Where are all the shops?

[BGC180]

My partner and i have been trying to find retail premises in Bristol and would ideally want A3. However, despite not being too picky it seems that everywhere we enquire about is either already let or in the process of being.

The media and many on here in fact would have you believe that retail is dead but if that were true then where are all the empty premises?

Is is a strategic thing that we're doing wrong. We look online and wonder around looking for empty places but i am quite surprised by how little show up. Is there a recognised strategy to secure shop premises that isn't just looking online or wondering around?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I think its like whats happend in Norfolk, Norwich the large city is full of shops whilst somecwhere like great yarmouth is full of empty shops, the large gain as the small get sma ller and even less reason to shop there

 

[Talay]

You'll need to pay one of those agents to act for you I suspect.

The truth is that a lot of demand is driven from the lack of real jobs forcing people into self employment and taking up retail premises.

 

[kingblinguk]

Either search for agents and pay them , or search for online property on lease. Try for looking near business areas or marketplaces. You might not find area in busy marketpaces.

 

[deniser]

Don't forget also that a lot of shops are there just temporarily at the moment as pop ups pre-Christmas and will be gone come January.

I was amazed to pop into a local shopping centre yesterday which has been languishing empty for years to find it suddenly fully occupied by pop up gifts shops.

 

[BGC180]

Thanks for the responses. I was fearing the "you'll have to pay an agent" line because on principle it seems like a daft move. If property is that hard to find then there is no way the landlords will be amenable to rent reductions or break clauses etc. Let alone the fact that we are a startup so don't offer the perceived security a landlord would be looking for.

Pop-up shops are a good point. A bit of patience perhaps.

 

[Talay]

Go and stand, not walk by, where you want to be and the surrounding areas. You learn a whole lot more letting the world pass you by then trying to pass by yourself.

You'll see things which your brain filtered out previously. Perhaps an opportunity ?

 

[BGC180]

Thanks Talay good advice and something i have noticed in just walking past somewhere a few times rather than when scoping out. I will do as you say and hang around a bit more and see if anything becomes apparent to me.

 

[mhall]

The media and many on here in fact would have you believe that retail is dead

Yep, been hearing that for years - and at least five years on here. Funnily enough, we are still going while most of their websites have long since closed down. I should have kept a note really.

 

[BGC180]

I know! The media has a lot to answer for in all areas of life! This is just another in a long line of sloppy journalism designed to sell papers or gain attention with doom and gloom.

 

[MOIC]

It's not a case that shops are occupied and busy.

Businesses open up and close within a couple of years, mostly due to inexperience, lack of funding or lack of trade.

Experienced businesses will survive who manage well as well as niche shops that provide a good service.

Doom and gloom? No

But I suspect not entirely happy either (Christmas trade apart).

Hope everyone has a good December trading!

 

[#ServicedOffices]

Retail sales are at around £321 billion annually and online sales are only 9% of this.

I just wonder if we didn't have the internet what retail would be like. We constantly hear how the internet is destroying the high street... and its not true. All the high street giants have websites to minimise the risk. I would say its more about business rates, commercial estate agents and landlords.

 

[SwindonSteve]

Retail sales are at around £321 billion annually and online sales are only 9% of this.

I just wonder if we didn't have the internet what retail would be like. We constantly hear how the internet is destroying the high street... and its not true. All the high street giants have websites to minimise the risk. I would say its more about business rates, commercial estate agents and landlords.

And in my opinion, to add to the above valid points, the smaller independents not recognising that:

A) Online will only grow and eat into their market share.

D) They must adapt and offer an 'omni-channel' purchasing experience, to quote corporate bollocks.

C) They can compete by offering a delivery on demand same day service that is better than anything, including a click and collect service, that any major high street or online retailer can offer.

Your final point about rates and rents are equally valid but, certainly with regards to rates, that's something a retailers offering can have limited influence over when you come up against local government and their lack of commercial awareness.

 

[Page]

I would say its more about business rates, commercial estate agents and landlords.

Yes and some of them have not realised how things are changing or cannot afford to - or they may be technically defunct as business - so have to pretend otherwise
(Unlet at 20K means the property has a value related to that rent - let but at only 10K and the value of the property on the books is now less and so ...)

In the long run the market finds its own level

Be it property is turned in offices or houses etc

But if people are tied into 5-10-25 year leases then it can take a long while

The high street has always been evolving and will continue to do so - as do all businesses

But I am pleased that I am not a landlord or a high street business because currently the movement is to online

 

[Talay]

..
But I am pleased that I am not a landlord or a high street business because currently the movement is to online

However, some things cannot be done online and the time between desire, acting on that desire and getting the goods is the biggest challenge and the reason why Argos leads the way in "delivering" post purchase.