The changing face of our high streets

It is a tough time for our high streets with some of our big retailers facing closure. We take a look at some of the much-missed stores that have disappeared from our region.

Another month, another announcement of a retailer in trouble. Possible shop closures, job losses, one more blow for our high streets.

Most recently has come the news that one of Britain’s oldest department stores has collapsed into administration. Beales has 23 stores, including at Lowestoft, Diss, and Beccles, and staff as well as shoppers are waiting and watching for news of what will happen next.

At Great Yarmouth, Beales is a relatively new name to the town – in November 2018 it bought the Palmers department store which has had a presence in the Market Place for 183 years. The announcement of Beales’ administration came as a double blow to the town as its Debenhams store, in the Market Gates shopping centre, closed in January. The Market Place Bonmarché clothes shop is also awaiting an announcement on its future. And it’s a similar scenario in so many towns around our region – longstanding pillars of our shopping centres facing difficult times and worse. Think of the fate of Mothercare, British Home Stores, Thomas Cook, Jessops, HMV . . .

The Centre for Retail Research has forecast that more than 17,000 UK shops will close in 2020, through a combination of difficult trading times, high business rates and falling sales.

In our ‘online age’, the internet is, of course, impacting on the way we shop – even if you have never bought online and are determined that you never will, there are millions of people who do. Research into the way we shopped for Christmas 2019 had Amazon running neck-and-neck with the traditional high street as the first place customers look for presents. And for the first time ever, Christmas Day online spending was expected to top £1bn . . . on Christmas Day!