| High Streets - thriving, changing, dying in 2026? Posted by grahame at 06:20, 28th September 2026 |     |
From the BBC, in depth
My hometown shows that high streets have to change or die
Some town centres seem to have and be succeeding, and others indeed are no longer attracting people to visit businesses there, which are closing their shopfronts. Is there rhyme or reason to which "High Street" might succeed and which might not?
Looking locally, I see both Devizes and Bath vibrant when I visit them, but I don't get the same feeling from Melksham. Having said which, we have quite a number of store fronts which are for products for immediate access / use within the hour. People hereabouts grumble about "yet another barber" and "not ANOTHER takeaway" and yet - with a handful of specific locations - they tend to last longer. One severe issue tends to be car parking for pickups, and changing regulations seem to effect them significantly.
How are High Streets close to you faring? How do you account for this?
