A Brief History of Exeter High Street

To greater understand the context around the issues facing Exeter high street, you must first understand the history of the area. The majority of the high street was destroyed by bombing in 1942 (follow link for photos). After the debris was cleared a large section of the high street was now viable real estate. A Marks and Spencer’s and a new Commercial Union were built shortly after the war where the wreckage once stood. In the years that followed popular stores such as Boots and H&M cropped up on the high street. Finally, a John Lewis store opened on the high street in October of 2012 and has been viewed as a flagship store by the people of Exeter ever since.

The John Lewis Department Store

John Waterhouse, the owner of Pygmalion and Funck, interestingly challenges the common idea that department stores negatively impact small independent businesses they share the High Street with. He refers to his local John Lewis and their “partners” programme in a positive manner. The wider audience that this scheme allows him to reach partially nullify the stereotypically villainous role of department stores.

John’s acknowledgement of the efforts of the retailer to “promote” local businesses contradicts traditional views on the impact of department stores on the High Street. Most common held ideas that suggest that:

“Small businesses and local services, have been closing at
record rates over the past decade under unfair competitive pressure from the
multiples.”

Elizabeth Cox, Paul Squires, Josh Ryan-Collins and Ruth Potts, Re-imagining the high street Escape from Clone Town Britain, (London: New Economics Foundation, 2010), p. 4-6.

However, John describes the relationship as a “definitely” positive one. This “partners” format has historically been utilised by department stores since the post-war period. The store sells products belonging to big-name brands such as Apple, Samsung and Adidas. Employees that work for these companies use the John Lewis store as a hub to sell these products and offer specialist advice to customers. In theory, this practice shows clear similarities to the “John Lewis and Partners” scheme in which independent businesses also use the department store as a hub to sell their products.

The community ethics of the store are exemplified in the views of the manager of the Exeter branch:

“We are a big believer of being a bigger part in the community and feeling part of the community, rather than just somewhere people take a product off the shelf.”

Daniel Clark, “Shoppers will be less forgiving’ – retail roundtable discusses future of Exeter High Street in post-Covid world,” EastDevonNews, Last modified June 2020, Accessed 10th January 2021, https://eastdevonnews.co.uk/2020/06/28/retail-roundtable-discusses-future-of-exeter-high-street-in-post-covid-world/

Profits made at these shows have allowed John to dramatically increase the quality of his business. The number of products and the quality of products John is able to sell can be seen below.

It is clear that online retail has presented a large threat to the high street in recent history.

“The last decade or so has seen a continuing barrage of usually negative predictions about high street sales moving online and consequently the decline of independent local retailers.”

Colin Jones and Nicola Livingstone, “The ‘online high street’ or the high street online? The implications for the urban retail hierarchy,” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 28, no. 1 (October 2017): p. 2-3.

But what does this mean for Exeter’s high street?

Unfortunately, the prospects aren’t promising. As footfall continues to decline as it had done by 2.33% in 2017 compared t0 2016, and again by 0.93% in 2018 compared to 2017. Local Councillor Victoria Hatfield blames online shopping for this steady decline in customers on the high street.

“The rise of online shopping has been highlighted and is increasing, and this rise will be affecting the amount of people coming into the city centre to shop, adding to the reduction in footfall. This is a national trend and not unique to Exeter.”

Daniel Clark, “The state of our High Street: Full list of Exeter City Centre businesses that have closed since 2017,” DevonLive, Last modified on 15th November 2018, Accessed 12th January 2021, https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/state-high-street-full-list-2211070

The evidence for the eventual demise of the high street in Exeter is demoralising. It would be wise to assume that small businesses continue to close if you pay attention to the trend that Exeter high street has followed over recent history.

Covid-19

News segments detailing the impact of the virus on businesses such as the one below seem almost commonplace in our nightly intake of daily news.

The damming perspective of this news report mirrors John’s views on the critical impact the virus will have on the high street.

Believing the pandemic will “finish off a few town centres” John’s pessimism concerning the threat to the high street is palpable.

The Future of Exeter High Street

So what does the future hold for Exeter high street? The local council have already laid out Covid-response plans aiming to address:

“Construction and development, City Centre, Visitor economy, Transport, Education, Business Support, Community wellbeing – and the steps that will need to be taken in each of the sectors.”

Daniel Clark, “Exeter’s plan to recover from the coronavirus crisis,” DevonLive, Last modified June 2020, Accessed 10th January 2021, https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeters-plan-recover-coronavirus-crisis-4189717

Plans for a new bus station, improved pavements and more cycle lanes aim to make businesses such as John’s more accessible to consumers.

An intense focus on the wellbeing of the area and the community is vital in the eyes of Councillor Karime Hassan. He and his fellow board members promise intense focus on issues of homelessness, juvenile delinquency and the local environment in an effort to make the high street a desirable place to visit. While challenges do lie ahead for small business owners on the high street there is hope that these schemes will rejuvenate the area.

Sources used and further reading:

Clark, Daniel. “Exeter’s plan to recover from the coronavirus crisis.” DevonLive. Last modified June 2020. Accessed 10th January 2021. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeters-plan-recover-coronavirus-crisis-4189717

Clark, Daniel. “Shoppers will be less forgiving’ – retail roundtable discusses future of Exeter High Street in post-Covid world.” EastDevonNews. Last modified June 2020. Accessed 10th January 2021. https://eastdevonnews.co.uk/2020/06/28/retail-roundtable-discusses-future-of-exeter-high-street-in-post-covid-world/

Clark, Daniel. “The state of our High Street: Full list of Exeter City Centre businesses that have closed since 2017.” DevonLive. Last modified on 15th November 2018. Accessed 12th January 2021. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/state-high-street-full-list-2211070

Cox, Elizabeth, Paul Squires, Josh Ryan-Collins and Ruth Potts. Re-imagining the high street Escape from Clone Town Britain. London: New Economics Foundation, 2010.

Jones, Colin and Nicola Livingstone. “The ‘online high street’ or the high street online? The implications for the urban retail hierarchy.” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 28, no. 1 (October 2017): 2-3.

This article has also been informed by members of the Exeter High Street group chat. Read more form them by following this link: https://www.facebook.com/HighStreetExeter

Websites on related topics:

Visit Exeter: https://www.visitexeter.com/shopping/high-street

Devon Archives: https://swheritage.org.uk/devon-archives/visit/devon-heritage-centre/