The high street is dying. That’s a fact. Does it still have to die, even at this point? Of course not. It’s not beyond saving, but even with fancy adverts and new high street charities popping up everywhere, little is changing. They’re no match for the titans like Amazon and eBay. At the end of the day, price and convenience conquer nostalgia, and that’s all the high street has going for it.
Once, the cycling industry was dragging. Then, revolutions like folding bikes and electric bikes came around. Once, the movie rental industry was dragging. From that, companies like Netflix were birthed. These industries had set-backs, but they didn’t let that stop them. They innovated their way to safety. That’s what the high street can – and must – do.
Why are high street businesses like Mandrakes (Harry Potter themed café), The Cat Café (a cat-filled café) and King Arthur’s Labyrinth (an independent retail park with an Arthurian twist) still thriving in this climate? The answer is in experiences. They got very ordinary high-street business types and added something the internet can’t give.
If your business is experience-rich, it’ll soon be cash-rich. Here’s a few ways your high-street business can become more experience-focused in manageable ways.
1) THEME-WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
What’s your business? A clothing store? A hair salon? A bar? These are common high street businesses. When there’s often one on every town or city centre’s street, you need to stand out. A bar is no more appealing than another bar, but if you themed that bar around something like a certain time period or myth, it could make it the ideal choice. People like experiences they can’t get anywhere else, so use that to your advantage. Maybe it’ll be a place, maybe it’ll be a TV show. It might sound strange on paper, but in practice a Pokémon themed coffee shop or an Indian-style hair salon will more often than not attract more attention than a regular equivalent. Obviously, don’t breach any copyright laws, but theme it. Mandrakes is a good example of using a movie’s theme without breaching copyrights, patents or trademarks. If you can’t afford an entire redesign of the property, don’t worry. Even a name change and the staff dressing right to the theme can help.
2) HYBRID HIGH STREET
Combining two types of businesses can go very well or very badly depending on the industries you choose. A café combined with an estate agency is unlikely to take off, for example, but a café and a bowling alley could work well. Most hybrid businesses won’t be hugely unique, but they’ll still give a better experience than alternatives. Try mixing hair salons with gin bars, pet shops with vets and arcades with pubs. Some hybrids will be expensive, but some can be achieved fairly cheaply and the results are well worth it if you research the markets effectively.
3) LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
If you’ve already set up, this one won’t be a goer. If you haven’t, this is an important part of “The Experience-Focused High Street”. Hair salons normally open on streets. That’s standard. Then again, if you opened on a pier or in a supermarket (like Gould in Tesco), you don’t have to create an experience because the experience will be the location. It’s a novelty, and all high street businesses can use this tactic.
4) WHEELING AND DEALING
The building you use is vastly important, but some experience-rich businesses choose not to have a building at all. The Boatyard Bus Café is a café. In a bus. Why do people go there? Because it’s an experience. It sounds strange to have lunch on a bus, and it IS strange, but that’s the appeal. You could open a business on a bus, boat, lighthouse, windmill, ex-prison, or you could even open a business outdoors (although you’ll need to talk to the council and make arrangements with the landowners). In summer, you could open your high street business on a beach, for example. The experience is that there’s no building and they can still enjoy the sun whilst using your business’s service or buying your products.
5) SPARE CHANGE
Sometimes, the best option is to regularly change the theme of a business. If you changed your café’s theme with every trending show or movie, you could very easily thrive. It’d be the most costly option on the list, and probably the most difficult but you’d likely still make a fair profit. It’s the option I least advise, but considering some of the other options wouldn’t work permanently, it’s still a very solid choice.
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In conclusion, you simply need to think differently. When opening a new high street business, ask yourself “What’s different about my high street company over other competitors?” If your answer ends up being that you don’t know, or that your USP (Unique Selling Point) is just that you’re better quality or that you’re cheaper, you should probably reconsider. I almost guarantee that however cheap you make your business, somebody will match you. However good quality you make your business, there’ll be a higher quality alternative. You need to fully think about USPs as they’ll end up being your lifelines that keep you open. They’ll make sure customers may choose you over competitors, at least some of the time.
Callum Fucks 