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July 22 (Reuters) - Britain's retailers could open thousands
of local high street stores over the next 12 months as people
start to step out again after months of coronavirus curbs,
according to research from Barclays.
With home and hybrid working patterns expected to continue
into 2022, a quarter of consumers surveyed by Barclays say the
best way a retailer can attract them is by opening stores in
their local area rather than in city centres.
"E-commerce has been the undisputed winner of the pandemic
but not far behind are community high streets, as shoppers seek
to 'look local' and support the stores on their doorstep," Karen
Johnson, the head of Retail and Wholesale at Barclays Corporate
Banking, said on Thursday.
A switch to more local stores would reverse a trend that has
seen community high streets decline as shoppers first migrated
to out-of-town shopping centres and then went online.
While online retailers such as ASOS and Boohoo
have seen their sales soar during lockdowns, many high
street retailers including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis
and Dixons Carphone have been closing stores.
Over 17,500 chain store outlets vanished from high streets,
shopping centres and retail parks across Britain last year,
according to data compiled by Local Data Company for accountancy
firm PwC.
Barclays, which said it surveyed more than 300 senior retail
managers, said that 18% of retail businesses with 10 or more
employees are eyeing community store openings, with each of them
looking at five new premises on average.
It said in total that meant there was potential for up to
17,000 new local stores across the UK.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Chris Peters in Bengaluru
Editing by Keith Weir and Pravin Char)
