BUSINESS MONITOR


Bouncing back R


Every week, there seems to be another closed sign going up in the high street, with yet more virtual shop windows papering over the cracks. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Our marketing expert, PAUL CLAPHAM, has some ideas to help the fightback.


etailers are not having a nice time of it. Every week seems to bring a further tale of woe with shops being closed


and a series of chains simply going out of business. Theyre big too: HMV, Comet Blockbuster


and Jessops are just some of the casualties. The Retail Consortium reported the sharpest fall in shopper numbers for two years in January (down 3.3%) although, in fairness, snow puts off shoppers faster than anything else. The net effect is one in seven shops standing empty and in some town centres it is much worse than that. It also has an unfortunate knock-on effect. Successful high streets are where all the retailers are succeeding together. But when those gaps appear everybody starts failing together.


So are we witnessing the death of the high street? And if that’s where you are located is there anything you can do about it? Apart from that does it have other implications or opportunities for the printwear industry?


F


irst, I dont believe those death of the high street scare stories. Sure its a tough time and it will probably get


worse before it gets better in many towns. But I have seen high streets go through transformation before – and they bounce back.


| 22 | May 2013


www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk


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