Following on from our Huddersfield Town Centre Event this week, and our continually work on Retail Theatre, I was interested to read the thoughts of several retail design experts in Design Week:

The next ten years will be a transformative time for our high streets. Shops will be the theatres where brands develop their closest relationships with customers. Technological advances will be mind-boggling and hard to predict, but will help reinvigorate our high streets.

Shops will become more sociable places. Every brand will need ro rethink ‘sociability’ into its business model. Being community-based and community-relevant will be key.

Ibrahim Ibrahim,  MD, Portland

 

There has been concern about the decline of the local and independent offer of the high street for nearly a decade. The impact has been devastatingly apparent for the past two years, where we have seen the vacancy rate doubling and an accelerated shift towards the big-box retailers than can keep their overheads low.

The generalists that can compete on price have seen a need to enhance the experience of shopping and add additional attractions and value. The Apple Genius bar and the rise of the Geek Squad are good examples of things to come.

It has always been interesting to see how the high street burrows and re-appropriates product from the luxury industry. This may need to be applied to the level of service and experience required to keep the high street alive.

Reverting to a model that is focused on the local environment and space may be necessary, as the high street struggles to compete on price with online offerings and the convenience of out-of-town retail centres.

Jonathan Clarke, Director of interiors, Europe Woods Bagot

 

The high street’s future is service, knowledge, personalisation and ability to compete … For small stores to compete, the retail giants should put back some of their success to support independent traders, by providing training, buying skills, marketing and design know-how, distribution and so on – as well as open up their supply chain to high street shops, to allow them to source product as competitively.

Philip Dolman, Director, Studio DB

 

The internet has had a positive impact on UK businesses, but the high street has suffered. With 15 per cent of shops empty, a long-term vision is well overdue. We believe four key trends will drive people back to the high street:

Localisation – consumers will seek experiences that fit with them, their location and the social context

From sales to service – bricks can beat clicks. Never underestimate the advice and intimacy  of a respected shop-owner, the experience of touching, feeling and tasting the product. Shops that celebrate their specialism and employ people who know their stuff will always be reasons to return.

Community hub – people feel disconnected from society. The Empty Shop Network reconnects communities through art and culture by negating the cumulative effect of abandoned shops, helping to re-energise business around them.

Multi-use – why should a shop do the same things between 10am and 6pm – when we don’t? Mothers’ groups in children’s shops before 11am? Writing courses in the cafe over lunch? Smart retailers will find new ways to suit changing lifestyles.

Stuart Wood, Executive creative director, Fitch

 

As high streets deteriorate into charity/Polska/pound shop hell, it is difficult to see how they can recover, with the scale of recession hanging over the UK.

High streets will have to fight back with some compelling reasons for their local communities to use them. The malls, online shopping, parking, opening hours and convenience are all reasons for not using your high street. Ignoring major hurdles sich as planning laws, intransigent landlords and inflation, there is no reason why those responsible for managing their high streets should not ‘cosy’ up to the mall operators and get them to help with how to manage these locations.

Callum Lumsden, Retail design consultant