I have spent the morning reading some very dismal forecasts for the business year ahead. One article was written about the decline of the High Street shopping, Mary Portas had hoped that the old fashioned markets would stimulate the High Street again but this has shown not to be the case. I believe we have to have more imagination to re-invent the High Street, internet shopping is here to stay, so it has to be a case of giving people what they want. Last weekend I was away for the weekend, we went to a shopping center I had not been to before, what struck me was the fact that it was a relaxed pleasant experience. Parking was no problem, it was free!. Inside the main complex the first thing that greeted you was a huge children’s play center, it was very attractive and very busy, Mums and Dads were dropping children in there and then going off to have a relaxed lunch together, then browsing the shops without unhappy children. It has been proven many times people spend more when they are relaxed. My thoughts are that maybe local councils should be looking at offering more facilities like this, which in time would easily return profits. During the week Mum’s would love the chance to shop without trailing the children around, or meet and have lunch together, it would also create jobs. The other thing that should be considered is that today it is teenagers who still seem to have money to spend and yet when I look around Salisbury High street we do not offer them a lot, other than a few milkshake parlours, we need to develop areas for them that offer them the technology they want in fun surroundings, but also where they can spend there pocket money. The face of the High Street we knew years ago is changing we need to put lots of thought and imagination into it, we need to drag people out of the home and make it the cool place to be. It will take massive in vestment but places like Center Parcs have no problem with there bookings because they are always evolving and there investments always pay back, people do still have money to spend, it is just simply they are being more selective where and how they spend it.