{"id":582300,"date":"2025-11-20T10:13:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/582300\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T10:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:13:19","slug":"the-greater-manchester-neighbourhood-thats-home-to-one-of-the-uks-best-high-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/582300\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greater Manchester neighbourhood that\u2019s home to one of the UK\u2019s best high streets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study looked at the number of independent shops, the street’s ‘vibrancy’ and ‘overall aesthetic appeal’\"OldhamOldham Street in the Northern Quarter has been named one of the best high streets in the UK according to Gen Z shoppers (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Manchester\u2019s Northern Quarter <\/a>is known for its cosy cafes, hip bars, vintage shops and colourful street art. Now a new study has found that it\u2019s home to one of the UK\u2019s top high streets for independent shops.<\/p>\n

Oldham<\/a> Street has ranked third in a list of 10 high streets across the country which most appeal to Gen Z shoppers. The research was conducted by American Express and retail experts Global Data.<\/p>\n

The ranking was based on various factors, including the number of independent stores serving Gen Z interests, the total count of independent shops, the street\u2019s vibrancy, and its overall aesthetic appeal. All these can be found in Manchester\u2019s Oldham Street.<\/p>\n

It was beaten by Brighton\u2019s Trafalgar Street, Sydney Street, Kensington Gardens, which topped the list; and Sheffield\u2019s Devonshire Street, Division Street and the top of Cambridge Street, ranking in second place. London\u2019s Coal Drops Yard and Stable Street came in fourth place; while Birmingham\u2019s Gibb Street and Floodgate Street came in fifth.<\/p>\n

\"PiccadillyPiccadilly Records and Vinyl Exchange on Oldham Street – one of the many businesses which appeals to Gen Z shoppers (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)Top 10 Independent High Streets for Gen Z:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Brighton (Trafalgar Street, Sydney Street, Kensington Gardens)<\/li>\n
  2. Sheffield (Devonshire Street, Division Street & top of Cambridge Street)<\/li>\n
  3. Manchester (Oldham Street)<\/li>\n
  4. London (Coal Drops Yard & Stable Street)<\/li>\n
  5. Birmingham (Gibb Street & Floodgate Street)<\/li>\n
  6. London (Broadway Market)<\/li>\n
  7. Edinburgh (Deanhaugh Street, Raeburn Place)<\/li>\n
  8. Liverpool (Bold Street)<\/li>\n
  9. Bristol (Gloucester Road)<\/li>\n
  10. Leeds (Central Road, New Market Street, and part of Call Lane)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The research also looked at different sectors which have been boosted by Gen Z spending. GlobalData conducted a survey of UK adult consumers asking for respondents\u2019 purchasing frequency, usage and average spend in a range of businesses, and then calculated total sector spend estimates.<\/p>\n

    \"GenGen Z’s preference for activities such as record collecting have boosted certain sectors, according to a survey (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

    They then analysed Gen Z responses to determine how this age cohort is boosting specific retail sectors compared to the wider population, through their heightened engagement and self-reported spending in these businesses. The survey found that the generation’s love of all things nostalgic and retro has boosted spending at vintage camera shops by 58 per cent thanks to the craze for digital cameras from the 00s.<\/p>\n

    Vintage clothing shops (39 per cent) and record shops (23 per cent) have also received a major boost from young shoppers. Non-alcoholic drink spots and health wellness spots also made the list, thanks to Gen Z\u2019s passion for matcha, bubble tea, and Pilates.<\/p>\n

    Socialising with friends was named as a key reason for visiting their local high streets by more than half (53per cent) of Gen Z (aged between 19-28), the highest out of all generations surveyed. The data does not represent American Express Cardmember spending.<\/p>\n

    The research is released ahead of this year\u2019s Small Business Saturday on 6 December, of which American Express is founder and remains principal supporter in the UK. The day is designed to celebrate small businesses with people encouraged to support them. Last year, Small Business Saturday saw \u00a3634m spent in small businesses nationwide.<\/p>\n

    Michelle Ovens, Director of Small Business Saturday, said: \u201cSmall businesses bring character and individuality to their communities and to the whole nation, so it\u2019s great to see young people celebrating that through their conscious shopping choices. We look forward to seeing this energy translate into support for their favourite independent businesses on Small Business Saturday this December and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

    For more of the latest What’s On news, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study looked at the number of independent shops, the street’s ‘vibrancy’ and ‘overall aesthetic appeal’Oldham Street…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,9158,246,10968,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-582300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-northern-quarter","13":"tag-shopping","14":"tag-things-to-do-manchester","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115581500508141965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}