A grim week marked by a slew of failures on the high street has left the retail sector reeling – but Birmingham city centre won’t be scarred by empty shops, according to experts.
Up to 10,000 jobs are on the line as well-known names such as Thorntons, Jane Norman and Habitat announced they were either closing stores or going bust.
The chocolate shop is to close up to 180 stores, with Carpetright following suit saying 50 stores could shut.
TJ Hughes, Jane Norman, Habitat and Homeform, the owner of Moben kitchens and bathroom chain Dolphin, said they were going into administration – although some stores have been sold and there are hopes many of the others will remain open.
Shoppers reining in spending after deep public spending cuts and rising costs for retailers were behind the dramatic collapses, with the timing of the June “quarter day”, where shop owners’ rents are due, hammering the final nail in the coffin.
The West Midlands’ suburban high streets and out-of-town shopping centres are more likely to feel the full force of the collapses than the region’s main shopping hotspot in Birmingham city centre, according to experts in renting out shops.
Birmingham-based Nick Round, national head of shopping centre leasing at Colliers International, said: “In some parts of the country it’s all doom and gloom and in others it’s not.”
He said big city centre shopping malls like Bullring would be able to shrug off collapses.
“They can attract big international shops and have guaranteed huge footfall.”
He added: “I don’t think it will have any impact in Birmingham city centre.
“It’s such a big city centre, there’s lots going on, there are lots of positives – Bullring’s doing really well, the Pallasades is doing well, John Lewis is coming, the Mailbox has just been sold and they are looking to get more brand names in there.”
Andy Benson, director at Wright Silverwood, a firm of chartered surveyors specialising in retail and leisure real estate, agreed with that assessment.
“Birmingham city centre, dare I say it, is big enough to shoulder the current round of vacancies,” he said.
