Sleepwalking teen hanged in wardrobe
More than 200 centres at risk of closure as wave of shops shut How a down-market high street ‘could impact upon your health’ Empty retail sites would have ‘catastrophic’ impact on towns Three or four universities on the brink of going bust, expert warns
DIED Hazel Bradley A SCHOOLGIRL died after sleepwalking into her bedroom wardrobe and accidentally hanging herself.
Talented musician Hazel Bradley, 13, was found the next morning in her school uniform but without her glasses, an inquest heard.
Her mum Rebecca, 43, said Hazel, who had a history of sleepwalking, had “issues with her wardrobe” due to an obsession with the film Monsters Inc.
In the movie, monsters emerge through doors to scare children.
Mrs Bradley added: “She always had to have the door shut... I’m convinced she was sleepwalking.”
Police said there was nothing suspicious at the house in Caerphilly, South Wales. No note was found, the Newport court heard.
Verdict: accident Randall Park Mall in North Randall, Ohio MORE than 200 shopping centres are in danger of going bust, which would be “catastrophic” for their towns, experts have warned.
Malls worth £7billion are at risk of going into administration amid a wave of store closures, a report estimates.
Some have been sent into a “downward spiral” by the loss of anchor tenants such as BHS and Toys R Us.
With Debenhams to close 50 stores and fears of more House of Fraser branches being shut, other shopping centres face a worrying future.
Nelson Blackley of the National Retail Research Knowledge Exchange Centre, at Nottingham Business School, said: “If centres close, particularly in small towns, it will be catastrophic.
“If a major anchor store moves out, that has a halo effect on other stores in that centre. It’s a downward spiral and HIGH streets full of bookies, off-licences and fast-food chains can be an indicator of the area’s life expectancy, a study says.
People local to town centres boasting libraries and pharmacies could hope to live up to two and a half years longer.
Grimsby, Walsall and then Blackpool are named by the Royal Society for Public Health as the UK’s unhealthiest you can’t fill shopping centres with nail bars and vape shops.”
The Mirror has highlighted the impact of waves of shop closures as part of our High Street Fightback campaign.
Stores have been hammered by a toxic combination of soaring costs, including business rates, and competition from online rivals such as Amazon.
Asset management firm APAM’s report said the 200-plus centres at greatest risk were those needing funds for “much-needed redevelopment”.
They include many sites owned by overseas private equity firms, and are believed to include ageing centres in smaller towns.
Experts fear going the way of the US, where mass store closures created “ghost malls” such as Randall Park in Ohio.
University of Salford Business School’s Dr Gordon Fletcher high streets. RSPH’s Shirley Cramer said: “Unhealthy businesses focus in areas experiencing higher levels of deprivation, obesity and lower life expectancy.
“Reshaping these high streets to be more health-promoting could serve as a tool to help redress this imbalance.”
The healthiest high streets are in Edinburgh, Canterbury and Taunton. Number of out-of-town retail parks developer Hammerson has put up for sale said: “The issue for towns and communities is that the large, self-contained environments of shopping malls creates massive problems for the entire town centre when they fail or under-perform.
“Consumer preference for mass customisation lends itself to locations on the edge of town centres, where rates and rentals can be lower and more flexible.”
Yet out-of-town shopping malls are also struggling. Last week industry giant Intu, which runs the Trafford centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Grays, Essex, cut the value of its estate by £300million. The firm, which has 17 centres, responded by earmarking excess land for 5,000 homes.
It comes after rival group Hammerson put all 13 of its out-of-town retail parks up for sale earlier this year.
The firm slashed the value of the sites by £45million to just over £1.1billion, after reporting that half-year profits had dived 80% to £55.8million.
Meanwhile, supermarkets with mega stores are trying to get other retailers to rent excess space.
Experts say out-of-town shops will have be converted. There is speculation online firms could take some over as warehouses to speed up local deliveries.
This week’s Budget proposed changes to planning rules to make it easier to turn empty shops into homes and offices. NELSON BLACKLEY, RETAIL EXPERT, ON IMPACT OF CLOSURES AT least three universities are on the verge of bankruptcy, experts claim.
Others rely on short-term loans just to survive amid a growing crisis caused by increased competition.
Universities have also been hit by falling numbers of 18-year-olds and tighter controls on foreign students.
The three worst affected are said to be Fall in half-year profits – to £55.8million – reported by Hammerson
If an anchor store moves out, it has a halo effect... you can’t fill centres with vape shops
in talks with insolvency lawyers. One is believed to be in the North West with two on the South Coast.
Matt Robb, of consultancy EY Parthenon, said: “Three or four could possibly go bankrupt. They are in places that are not attractive for students or they are smaller universities close to more popular ones.”