NEWS ANALYSIS RETAIL SURVIVING 2012 In Brief HIGH STREETS? Portas Review, James Batchelor asks retailers how we can revive the UK’s town centres
adjoined to the main entrance of each store.” That’s not to say games retailers have given up on the High Street, of course. Far from it.
Those with a High Street presence are determined to keep their foothold, with specialists such as GAME and HMV experimenting with new store layouts and concept stores to offer consumers a different shopping experience. “High Street stores play a crucial role for a multichannel retailer,” says Simon Soffe, GAME Group’s investor relations
and communications “In Australia, many
shopping malls are built so that indies are placed between two chain stores, which means they’re scattered around the mall and enjoy the same passing footfall as the big shops. “Meanwhile in the USA, out-of-town strip malls that do not have a large chain store are going out of business. “We don’t have the room to relocate our High Streets out of town, but a solution would be to put
responsibilities onto the supermarkets: force them to include a few small and affordable retail units
PORTAS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
The Review listed 28 potential solutions that would increase High Street footfall and aid retailers. Some of the top-line proposals include:
Using ‘Town Teams’ to oversee High Street operations and manage them like businesses Better business rates and mentor schemes for smaller, local and independent retailers More free parking schemes for town centres Stricter sign-offs for new out-of-town retail developments Disincentives for landlords and banks to prevent them from leaving retail units vacant Making it easier for people to become market traders by lowering regulations and establishing a National Market Day
director. “We look forward to continuing this important debate about how best to support them.” The debate enters its next step in the spring, when the Government will be called on to respond to Portas’ recommendations. Until then, it is up to retailers to find new ways to draw consumers back to their High Street stores. As with so many industries, it is a case of adapt or perish. Portas herself observes: “How we shop as a nation has quite simply changed beyond recognition. Forever.” What are you doing to
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HMV: The retailer saw year- on-year sales dip 17.6 per cent to £364.9m for the 26 weeks ending October 29th, 2011. The Group reported a total loss of £50.1m for the period.
ZYNGA: The social games firm has floated on the NASDAQ stock exchange, with shares starting at $10 each. This valued the firm at almost $9bn.
EA: One million users registered for Star Wars: The Old Republic by Boxing Day 2011. EA claims it is the “fastest-growing subscription MMO in history”.
SEGA: Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode IIwill be released for XBLA, PSN and mobile platforms in 2012 – two years after the first episode.
DISNEY: Epic Mickey 2is rumoured to be due for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii by Christmas 2012. It will introduce a two- player co-op mode.
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