23rd Mar 09
UK shopping streets continue to lose retail shops
by Paul Russell
www.experiangroup.com
Shopping streets in Britain are facing the ongoing loss of retail shops in most population centres, with the only survivors being sandwich and fried chicken chains among the boarded up fashion and department stores.
Approximately 20 miles to the north-west of London, in Watford – a town with a population of around 80,000 – the MK One and Woolworths sit empty after they were forced out of business by the economic downturn.
“It’s like every other town at the moment. It’s dying,” said 60-year-old resident, Valerie Mosley, as she walked in a pedestrian zone that now offers only Nando’s, Sam’s Chicken and Subway. She added that Watford “used to be a lovely market town. Now one shop after another is closing.”
According to Experian PLC, up to 15 per cent of the store in Britain will be vacant by the end of this year. The research company has estimated that as many as 1,600 retailers in the UK could go out of business in 2009, as a lack of consumer confidence impact the country’s 278 billion pound retail market. Those that have already succumbed to the recession include the Woolworths Group and the Zavvi Group.
“Vacancies on the high street are going to get worse before they get better,” said Jon de Mello, the head of retail consultancy at Experian, in a telephone interview.
Thanks to www.bloomberg.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.
www.experiangroup.com
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