“It does need more shops, so that there’s more to choose from.”
This from one of the people interviewed by a TV crew as part of a piece about the #highstreet…
…and it struck me how often you hear that if you talk to people about their town or city centres.
But wait. What about “forget #retail”, “change completely”, “death of…”, and the other messages we keep getting.
We’re all shopping online. We prefer out-of-town retail parks. Highstreets need more experiential. You should go for hair and beauty, coffee shops and leisure – things you cannot buy by pressing buttons.
So why do we keep hearing quotes like the one the tv reporter chose to use…?
+ Do we say stuff we don’t mean when faced with a camera or survey.
Are we thinking shops but not the ones we end up with.
+ Or would we support them in enough numbers but the commercial #property market isn’t delivering that or can’t…?
When we’re setting out ‘next steps’ for the tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnerships’ we urge locations working with #TheVacantShopsAcademy to set up, figuring out which retailers would add to the mix and trying to attract them is very much part of the story. It varies in time and between places, but is always there.
So DO we need more shops…?
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts…?
