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Oct 25, 2016
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More fashion stores close as shopping moves online says report

Published
Oct 25, 2016

Shifting consumer spending habits mean UK fashion store numbers in town centres are falling at their fastest rate in several years and fashion is suffering more than the wider retail sector, a new report showed Tuesday.


UK fashion stor enumbers are in decline - Intu


PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Local Data Company (LDC) said there were 2,656 store closures across the UK retail sector in the first six months of the year with only 2,153 openings, the lowest number in half a decade.

At the same time, 206 fashion stores closed while only 119 opened for a net fall of 87. However, the jewellery category saw an extra 24 stores added.

PwC said a contributing factor was the advance of online shopping, with fewer closures due to insolvencies and more because of new thinking by companies that has led to an overhaul of retail store strategies for national chains.

And while many physical chains now offer click and collect services that can drive visitor traffic to their own physical stores, services like Collect Plus mean customers can pick up goods from local outlets like convenience stores, meaning they never have to go near a branch of the store from which they have bought their goods.

LDC analysis shows there are over 22,200 click and collect services across 130 of the largest national retailers in the UK.

The report said the retail sector weakness in H1 was also increased by the failure of the BHS chain in June, with 142 of its stores closing during the study period. A further 22 BHS stores have closed in the second half and the UK has also had news of further higher-profile closures with Gap Inc’s Banana Republic recently saying it would quit the UK market.

Greater London, where online shopping has taken off most strongly, was unsurprisingly the biggest sufferer from the closures in the first half with 164 store close across the entire retail sector.

The spaces vacated by the traditional occupants of UK high streets are being increasingly filled by healthcare operators, food and beverage outlets and value stores such as pound stores, Matthew Hopkinson of the director of the Local Data Company said.

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