Are charity shops blighting todays high street? To me they make an area look run down....?

Question

Also I think its ridiculous that some of these stores are right on the main high street instead of slightly out the way, but still accessible, at a much cheaper rental rate. I wonder how much money actually goes to charity once they've paid the rent for their prime position, electricity etc etc.

Answer 1

Some of them don't pay any rent, or pay at a very low rate to keep the premises occupied if the owner can't find a lessee!



I think they are a great idea for recycling things which might be of use to someone after the original owner has had their use from them, they only become a blight when there are too many of them but they are an improvement on empty or boarded up shops and in some ways they help to keep the high street alive.



The worst blight is out of town shopping centres, (the Tesco effect), where I used to live Tesco's was in the High street with a multi storey car park above it and you could park, browse round the local shops and then come back and do your grocery shopping last, getting a lift up to your floor level, this was a win win situation for the town, there was also a large Sainsbury's just at the back of the high street with a large free car park, both stores benefitted the town instead of drawing customers away from it.



Town planners should have their ears stapled together, or be forced to visit Uxbridge or Slough to see how it should be done to benefit locals and local businesses!



Edit when i left the area there were not many charity shops in Ux or Slough because both towns were thriving!

Answer 2

You have a point about what rent they are paying. However the hard fact is if these shops were not being occupied, given the move to out of town centres in most areas (supermarkets and shopping malls) they'd most likely be boarded up, which would make the average High Street even more depressing.



Add - Don't necessarily knock Charity shops either - when my hubby was made redundant, Cancer Research became our 'tailor/dressmaker' and kept us going plus as we lived in an upmarket area, the clothing in there was always top of the range LOL.

Answer 3

I don't have a high street any more. It's a total shadow of what it was when I was a kid. It used to be filled from end to end with local business. We had three electrical shops, a department store, a whole heap of butchers and grocery shops, toy shops and newsagents, etc.



Now: half a dozen charity shops, a handful of bookies, an off-licence, Gregs, Burtons and a whippet. I slightly exaggerated; but still, it's not what it was.



The charity shops are fine by me, I just wish they didn't fancy their wagon quite so much. There's no way I'm giving Oxfam £10 for a pair of battered old shoes. You used to be able to get half decent stuff for a few pennies in the charity shops. I'd rather have them than run down, empty, shops though.

Answer 4

The high street shops charge more than the back street charity shops (sometimes more for articles than you can buy new)...their paid managers have targets and push the unpaid volunteers to reach them..dealers make regular (almost daily) trips to inspect the bric a brac and pick up valuable items for pennies..in some cases items that are possibly valuable are sent to their H.Q. for evaluation and for putting on E Bay..Charity shops are meant to be about collecting money for their charity while giving the customer a bargain...in fact, they`re nothing more than any high street business with a cheap rent....how many genuine shops in their vicinity have closed down...and how much tax revenue has been lost? I agree they do make an area look run down

Answer 5

Charity shops have to start somewhere & regardless of the reduced rents vs overheads it's still better than an empty boarded-up shop used as a urinal by louts on the way home from the pub!

Answer 6

A lot of Town Centre High Streets look run down,



The Middle Classes now shop out of town, and would not touch the Town Centre's with a barge pole,



Leaving the Underclasses, O.A.P.s, Hoodies & the Immigrants, to walk around them, so the Town Centres are now full of,



Charity Shops,

Pound Shops,

Ladbrooks,

Gregg's,

Iceland,

Primark,

Superdrug,

McDonald's,

Answer 7

ive just been to my local high street. in a distance of about 50 yards i counted 14 closed, derelict looking shops. in the same part of the high street i counted 10 charity shops with piles of junk for sale outside. its time the councils stopped charging such high rents to normal business's. surely even the most stupid councillors can see that a low rent is better than no rent. the councils get no rents and we get squalid high streets.

Answer 8

Mass immigration makes an area look run down and tatty where as an occupied shop means at least there is still some hope provided of course it's not occupied or operated by immigrants. Have you ever seen a halal butchers with a clean window or clean awning?

Answer 9

You obviously don't shop in up market areas of London do you....



I was under the impression that a lot of them get to have end of lease arrangements. Oxfam aside I don't think they pay prime rents, and they have charity status for all other bills.

Answer 10

What gets me circulate is the way that interior of sight councils moan with reference to the dying of city centres and then enable the dept shops to bypass to extra present day premises on the outskirts. most of the dept shops close down because of the fact those councils up the rents and expenses making it impossible for the shop to make a income. immediately of the 300 and sixty 5 days i admire going to the outdated cities the place the Christmas topic is plenty extra in preserving with the season.

Answer 11

I like charity shops, but some get a bit carried away, after all charity means just that. I dont use Cancer Research or Oxfam because they are way too expensive.

Answer 12

sheesh! Do you live in Tunbridge Well's or something? With that outburst I take it that your town is also free of Bargain Booze, Poundland, Lithuanian shops and totally derelict shops.



I prefer cheap shops that you can poke around in, as opposed to all these identikit chains of shops that can make each street in the UK identical. Also the retail chains insist on garish shop frontages which are naff.

Answer 13

I'd always assumed they were given a discounted rate to avoid the landlord having an empty property and the electricity would cost the same wherever they are.

Answer 14

But don't they take over shops that were empty? Empty shops make an area look run down more.

Answer 15

I used to think Oxfam was a designer label.

Answer 16

no you can get cooll retro stuff there whilst helping charities and making money go further