The woes of recent years for the UK's retail sector are hardly new news. But is the well-worn, arguably rather generalised, line that 'there's too much retail floorspace in the UK' really true, especially when the internet is at play?
We've just seen the latest in a pretty long line of UK
retailers announcing reviews of their portfolios with a leading DIY
chain revealing a two year store closure programme and another
high street retailer saying that a third of its stores are
under review from a property perspective – for this company
that doesn't mean closures, but it's pretty likely to be a
sign of some under-utilisation. And we know from other parts of the
retail world that these household names are far from alone.
Some of the UK's foodstore operators are similarly looking at
their portfolios. Now that the boom of superstore construction from
the last decade has now largely been delivered this is, with
hindsight, perhaps to be expected.
So the fact that one of the UK's leading food
retailers has revealed that it wants to open 50+ new stores in
the UK in the coming year looks to be against the grain - or is
it?
There continue to be under-served locations, that's clear
enough.
But the investment also comes in more modern forms than bricks and
mortar (or steel and glass). All the food retailers, albeit to
differing degrees, have rolled out internet shopping's click
and collect. This has allowed the traditional arms of their
operations to be bolstered by customers who want a different way to
undertake the weekly (or daily for some) grocery chore. And the
planning system is keeping up (after a fashion) with changes this
week that will allow such facilities without the need for a
specific new grant of planning permission from the local
Council.
So, is there too much space or is it the way space is used which
needs to change? The latter looks to be the route to success moving
forward.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.