It’s only when you walk past the suddenly empty windows – maybe already boarded up – that it fully sinks in. This shop was one of your regular haunts. Now it’s gone. Stores on Britain’s high streets have experienced years of tough trading. More and more UK non-food retail outlets are shutting down.
The most recent high-profile chain-store failure was the 93-year-old, 408-outlet, hardware and general merchandise retailer Wilko. It entered administration on 10 August 2023. Most of the stores will be closed, making this the biggest retail collapse since Woolworth’s in 2008. Indeed, 2023 has seen “lots of problems in the retail sector, but particularly in areas which looked to have high demand and plenty of well-heeled customers – prestige fashion and sports cycling”, notes the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).
Recent years have seen the failures of shirt maker T M Lewin, camera dealer Jessops, stationers Paperchase, department stores Debenhams and Beales, clothing retailers Arcadia, Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Jaeger, Joules, Laura Ashley, M&Co, Peacocks, Petar Petrov, Harveys Furniture, Sofa Workshop, builders merchant Tile
