Still want us to spend, spend, spend?
On last week's edition of the Money Programme,
retail advisor and Telegraph shopping columnist, Mary Portas, attempted to
save shops in the town of Tewkesbury, which has been well and truly
credit-crunched.
Portas quite accurately described the
place as "looking like a
graveyard", with more shops closed
than open.
And while this is undoubtedly a bad
time for retailers, and worse for those
losing their jobs in the sector, there reaches a point when you
wonder if getting back to "shopping as a favourite
pastime" is really a great idea.
One of the people profiled in the
programme was a "shopaholic" air steward who had
£20,000 on her credit card. With a tone of regret in her
voice, Portas explained how people like this had cut back on their
spending. But surely they should cut back? Or better yet, not get
into that position in the first place.
As she explored what Tewkesbury had
left to offer, viewers were shown a lingerie shop with all the
romantic atmosphere of a neglected garden shed.
In her other programme, where she
refits shops and advises on sales technique, our "Queen of
Shops" would've torn the place to shreds. But instead she
sympathised, worried that if you couldn't sell "sex, fun
and a bit of frou frou" (none of which were apparent from what
I could see) then what could you sell?
People have stopped spending money
for a reason, and it isn't in the long-term interests of anyone
to grow an economy based on people spending money they don't
have on rubbish they don't need.
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