A new report from The Retail Think Tank says that there is still a shortage of primary retail space. They claim that the recession is not the primary cause of store closures but long term trends are much more to blame: Shopper habits have been changing gradually Primary retail sites have been built-on and improved Consumers are shopping for choice and value and are today very mobile. Forty years ago a retail chain like would have to have 200 stores across the UK to reach 50% of shoppers, today that number has shrunk to 85. Large amounts of tertiary, and some significant numbers of secondary sites are, or will become vacant in the next few months. In the same way that primary retail sites are increasingly popular for retailers, they are with shoppers, and some towns risk becoming tertiary towns, relegated to being a mish-mash of obsolete stores, charity shops & low value retailers Whilst primary sites grow. The RTT is encouraging local authorities to review policy and consider a change of use for obsolete retail property. Effectively shrinking the retail stock to provide a more concentrated, highest possible quality. Certainly there is no mention at all of retail returning to the heady days of 2 years ago and no possible need for expansion of secondary or tertiary retail space, just more contraction. The RTT is encouraging local authorities of these tertiary towns to rethink how shops and shopping centres could be used in future and address the associated planning issues. So, there are now too many shops because we’re all spending less and it won’t go back to how it was 2 or 3 years ago before the easy flow of credit was cut off. But I also think that the online shopping is causing, and will increasingly cause more store closures.
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