Shop closures can't be blamed on internet

“Aqua said- 'Plymouth has a desperate and run down feel'..

That's because it's had a succession of lacklustre run down councils..;)
The voting record tells a sorry story showing that the longsuffering voters have been recycling one lot out and another lot in for at least the past 15 years in the hope they'll eventually get a council that's any good-
Lab- 1997 to 2000
Tory- 2000 to 2003
Lab- 2003 to 2007
Tory- 2007 to 2012
Lab- 2012 to ?
Let's hope the voters will break that 'cycle from hell' by putting a different council in charge, my vote is for UKIP..:)”

“Hstmtu said- "all the main trunk roads as well as two main rail lines and two branch lines as well as local trains all converge on Exeter"..

So what? They HAVE to go through Exeter because the bulk of Dartmoor squeezes them down there.
Anyway they don't stop at Exeter, they simply go THROUGH it.
The M5 actually BYPASSES Exeter in order to skirt round it to plonk drivers on the wide fast A38 to Plymouth..:)
As for rails, the coast-hugging line from Exeter to Plymouth is one of the most spectacular in Britain, sure the trains have to slow a bit for a few miles as it twists and turns, adding about half an hour to journey times to London, but 30 mins is nothing in the grand scheme of things..:)”

“The problem in attracting the big anchor stores to Plymouth now is that the major retailers like John Lewis and Ikea think regionally and want to be where they can attract the most affluent shoppers from the widest possible geographical area.So they tend to look for locations with good connectivity and a wide affluent catchment area to boot and Plymouth simply does not fit that bill anymore in the 21st century.Just look at a road and rail map of Devon as major retailers do when looking for new locations and you will see that all the main trunk roads A30/A38/M5 as well as two main rail lines (from London Paddington/Bristol and London Waterloo) and two branch lines (from Barnstaple and Exmouth) as well as local trains from Paignton all converge on Exeter.750,000 journeys alone were made last year on the booming Exeter to Exmouth branch line.
Lack of investment in transport links and poor planning decisions by local and National Governments in the good times are now coming home to haunt Plymouth in the bad times.If we could not make it work in the years of plenty then without help from Government its going to be nigh on impossible for Plymouth to make it work in the years of famine particularly given the massive head of steam that the likes of Bristol and Exeter have built up in recent decades.”

“I agree that online shopping is now too much hassle as queuing in the Plymstock sorting office is a nightmare. Exeter is humming, Bristol has a Buzz and so has Truro, yet Plymouth has a desperate and run down feel, made worse by its numerous charity shops, pawn-brokers, rip-off outdoor markets and a lack of quality shops such as I-Kea, John Lewis, Waitrose etc etc I remember a local trader put forward a plan to connect the Hoe, the west-end, the armada shopping and drake circus centres with a model railway system, that could have bought when Dobwalls closed down. In addition a spectacular cable car sytem to drakes island from the Hoe was proposed with a total cost of 3.6 million. Instead the current city centre management somehow spent 3.8 million on putting in a new paving system in the west end – exactly where Woolworths, Derrys and T.G Hughes are located.”

“Another thing about online shopping:- if we're out when the postman calls and it's too big to push through our letterbox, he leaves a card and we have to trudge to the post office to collect it”

“online shopping has been around much longer than six years
amazon opened in 1995 for instance and were not the 1st
maybe mrs kitching hasn't had a pc very long”

“Plymouths too picky over the sort of shops they want here its a disgrace”

“Shop and store assistants have got two annoying habits-
1- They descend on you and say "Can I help?", and you feel like replying "If I need help i'll ask for it, now clear off and leave me in peace to browse around!"
2- After buying something and paying at the till, they ask "Anything else?" and you feel like saying "No, if I wanted anything else I'd have bought it wouldn't I?"”

“BrianG said- 'CharlieDodd there were parking meters up and down places like New George Street and Cornwall Street, you could park right next door to where you wanted to go. But I suppose if you're 20 and not 70 you wouldn't understand what I'm talking about"

Disabled people are in a minority, so I'm sure fully-pedestrianised streets attract loads of non-disabled customers who don't mind parking further away.
And not everybody wants a car anyway (I don't), so pedestrians should be given priority in city centres.”

“Knucklehead, no.

That's your right not to shop there again, I just wanted to put their side of what goes on and how they are treated by customers.TMobile is a ***** company to work for and you can't always blame the staff for company policies,re returns repairs or whatever else the problem may be etc

I speak to shop assistants how I would like to be spoken to and try and have a bit of a laugh with Them.”