British towns are stuck in a doom-loop of declineBritain is becoming a country of eerie ghost towns – their high streets and centres hollowed out by a decade and a half of relentless decline as our biggest chains remorselessly beat a hasty retreat from old-fashioned bricks and mortar retail.
Not so long ago, many of these places would have had a House of Fraser, a Debenhams, perhaps a Topshop, a Topman, and a branch of Oasis or Warehouse among many other fallen brands. Before that a BHS, a Toys R Us, and a Woolworths too.
Last year, the high street lost Joules, McColl’s, and TM Lewin during what was the worst 12-month period in five years. 17,000 shops shut in 2022 – equivalent to nearly 50 every day – with the loss of 150,000 jobs.
This year, big beasts such as Marks and Spencer, Boots and New Look have pulled back sharply, while the collapse of Paperchase and M&Co has left another 270 shops gathering dust.
Add to that the disappearance or rapid retrenchment of countless middle-of-the-road restaurant chains that over-expanded at the hands of one-trick pony private equity firms, and the seemingly never-ending closure of bank branches and pubs, and it’s no exaggeration to say that some cities and towns have been left with row upon row of boarded up shops and buildings.
It’s a doom-loop: each time another place closes, there is less of a reason for people to visit their local town centre.
In May, the Retail Gazette reported that three quarters of the 125 stores that Debenhams left behind when it went bust in 2021 remained vacant. Too many of these abandoned premises are either simply too big or too expensive, or often both.
Without a new approach, the British high street risks becoming a place where only vape shops, charity shops, and Turkish barbers reside.
It may already be too late for some. When we talk about towns “dying”, the sad reality may be that many high streets are already dead, and it’s far from clear what will replace them.