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Top 5 Reasons why High Street Shopping Will Never Recover

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Death of the High Street?

If we are being honest, the death knell for high street shopping has been sounding for some time now. There are various reasons why this has become the case, and we listed the top five.

1. People Are Busier


Consumers want convenience more than ever before, and you simply do not get that on the high street. High street stores have always been based on the principle of creating a relaxed browsing environment to encourage customers to buy. Customers are more focused with regards purchases than ever before, so tend to buy online or simply look to get in and out of a shop as quickly as possible.

2. Rise of the Retail Park

Many businesses are turning their backs on the high street in favour of setting up shop in retail parks. Retail park units often offer better value for businesses in terms of rates against return, too. One reason that businesses favour retail parks is that they can market products and target customers and employees a lot easier. Retail parks are filled with “destination” stores where customers go with the purpose of buying. This means businesses can look at how successful they are on selling to the customers who come into stores, knowing that almost all of them are looking to buy, whereas on the high street you need to heavily factor in browsers.

3. Supermarkets

Even as recently as fifteen years ago, the supermarket was where you would go just to get your weekly food shopping. Now, you can decorate your home, book a holiday, and even buy a car in most modern supermarkets. With the rise of these one stop shops, why would anyone need to visit a high street?

4. E-Commerce

Even for the biggest technophobes, using the internet to shop can prove much more convenient than wandering around a store looking for a member of staff, who then points to where they think an item might be rather than you to it. Finding an item online is often no more than a search and a click, making for an easy and straightforward, stress free shopping experience.

5. People Know Points 1 – 4

As much as the Government and local authorities look to focus on high street regeneration, they are as aware of the other four points as anyone. Ultimately, there will come a time when they will realise it is no longer cost effective to continue putting money into high streets, especially as there is no real demand for them to be the central fulcrum of shopping habits that they once were.

Posterita offers a free and paid point-of-sale operational system for a number of companies in the different industry sectors from ecommerce, high street shops, and restaurants.





Fight Wrinkles by Eating Protein

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Most people are terrified of getting wrinkles as they age. Fortunately, there are ways you can reduce the chances that your skin will wrinkle. You can slow the aging process and stop your skin from wrinkling by simply making sure you get enough protein in your diet.

Here are some things you need to be aware of to make sure you eat enough protein and slow the aging process.

Why Does Skin Wrinkles as You Age?

Your skin is filled long strings of fine fibers known as collagen. Collagen fibers give thickness to your skin. As you get older, those fibers begin to break down. This causes your skin to become thinner, which makes it more prone to wrinkling.

This is discouraging to people as they age, but you can reduce the number of wrinkles that appear on your skin by keeping your collagen from degrading.

How Do You Protect Your Collagen?

Collagen and the elastic tissue in your skin are made of organic proteins. People who have protein deficiencies are much more likely to have skin problems.

You can keep them strong and healthy by making sure you get enough protein in your diet. This will ensure your skin doesn’t thin as quickly as you age and will be less likely to wrinkle.

There are a number of foods that will provide you with the proteins you need to keep your skin strong, vibrant and healthy. Here are some foods that you may want to incorporate into your diet:

  • Fish. Fish contains a number of proteins that you can incorporate into your diet. In addition, it is a rich source of Omega 3. Salmon is one of the best types of fish you can eat if you are trying to fight wrinkles.
  • Lamb. Lamb is also a good source of protein. In addition, it is a rich source of vitamins that provide moisture to your skin.
  • Nuts. Nuts are one of the best sources of protein you can find. The proteins in brazil nuts have been found to be particularly effective at reducing wrinkles.

Any food that is rich in protein can enhance the health of your skin and reduce wrinkling. The American Academy of Dermatology said there are a variety of benefits in eating more proteins to fight wrinkling. In addition to strengthening the proteins in collagen, foods that are high in protein also tend to be rich sources of other key nutrients such as Vitamin E.

Consider eating more foods and supplements that have high levels of proteins to help your skin maintain your elasticity. You can delay or even reverse some of the effects of aging by maintaining a protein rich diet.

Kalen writes about the best protein shake for bestwhey-protein.org.

5 Gifts that Inspire the Hard-to-Shop-For

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The delightful tear of wrapping paper, the high-pitched giggles that ensue, the never-ending sound of laughter and fun with a brand new toy – ahh, holiday shopping for kids is so easy to do and even easier to enjoy after the gift has been given. But not everyone on your holiday shopping list is going to be this easy to shop for, and in fact, you might need a little inspiration to get you going on the shopping train.

It might not even be inspiration that you need to possess – it might actually be inspiration that you need to give. It could be inspiration to work harder at a job or keep striving to reach that dream. Whatever it is that may end up being the perfect gift for those on your list that are hard to shop for, everyone needs a little inspiration, and here are just 6 ideas for those tough-to-buy-for folks that need it most.

The Grumpy Coworker


The grumpy coworker is the one who just can’t seem to get into the holiday spirit. Instead of bouncing around the office in holiday cheer like so many other folks around this time of year, this person will sit quietly at their desk with headphones on (NOT playing Christmas music), not participate in company holiday parties and completely tune out the joy of the season.

So what do you buy for this friend and coworker of yours that just doesn’t seem to like the holidays? You’re best off going with something simple for this person, like a plain ceramic mug that they can use to sip on coffee, or better yet, hot chocolate, if you wish to instill some holiday cheer in them. Find a mug that has a great quote on it, something either encouraging or funny, and stuff it with some hot cocoa mix, a candy cane and a peppermint spoon all tied up in red and green ribbons.

It’s a simple way to say “Happy Holidays” without being over-the-top for someone that you rarely see outside of work and who doesn’t particularly enjoy the holidays, anyway.

The Awesome Boss

Sticking to the office gifts for now, what do you get for the boss who you just love to come in and see every day (hopefully, we’re all so lucky!)? You want something that isn’t too personal, but is still thoughtful enough to say that you enjoy working for them and you’re thankful for your position in their company.

Here’s just one idea: take your company’s logo, or a photo of the whole team out at a company outing, and have it made into a holiday ornament. An ornament is thoughtful and will be put out year after year in your boss’ home, and nothing is more inspiring to a boss than knowing that their employees think this highly of them to give such a wonderful gift. It’s simple, it’s affordable and it’s definitely memorable.

The Mother-in-Law

Your in-laws can be some of the hardest people to shop for during the holidays, most specifically your mother-in-law, mainly because no matter how long you’ve known them, chances are you’ll still never know them like you know your own parents. Choosing a gift for them, then, can prove to be a major challenge.

For your mother-in-law this year, why not purchase some inspirational jewelry, like a necklace or a pair of earrings, that have a positive, uplifting, loving quote inscribed on the jewelry itself? Often times you can find these items at a relatively low cost (usually online), and it’ll be a simple, constant reminder to your MIL that you love her and you want her to be happy and stay positive always.

The Brother

Men are tough to find gifts for as it is, and your brother makes it even tougher sometimes because, well, he’s your brother, and that’s his goal in life – to make your life more difficult.

If he is of age, consider purchasing a Beer of the Month Club membership on his behalf. These things are everywhere, so it’s not like they’re hard to find, and they really are a gift that keeps on giving. He’ll receive a certain number of craft beers from across the world every single month for as long as you choose to purchase his membership for (careful – the longer you’re a member, the more money you pay – if you have to stay on a budget, choose a short membership, like 3 or 4 months). Plus, they send along info about where the beer was brewed and the history and stories behind each brewery.

It’s a perfect way to say “I love you” and “I’m thinking about you all year long, not just during the holidays” and even “I care about your interests, too.” The next logical step is an across-the-country beer tour with your big or little bro, but save that for a time when you have a ton of vacation days left and nothing better to do, of course!

The Spouse

Ahh, the spouse. The one person on your list that is either the absolute easiest person for you to shop for, or possibly the complete most difficult one. If you’ve been together for many, many years, you might even be running out of ideas, but you know that you have to get something extra special for the one you love during the holidays.

Depending on the kind of person that your spouse is, a different gift might inspire him or her to do one thing or another versus someone else who is entirely different. That said, one great gift that will convey love and thoughtfulness perfectly is a custom homemade blanket with a hand embroidered love quote in one corner. It sounds harder than it is.

All you really have to do is hit the fabric store, choose 2 prints of fleece that your spouse may like, cut strips all the way around both pieces and tie the strips to each other to make a double-sided blanket with little fringe knots on the edges. The embroidery is easy, too – just pick a color of thread that goes with the blanket and is visible, draw your quote out on the fabric first, then stitch over it. You can remove the marker outline with a simple fabric cleaner.

Everyone loves to be all warm and cozy in the wintertime, and who knows, this custom, loving blanket may even inspire your spouse to snuggle up with you more than ever!

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Maya Richards is a freelance writer who loves the holiday season. She volunteers in a small shop in her hometown every year that mainly sells holiday employee gifts, so she gets tons of great ideas for everyone in her life from the shop!

Expert Garden maintenance tips for Winter

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The positive impression a great garden leaves on people visiting a home is something seldom equaled. Great gardens say as much about a home as the house does.

However, the fast-changing environment of a garden means gardening and maintenance go hand in hand . This is especially the case as we enter winter. The high-growth levels of a garden mean that you keep a landscape garden, landscaped you have to work on the area during the summer, while also prepare it for the colder weather. Nevertheless, it’s not as hard as it seems as you see from our basic gardening and maintenance tips to ensure your garden looks great throughout the year.

Plants

Some smart planting can make sure your garden remains bright all year round. Though, plants have certain needs and requirements, with a little know how it can be possible to keep everything in check. The simplest advice for landscape garden maintenance is to know what’s growing and how you should look after it.

Lawns require looking after and mowing is not often enough. During warm weather, grass needs water, and also needs care if you have had a specifically cold winter. Make sure to care for grass during summer, so it heads into the colder period of the year at its strongest.

Trees

Trees also need gardening and maintenance and pruning, dead wooding and keeping their shape is important, but also tough and often a danger without the right tools. Tree surgeons maybe your answer in such a scenario and help you ensure your tree stays healthy.

Decking

Decking is also something that needs to be maintained. Look into painting, or varnishing the wood and cleaning it with detergent. Even if, it’s not a plant, this is all part of good gardening. Weed the area around and clean any grime, or stains with your garden tool hire. Of course you can rent

Furniture

In a similar manner to that of decking, garden furniture can also be treated roughly by the weather. Cover them with waterproof covering, if they can’t be placed inside in the winter. Clean and look after them when the spring comes to make sure you get the most from them.

Fencing

Fencing is also something often overlooked, however requires a good check after winter to guarantee it is perfect. Replace any broken fencing and look after it, as a good, solid fence can really add aesthetically to your landscape garden.

Following these gardening maintenance tips now will warrant a healthy attractive garden come about later in the year.

Cormac Reynolds writes for Best at Hire a UK company that provides garden equipment for rent.

Winter Troubles That Can Affect Your Home and How They Can Be Avoided

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With temperatures beginning to drop, it is likely that you’ve already pulled out all of your sweaters, socks and mittens out of the box. While you’ve geared up to brave the cold weather, how about your home? Have you prepped it up to survive the possible damages that winter will bring?

With strong winds, freezing temperatures and heavy snow, winter can significantly damage your home. So if you want to ensure that you won’t be doing repairs in the middle of a cold winter night, here are the most common cold-weather dangers that can affect your house and how you can prevent them from ruining your property.

Frozen pipes

Exposure to freezing temperatures can cause water pipes to freeze and burst. A frozen pipe is not only costly to repair; once it cracks, it can waste as much as 250 gallons of water each day. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to prevent this problem from happening.

First, seal small holes or leaks on all the pipes inside and outside your house with a waterproof sealant. Second, insulate them using commercial foams that are made to fit standard-sized pipes. Third, disconnect hoses or shut off the water supply to the faucets outside your home. Once you have turned off the water, open all of the faucets and leave them open for the rest of the winter to prevent standing water in the pipes from freezing.

Falling tree limbs

Falling trees and branches is a common occurrence during winter that can cause significant damage to your house. What makes this even more dangerous is that a falling limb can hit utility lines causing power outage or fire. To reduce the dangers that falling trees may bring, inspect the trees surrounding your house. Take note of how the branches are angled and also check them for cracks or splits. For branches that are hanging above your home’s roof, prune them properly to prevent them from falling. Thinning out the main limbs will lighten their weight, thereby reducing the potential for breakage.

Icy sidewalks, driveway and steps

You can’t do much about snow falling on your driveway, steps and sidewalks. However, you can prevent the damage and possible injury it can cause. Before the snow falls, repair slightly damaged steps or replace some of them if necessary. As for the sidewalks and driveway, seal them properly to reduce cracking.

Ice dam on roof

Once snow and ice hit your roof, the heat escaping from the inside of your house helps prevent the roof from freezing. When the snow and ice melt and find their way on the edges of the roof (eaves) where no insulation is present, they may refreeze and form into damaging ice dams.

To prevent ice dams, clean your gutters and downspouts to ensure that they are draining properly. Equally important is to ensure that your ceiling and attic are airtight so that warm air will not escape. If possible, layer up on ceiling or roof insulation to reduce heat loss.

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This piece of home improvement advice was contributed by one of the writers of McIntyre Masonry. McIntyre Masonry provides a full range of stonemasonry services, which are carried out by some of the best stonemasons in Edinburgh and the Lothian’s.

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