BHS and Austin Reed are the latest retail names to go as the revolution in shopping habits continues.
The argument goes it’s not that we’re buying less, we’re just doing it differently: mostly online.
So does this spell a dead end for the High Street?
Next doesn’t think so. It’s just opened its biggest ever Scottish store, a whopping 80,000 sq ft of fashion and homewares at Straiton Retail Park in Loanhead.
In Glasgow, H&M had its foot in the door of the flagship space at Buchanan Quarter the moment Forever 21 announced it was pulling out.
Further down Buchanan Street, Nike and Massimo Dutti have unveiled large and glittering new stores.
And, if you check on the retail pages of s1jobs, you’ll see this adds up to lots of opportunities to work in fashion, cosmetics, travel and a stack load of other retail sectors.
Let’s face it, online is a poor second to the real thing: ‘seeing the quality and feeling the width’.
In fact, a huge percentage of clothes bought through internet sites are returned because they don’t fit. And, anyway, spending a Saturday in town with your best bud is one tradition worth keeping.
But while city centres are flourishing, towns and villages have found it more challenging to come up with a formula to counter the closure of corner shops and independent retailers.
The good news is some are finding ways to attract customers back – such as offering free parking or even running free delivery for in-store purchases.
A few places have even reinvented themselves, take Wigtown, for example. The town has turned a page and started a new chapter in celebrating books by establishing the Wigtown Book Festival. The festival’s popularity has led to the town being known throughout the world as Scotland’s Book Town.
Once such creative solutions put the heart back into communities, shops start to open again.
It only takes one or two pioneers to start a trend and before you know it, empty spaces are transformed into shopping oases and retailers are queueing up to move in.
And what’s good news for retailers and shoppers is also good news for anyone wanting to kickstart their career in retail as a shop assistant or move up the ladder to store or even regional manager.
One final thought almost guarantees victory in this fightback for real world shopping: going online is no use when you have an urgent need for a Mother’s Pride loaf and a pint of milk.