The other week I was walking down Kilburn High Road in North West London. So many shops have closed down due to the recession. This street was a bustling collection of cheap ‘pound stores’ and discount clothing boutiques. Granted, most of the time the merchandise was pretty shoddy, but the street did have a very interesting atmosphere. But now the street is depressingly empty. Poundland has the monopoly on cheap goods (there are two Poundlands within blocks of each other) and many shops are completely empty.

The discount store pictured in the gallery was once this store.