High streets are slowly disappearing under the new wave of online shopping. Online shopping has revolutionised the retail sector and has left town centres and high streets deserted, old and outdated. 

But why is this an issue?

High streets and city centres were seen to be key destinations to people who live in the area, they tend to have good links to various forms of transportations such as buses, trains and trams etc and they give a space for people to socialise, connect and form a community. However with the digitalisation period reaching its peak, online shopping has become the norm and the current pandemic has only seen to accelerate the high street and city centre decline. 

This has caused major city centres and high streets to become derelict and to eventually become ghost towns. And that is not all, retail employment has declined heavily because of this in the past years with a decline in retail sales but this is soon to be rising up. Retail sales volumes rose by 1.9% in January 2022, following a fall of 4.0% in December 2021 (revised down from a fall of 3.7%) according to the Office for National Statistics. 

Even though we are now not restricted in regards to travel, the decline of high streets and city centres are still readily seen. The number of people visiting the high streets has dropped by 20.5% over the past decade, according to figures from retail analyst company Springboard.

From this, the campaign “Take Back The High Street” was born and was launched on the 24th March 2022 that discusses the heart of this crisis! This campaign is promoting the use of communities to take charge and action for their own high streets and town centres. 

Although this crisis has caused much devastation towards local businesses, this can be turned into an opportunity to open up a new and potentially nourishing sustainable model that can help pick communities out of this problem!

Here at Refashion My town we will be supporting this cause by:

• Creating a collaborative community hub, where local creators and creatives can come to together. 
• Actively promoting sustainability through both workshops and events. Combining art, fashion and music to reach a broader audience. 
• Create an experience based retail environment, giving customers a reason to leave their house. 
• Actively build a community of like-minded peers. Facilitate a better sense of connectedness within our community. 
• Promote sustainability through resale of donated clothing and textiles.

To find out more, follow Refashion my Town on our social media: Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter @RefashionMyTown.