Great Britain’s Downtowns and the Death of High Streets: some tips from America

In Great Britain and in France the old-fashioned shopping districts, called High Streets, are dying just like American downtowns met their demise in the 1950’s and 60’s. Europeans for the most part missed the shopping center craze, driven by cheap land, sprawling growth and the car, that in the U.S.caused central shopping areas to wither and die. But over the last 30 years many big cities in the U.S. and smaller towns have worked hard to reinvent their downtowns with new housing, downtown shopping malls and entertainment districts. There are now even  CityTargets expanding across the U.S. to bring a smaller, more urban-oriented store to the downtowns of cities like L.A., Brooklyn and Minneapolis.

Big Box Stores are Everywhere

Looking rather like Detroit and Cleveland from the 1970’s, cities in England and France are suddenly facing empty storefronts, crime and graffiti. Why, though? It’s the expansion of the big box store discount chains around these small to medium size cities. When driving in France last year across Normandy I saw one city after another surrounded by these massive store complexes, made up of three or four 350,000 sq ft. stores with gas stations, groceries and everything else you need, at a discount. With this choice, why shop in a center of a town that’s hard to park in and will have fewer goods costing more?

What Can Old City Centers Do?

Now it’s time for the old High Streets to reinvent themselves as places of culture and unique shopping environments. They need to let go of trying to be all things to everyone. The big box will not go away. It’s an outgrowth of the new retail world of cheaper and faster. Globally every city will face this.

What’s Your City Brand?

Supporting this reinvention with a strong city brand is what it’s all about. If these magnificent older cities and towns dig into their historic past and unique character, there are many assets they can play with, as did American towns, to recreate their value to their community. Now’s the time to assess and revaluate what that can be. Unique shops in historic areas with lively entertainment and new housing can work in Europe just as it has for the U.S.  So I ask this question – what’s your city brand?