel moved at times to write about the state of play in either the United Kingdom or the United States or both.

I’m not a big fan of any particular sport, so I’m not at all qualified to promote an opinion there. I’m rather into social media, geeky stuff, and tech in general so that’s probably where most of my scribbled diatribe will be based around. 

We shall see. I might even get more readers. Time will tell.

Is The High Street Fading Away?

IBM Leave a comment

Here, in the UK, we’ve seen some quite large store chains close down entirely or cut back on expansion plans.

The first major casualty I guess was Woolworth. They still had 800 stores in the UK at the time of closure, in 2008. They’d hung on here for quite some time after their demise in the States, but eventually, they couldn’t seem to decide on a direction to go (having long given up being the equivalent of a five and dime store).

It Was The Wonder of Woolies
We’ve had Comet, a major white goods chain go the same way, and various other businesses teeter on the edge of slipping into administration (Chapter 11 in the US).

Tesco, who are the UK’s largest supermarket chain, have closed some stores, and reined in their expansion plans, after posting some profit warnings in the last year or two.

The High Street here has, for some years, been going the same way as Main Street, USA. Edge of town shopping malls has taken away trade, as they’re often easier to get to for car-owners, with free parking.

Now, we’ve got the likes of Amazon here, who offer next day delivery on many items (even SAME day provision in the Greater London area).

Here, unlike most of the US, we have online grocery shopping available. The charge is usually a nominal fee (or free if you spend over a certain amount). People like us, who don’t currently run a car, find this a great boon. It’s easier than driving to the grocery store, spending an hour walking around with a kart, and lining up to pay.

In many areas, the independent mom-and-pop stores have long bitten the dust.

One of the few stores that seem to be expanding here is Costco. There have been two opened within a few miles of us in the last two years. In fact, our nearest one is only five minutes drive away. No car? The store is so close to us that we ride the bus there and do the shopping, and use Uber to get home.

I was inspired to post this after reading my good friend, Chuck Boyd’s blog on a local supermarket closure in Charleston, SC.

Read his post here