Today I had a rather interesting conversation with a lady on Facebook about the impending death of Ware.

It all started when I promoted a post about Covid safe or virtual Bonfire Night events.

What was meant to be a positive post about trying to help organisers get more FREE exposure during these strange times for any upcoming events quickly turned sour when a lady commented about how Ware has been killed off.

Now don't get me wrong, I think there was an element of misunderstanding as I believe this lady thought I was from the council, which I am not.

But even so, I was asked to provide evidence that Ware did in fact have some fantastic independent businesses that were not hairdressers, charity shops, coffee shops, food shops or takeaways. 

This, of course, is no problem as I like to keep my ear to the ground on the best local businesses and so came up with a quick list of suggestions (see end of article for the list). 

Unfortunately though, my response did little to appease the lady as I was informed that these were not the 'everyday shops' that Ware was of desperate need of.

But this got me thinking, as consumers we are quick to comment and complain about that state of our high streets but how many of us still check the Internet first to see if we can get a better price before buying in a shop?

How many of us are busy with our day to day lives but find that we need something and so we quickly check Amazon to get it delivered the next day? 

Not many of us, stop and go out to the shops when we are tired and it is cold and windy out because we find that we need some widget or other.

We are all guilty of it to some extent, some more than others of course.

But the thing is, we shop with our feet. If we are going to the Internet first because it's easier/quicker/cheaper then these 'proper' shops will go out of business.

If we want our high streets to change, we alone are the ones who can make that happen.

After all, if people stopped buying coffee in coffee shops then there would be a lot less of them around, they fill a need that as a consumer we often forget about.

And the sad fact is that, premises are expensive. Rates are expensive. So if you can run a successful business online without the need for a store front, why wouldn't you? 

Especially when consumers look to the Internet first and the high street second.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Ware is dead? We'd love to know your thoughts - hertfordandware@thebestof.co.uk

And if you want to see the Facebook exchange in all it's glory, you can view it here: http://bit.ly/DeathofWare

If you know of a great local business that is need of some help with local exposure then let us know at: hertfordandware@thebestof.co.uk

A Quick List of Some Great Local Ware Businesses:

WordSmart Communications - headed up by Barry and who is the go to person for anything to do with copywriting.

Body Stress Release - by Charlotte Richardson Knott, a truly lovely lady who helps to release stress and tension through the South African tradition of Body Stress Release.

Transformative Tiling - award winning firm, owned by Ricky, the team really do care about quality and have the reviews to prove it.

Your Van Service -  run by Sammy, are brilliant at removing and couriering, in fact I know someone who has just used them to clear his late mothers house and was super impressed by the service Sammy and the team provided.

Lewis Tree Care - run by Shane, a really great guy who heads up and owns the family firm and are again fantastic at what they do.

Know of someone who should be on the list? Let us know at hertfordandware@thebestof.co.uk.