It’s been a gloomy year for the big chains on the high street – but thankfully there are plenty of great businesses large and small that are defying the gloom. There are a number of success stories proving there’s still plenty of life left in the retail markets of our towns and cities. In this sense, there are a number of retailers who have invested well to ensure they are ahead of the game when it comes to how they are going about their retail plans.

From fashion stores to discount chains, there are many thriving retailers up and down the country. When you consider who these brands are it is more common that they are the ones who have been able to innovate the fastest and also the ones who have actually made proper retail design investments. Hiring a retail design agency is just one of the best ways to be sure to keep up with the new and also ever-changing face of retail as we see it. While the retail sector has been full of tales of woe over the past year there have been some bright lights that are bucking the trend as well as whole types of stores also doing well in these times. Running and cycling stores as an example have seen their fortunes on the incline. These are likely to be the types of stores in need of retail design solutions in time to come.

Another factor contributing to the so-called death of the high street has been the increasing number of store closures across in the country. Within the past decade, a number of well-known high street businesses closed shop, leading to thousands of job losses. The most affected store closures in retail were women clothes shops, convenience stores and shoe shops. On the latter, in the UK city of Bath, the likes of Sole Trader and Schuh are brands of the past now.

It is fair to say that British high streets were not having their best day beforehand, but the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic only exacerbated the problem to a greater degree. During the months of March and April when restrictions were at their maximum, retail and recreation mobility saw low levels at such unprecedented rates. Consumers started feeling comfortable again about going out for daily activities like shopping only after June 2020. It is fair to say that though in June 2021 we are seeing the high street come back to life, retail design will be of even more greater importance to help retailers get back up to speed in the world as we knew it pre-pandemic.