The article “Exodus fears as shops call it a day”, Guardian, January 25, highlighted a disturbing trend in shopping. The historic High Street is under threat from supermarkets and internet shopping.

We run the Christian Bookshop in Station Road and it has become more noticeable that people are using the internet to shop for what they require. Our business still has very good support from our customer base, but more are turning to the internet rather than making a journey to the shop. Why use up petrol, and time to make a journey to a shop that may not have the item required in stock when you can sit comfortably at home, browse a site that has every book or item in its store and that can send it within 48 hours? Plus the internet site is open 24 hours whereas a shop is only open 9am-5pm a mere eight hours.

To survive, shops have got to find a way forward, to make it a more viable proposition. Now Kindle has arrived, and once more customers are using the internet to acquire the books they want rather than visiting a bookshop. It’s a very difficult problem that shops have got to solve, and at present we at Ichthus are searching for answers. One thing we do know is that locals need to use the shops they have left or the high street will become a thing of the past.

Come on Northwich, wake up to what is happening and support your local shops and keep the high street alive.

Peter Southern

Ichthus Books Station Road Northwich