RE: ONLINE SMASHING IT.....13 Nov 2021 07:45
Salter and Underwood both agreed that Debenhams’ store closures could exacerbate the decline of many struggling UK high streets. While 118 stores now remain, before its first administration in 2019 Debenhams had around 160 shops up and down the UK – in city and town centres, in shopping centres and retail parks, and on suburban high streets.
In many places, Debenhams is the anchor retailer and, given the size of the stores, is a central element of the area’s overall shopping offering. These key stores becoming empty will heap further challenges on an already struggling sector.
“The visible presence of empty stores leads to declining perceptions of high streets, pulling shoppers online instead which in turn leads to more stores closing in a vicious cycle,” Salter said.
Blackley described the disappearance of Debenhams’ stores from the high street as a “real watershed moment for UK retail”. He added that it the Boohoo deal would finally highlight that the business model of lots of identical physical stores with huge occupancy costs, such as rent, business rates and service charges, is “no longer viable” – especially in “a world where consumers can now choose how, where and when to spend their money, and most importantly do so without leaving home