Shop on the High Street

You may remember me saying in previous columns I stopped all online shopping about six years ago.  I didn't like the way certain large web-based companies were starting to dominate retail and smaller traders were going out of business as a result.

Fast forward to this year, and we've lost our M&Ss from Kettering and Northampton.  Yes, I'm still grieving for their demise as I was in Kettering's Marks nearly every week while my daughter was at her music lesson.

Before M&S shut in August, I was chatting to one of the ladies on the till. I asked her how long she'd worked there, as I knew it had been quite some time.

It turns out, at the end of August she would have celebrated her 40th year with the company, having worked in the Kettering store all her life.  I'm hoping that she was redeployed to a nearby store, although I've yet to see her in M&S Food Hall in Corby.

The reason I'm sharing this is to highlight the human face of shop closures.

We of course see the shut shop on Kettering High Street, the black-covered windows looking distinctly funereal and, in a way, the town centre is in mourning for its passing.  If a national institution like M&S is struggling, things must be tough.

We can do something about it though.  We can choose not to buy all our goods online, but physically go into our town centres and shop there, if we are able.

Yes, it would help if car parking prices were cheaper, as this would perhaps encourage more people to head into town, and this year's roadworks in Kettering haven't helped.

But if you haven't got all your presents yet, please head into your local town centre.

Go and shop in independent stores, like those in The Yards or Corby Old Village, and spend in some of the larger shops too, as they all need our support.

As the saying goes, use it or lose it - and we don't want to see any more job losses in our towns.  Let's make sure everyone has a Merry Christmas.