High street gloom as Britain shuts up shop

[NickyBoy]

It's going to get worse as 3d printing takes off.

You can now purchase affordable 3d printers for your home from PC world that can create very basic items based on downloaded designs or designs you have made yourself. Give it a decade to further cheapen/refine the tech and the only things we purchase will be:

1.Services
2.Specialty goods
2.3D printers
3.3D printer consumables
4.3D printer designs

German manufacturing is going to end up as deep in the tulipter as the British high-street .

[TykeMerc]

It's going to get worse as 3d printing takes off.

You can now purchase affordable 3d printers for your home from PC world that can create very basic items based on downloaded designs or designs you have made yourself. Give it a decade to further cheapen/refine the tech and the only things we purchase will be:

1.Services
2.Specialty goods
2.3D printers
3.3D printer consumables
4.3D printer designs

German manufacturing is going to end up as deep in the tulipter as the British high-street .

Wonderful theory, but since the materials used in 3D printing are quite limited (at least for now) there's plenty of things that won't be possible to be self manufactured for the foreseeable future.

On the high street shops front, I struggle to remember the last time I went into a town center unless a client site is in strolling distance, I've no idea when I last went into Halifax town where I live. Parking which used to be easy is now impossible and the shops are shutting due to the reasons the others have posted (absurd rents and rates and people find it a pain to get to the shops) so I've no motivation to go.

[original PM]

interestingly enough we have ample free parking in our town and (with the exception of shops with crap business models) the majority do ok.

Yes we have a Costa, a WH Smiths and a newly opened Subway but the rest are pretty much local independents

mind you a lot of the women's fashion shops seem to be closing down.

It would be interesting to see a case study of success of small business in small towns with ample free parking and those without..

[TykeMerc]

It would be interesting to see a case study of success of small business in small towns with ample free parking and those without..

Assuming similar rent/rates and of course catchment areas (which is a pretty long shot assumption set) I'm sure the parking would make a significant difference.

[original PM]

I agree - but what about those towns where people live within walking distance of the shops.....

(which again is what my town is like).

[vetran]

Wonderful theory, but since the materials used in 3D printing are quite limited (at least for now) there's plenty of things that won't be possible to be self manufactured for the foreseeable future.

On the high street shops front, I struggle to remember the last time I went into a town center unless a client site is in strolling distance, I've no idea when I last went into Halifax town where I live. Parking which used to be easy is now impossible and the shops are shutting due to the reasons the others have posted (absurd rents and rates and people find it a pain to get to the shops) so I've no motivation to go.

I suspect that shops selling household goods like lighting (BHS,Debenhams ) will see the effect of people like this

Buy Custom Designer Lamps & Shades - Shapeways 3D Printing

the number of materials is expanding almost daily

3D Printing Materials: Plastic, Metal, Ceramics and More - Shapeways

once the technology is established it will change how we buy things.

[xoggoth]

True there are some daft business models. In a village near me a shop opened last year selling nothing but expensive lighting stuff, lamps, lampshades etc. True it's on a main road and has a tourist attraction so many shops there do quite well but seems too specialised for a village while not being quite specialised enough to be the only one in a large area.

[NickyBoy]

I think I'll wait until I see the first 3d printed BMW before I start worrying.

Not to mention having the dimwits from the plod knocking the door in coz they think you're making guns.

Not quite a BMW but...

The Strati: World's First 3D-Printed Electric Car Built in Just 44 Hours

Some of its parts were still manufactured normally, but those are parts you can order online.

Throw in a bit of materials improvement (to reduce the ordered parts) and 10 years of refinement and miniaturisation of 3d printing tech and you will be printing your own car.

Manufacturing as we know it is going to end very soon. People with CAD training should rejoice, as demand for CAD skills is going to go through the roof when everyone can produce custom stuff at home.

[TykeMerc]

When 3D printing proves to be capable of using materials such as ceramics, textiles, glass, metals, leather and timber I'll start thinking in terms of home manufacturing on a sensible scale.

Highly complex and technological items that require assembly is another element again.

[lilelvis2000]

interestingly enough we have ample free parking in our town and (with the exception of shops with crap business models) the majority do ok.

Yes we have a Costa, a WH Smiths and a newly opened Subway but the rest are pretty much local independents

mind you a lot of the women's fashion shops seem to be closing down.

It would be interesting to see a case study of success of small business in small towns with ample free parking and those without..

Well in the tiny town I where my property is. Parking in the town centre is entirely free. There is a multi-story car park attached to the the Arndale which is free for 3hrs.

Things have gone downhill since 2008. Most of the fine ladies boutiques have closed. All that's left now is Cafes, Hairdressers, Charity shops, Solicitors, £1 shops and M&S.

Why the heck M&S keeps that shop open I have no idea. When the Olympics were on. M&S stayed open extra hours (even on Sunday)..with nobody about. Hilarious!

The Arndale Shopping Centre retail spaces are half empty along with the covered market, also half empty. One of my mates has a stall in the market, he now also drives a cab to make ends meet.

The charity shops are now also suffering with a few openly stating they can't pay their rent.

Its not much better in the bigger towns nearby which have highly restricted parking. I'd say parking makes little difference.

What makes the difference is high rents and high rates.