It’s a story that is echoed up and down our high streets.
The owner of a small, city centre independent, trying to make ends meet as the nation’s shopping habits change out of all recognition.
Tim Hudson of Future Cycles isn’t alone when he speaks about days when barely a handful of customers come through the door.
And the image of city centre retailers in trouble continues outside.
His business is based in Leicester’s Market Street, a pedestrianised shopping area which once boasted a Fenwicks department store at one end, a three floor Dillons bookshop, a Tigers rugby merchandise shop and a Morrisons mini-market.
The McDonald’s at the city end still draws a crows, but Fenwicks is long-gone – the building currently being turned into a 121-bedroom hotel with short-stay apartments, with offices on the ground floor.
The bookstore, rugby shop and mini-mart are also closed.
In fact, of the 35 units along that stretch of road, 13 are empty. It is an identical picture in Belvoir Street, just round the corner.
Tim says it’s hard to know what the solution is – he doesn’t blame the city council and can’t blame the city as a whole, which is doing relatively well compared to many other places. Generally speaking, Market Street is clean and safe.
His shop sells “vintage and pre-loved bikes” and carriers out servicing and repairs.
Maybe, he said, it is just a case of reminding people that independents need their support.
“On a typical day I might be here from 8am, and probably have six people through the door all day,” he told BusinessLive.
“If you walk outside and turn left, there’s string of shut units that once included a pub, a hairdressers and a Morrisons Local.
“If you counted the Fenwicks front as three average sized units, you could pretty much say half the shops in this street are shut.
“It’s been pedestrianised for quite a while, and I do not think that is the issue. A lot of the footfall has migrated across the city to Highcross shopping centre.
“But I think it’s much deeper than that.
“We did sell new bikes, but there’s no opportunity to make money from that, because people will look at them in the shop, then buy them online.
“We were in the St Martin’s shopping precinct for six years and started out at the start of the recession – and business was better then.
“They say 10,000 jobs have been lost in retail already this year, and I think the internet has had an impact, but there has also been a change in mood.
“Wages have gone up, but people have not been spending. We get people coming in for second hand bikes with a budget of £30 – we sell tyres for £30. People don’t even want to spend £5 on an inner tube.
“It’s a culmination of lots of things. I think the fact that we have been dithering around [with Brexit] for so long has made people less inclined to spend. But it’s not just the internet, or Brexit, or austerity, rather it’s a combination of all those things.
“I don’t know if business will pick up. It’s precarious – you can’t just stay here waiting for people.
“There are days when we struggle to get into double figures. Some Saturdays we might take £30 all day – that’s in a city with a population of 330,000 people. How can that be the case?
“We have a website, but can’t compete with people selling stuff online. A lot of online retailers sell stuff for the same price – or less – than we can buy it for.
“Rates and rents do make it very tough. We’ve had to talk with our landlord about our rent, just like a lot of businesses have.
“But I don’t think there are any obvious solutions. The issue is UK-wide.
“I’m not criticising Leicester City Council or the city’s Business Improvement District, because I don’t think the problems are all things that they can address.
“It needs a change in attitude.”
