The Defining First Teenage Shopping Trip Is Disappearing: Musings of an Ex Topshop Employee
“Christmas of 2020 was far from the manic rush I was used to, and that lull may well have been the death knell for my job….”
“Perhaps as little as ten years ago, it was hard to imagine the high street in the declining state we see today. We all recall the crushing crowds of shoppers on high streets with big chain stores bursting at the seams. I also remember the wearied mental preparation for the 'big Christmas shop' my family used to embark upon in cities like Cardiff or Birmingham. But last year, even Christmas, usually the biggest boom for high street retail, failed to fulfil those expectations.
I experienced this deterioration first-hand working in retail, witnessing the gradual decline in footfall and the steady increase of minuses in our sales figures. While a survey of UK consumers in 2019 found that 64% of customers prefer shopping in-store compared to 34% online, it's all too clear that the pandemic has swung an often deadly blow against our high streets, regardless of our shopping preferences. Forced closures shuffled shoppers toward online purchases, and even after re-opening, I, and many other retail workers, saw footfall fail to rise as expected. Many customers may well have preferred the ease of online shopping, while others were reluctant to return to such public spaces yet. Christmas of 2020 was far from the manic rush I was used to, and that lull may well have been the death knell for my job.
“I remember the glee of my first shopping trip alone with friends, feeling ultra-cool with a uselessly tiny fashion bag and a crisp £20 note. It was like a coming of age moment, feeling set free to do whatever you wanted”
Like some 2000 others working in stores for former high-street supreme Topshop Topman, I was made redundant in February, about three months after the company entered administration. It was a huge blow to learn that stores would close, an eventuality than none of us had truly considered possible, despite constant doomsday headlines. When my colleagues and I reunited after another month in lockdown to begin the closure of our store, the surreal nature of it clung to us. My store, like many others, was a close-knit group of employees, and we were already mourning the loss of each other as work-mates, especially after such a disjointed previous year. But what also bubbled into every conversation was the disbelief that such a large chain would be disappearing from our high streets, one often assumed to set the marker for high-street fashion. It was a sentiment shared by shocked customers on social media too.
Beyond just our company, though, we discussed the gradual shift from shopping on the high street to purchasing online and, specifically, the gaps this movement would leave behind. I remember the glee of my first shopping trip alone with friends, feeling ultra-cool with a uselessly tiny fashion bag and a crisp £20 note. It was like a coming of age moment, feeling set free to do whatever you wanted, and having friends rather than your mum being the ones to influence what clothes to buy as you pranced around in front of fitting room mirrors. It's strange to imagine a potential future without that moment together, however trivial. Somehow sitting on the sofa and plopping something into your electronic cart doesn't hold quite the same thrill. Or at least, at times, it does - when it's something you've coveted and finally secured or when it's a business or creative that you want to support. But closing down the store I worked in made me realise that what I'd be missing in this looming online culture was the social side of shopping.
Beyond being with friends, I remember my jangling nerves the first time I used my debit card, sure I'd do it wrong, while my mum resolutely nudged me forwards. I remember my determination to grow my confidence in facing the seemingly monumental challenge of asking a sales advisor for help while in the thralls of teenage self-consciousness. It's something I saw a lot while working, watching some of the more nervous customers stumble over their words. Honestly, sometimes it was a little alarming how many teens and young adults floundered over simple conversations with sales advisors. Is that socialisation one of the skills we might be losing as shopping becomes a more introverted habit?
“ It might not be quite what we remember, and it might take some time, but I don’t think we can or should let go of our high-streets just yet.”
Of course, that's not to say that shopping is the only way to develop social skills, far from it, but it is one of them. While admittedly not the most productive of past times, shopping is one way many of us socialise. I know it makes me sounds like a bit of a hypocritical old-fart to decry the growing use of our gadgets but I do feel that we're losing more than just stores as high-streets change. We lose some of the opportunities to converse with new and different people, to garner advice that we might not otherwise know how to find. I remember the rush of happiness when I was able to help someone find the perfect item, the relief on our (nicer) customers' faces when we swiftly remedied a problem. Customers remember when a sales advisor goes out of their way to help them, and we always remember when someone makes a point of thanking us. Bustling high streets benefit their towns and citizens in a myriad of ways beyond the fiscal ones.
Despite all that, the high-streets future is still looking bleak, and, admittedly, not all stores offer the same service. If we are going to reignite our high street, then it needs something of a proverbial facelift. Now that we've got a timeline for the lifting of lockdown, it'll be interesting to see how our high-streets cope on the other side. I think we're all going to be eager to grab onto the familiar trappings of 'normal' life again, including meeting friends and going shopping, but things are going to look a little different. If online remains the king of convenience, high-streets need to offer something different to bring customers back. Perhaps that isn't multi-floored chain stores but rather a return to independents and local stores, to something with the authenticity and connection that we've been craving after so long in lockdown. It might not be quite what we remember, and it might take some time, but I don't think we can or should let go of our high-streets just yet.”
You can read more from Hannah on her blog siftingfortreasures.blogspot.co.uk or find her on Instagram at @hannahlouise.franklin.