Retail and shopping has been a way of life in the UK, and the business of retail property is a billion pound industry effecting many pensions funds, and PLC investments.
Take away the customer and rents start to drop, and yields start to spiral, with capital values decreasing and towns start to show huge vacancy rates with the town units. The reason for this is multi-leveled, firstly multiple retailing taking away the independent shopkeeper, secondly, the rise of the food retailers the morphing into multi channeled retailers, then Internet retailing will take retailing to another level. The outcome is dramatic, with towns now showing vacancy rates of 30%, well in advance of the 10% predicted by some.
What can we do with all of the empty shops, and can government intervention, reverse the trend?, or do we accept the situation and let economics take its own natural course with the social and physical consequences ?.
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