There's the thing; in a world where more people are working at home there *should* be more demand for local F&B.

Cafes probably are the only thing that can only exist on the high street.

(not sure what to do about greedy landlords)

...and then we’re shocked when vape shops and money laundering barbers move in.

You can’t fix that with parking tweaks and tax breaks alone.
You have to rebuild motive, not just means.

Otherwise the case stays unsolved - and the high street keeps bleeding out in full view.

So Barnes isn’t beating online retail. It’s offering something different - something worth leaving the house for - to people who have the time and money to do so.

Most struggling towns have lost at least two of those three conditions (often all of them).

Opportunity: home workers who can nip out between calls,
wealthy retirees with time and money, parents on the school run... all within walking distance.

And motive: good cafes, delis, bookshops, bakeries, pubs, independent shops. It isn’t trying to out-Amazon Amazon.
It’s selling something else.

And this is why rich areas still have “working” high streets.
Take my (former) local one in Barnes. It’s buzzing.

Not because it’s magical - but because it still has all three.

Means: people walk there. It’s dense, local, human-scale. No car parks, no retail park geography.

Too often the answer is: the same chain stores, only with less choice, higher prices, and slower service.

The visible wreckage is empty units and a disproportionate number of barber shops.

But the underlying 'crime' is simpler: the high street lost its motive.

The “high-street window” is tiny - wedged between work, care, commuting, and exhaustion. So whatever’s there has to be worth that window.

Which brings us to the real culprit: motive.

Why would I go? What do I get there that I can’t get cheaper, faster, and with more choice online?

Next: opportunity.

Who actually has the time, money, and energy to use the high street?

In average/lower income places, people with time don’t have money. And people with money don’t have time.

So they're ordering online at 10pm in their pyjamas.

Every show starts with means. In high street debates this is the debate over parking, buses, traffic, pedestrianisation.

ie can people physically get there?

That matters - but detectives will tell you: means alone never cracks the case.

Being able to reach a place doesn’t explain why nobody goes

A(nother) uniquely British High St problem is that they’re so homogeneous. I went to a wedding in Chichester and noticed that it literally had the same shops as Richmond, in the same order. All selling stuff you can get cheaper and easier online.

If you ever fancy a proper nerdy trip, there’s a little ferry that goes around the Rotterdam Container Port and over to the shipping museum. 1hr, €6. It goes round all the giant ships. When we did it, it was the sand Ever ship that got stuck in the Suez.

Organic reach is effectively zero if you're not paying. Journalists are on there, but it's not a channel the public use to stay informed. You'd reach more MPs and policymakers by printing your statement off and tying it to a pigeon in the Westminster area.

An org I advise ultimately decided to stay cos leaving would "look political". On balance thought it better to continue rather than face being called woke by whatever self-radicalised weirdos are still on there.

Principles aside, reach is effectively zero on there now. It's pointless.

They had some along those lines in Zara (hers is much nicer, but Zara more in my price range)

I beg to differ

Yeah you'd have more traction with MPs just printing your message out and tying it to a pigeon in the Westminster area.

"Our reach is much wider"

Their last post got less than 2,000 views. Of which at least half are, on current estimates, bots (some say as high as 75%).

Remember when they launched video calling and announced it would replace Zoom and WhatsApp and within a month even their CEO had forgotten it happened?

Exactly that. The argument is that gov messaging should be where people are. But I see no evidence that the people any UK public body needs to communicate with can be found there, and even if they were the algo means their posts aren't seen anyway. There is no actual comms benefit to be gained.