Post-pandemic high street lives on, just transitioning!
One hospitality entrepreneur believes the high street is not dying, but in transition, envisaging a new high street reinvigorated by hospitality and cultural experiences.
Spending habits in the UK have transformed significantly and the high street has been particularly hard hit in the past year or more.
Groubook founder Bradley Gough and his team had spent months planning the launch of their new app that helps friends to organise and book group events, only to have their plans put on hold due to COVID-19.
Chains and big brands have shifted away from physical stores and many businesses have been unable to reopen, leaving the question of what to do with all the empty space in the hearts of our communities.
Bradley Gough said: “I am hopeful about the future of our high streets, we would love to see hospitality and culture could play a major part in reinvigorating these areas.
“The departure of high street favourites like Debenhams, Top Shop, Burtons and Dorothy Perkins has led to thousands of job losses and a gaping hole in the high streets offering.
“But the high street isn’t dying, instead it is in a state of transition away from the traditional one we have had for the last 50 years.
“Even before the pandemic, there were closures and a declining demand for retail space.”
Bradley can picture the high street reinvigorated post-pandemic by hospitality and recreational experiences.
Empty department stores could be transformed into hubs for leisure, a bowling alley on one floor, adult soft play on another and a laser tag course in the basement.
People are now keen to get out.
The next craze to sweep the nation could be a boozy ball pit-based night out, or themed restaurants which emerge you in beach or rainforest surroundings.
The shops you spent
hours looking around for your parents as a kid, could become city centre mazes instead. Bars could be tucked away, hidden in the basement of retail units, whilst the stores above become experience centres, where customers browse and try products on, before ordering online for delivery to their door.
Technology is the main tool to enhance a community hub and create a high street that meets a range of different consumer needs.
A shift towards free Wi-Fi in shared spaces, improvements in eco transport links and more electric car charging points could drive people to their centres and high street to enjoy the post pandemic climate.
Groubook lets groups book, organise and arrange nights out online and take advantage of a wide range of discounts and rewards. Bradley
believes the app can give independent bars and restaurants a head start when they’re finally able to open for business and help them recoup some of the losses from the pandemic.
The app was launched in Nottingham in August just after the first lockdown restrictions began to ease and saw rapid initial take-up with numbers growing by 250 per cent in the first six weeks.
Bradley said: “Our plans for growth are ambitious and despite everything that’s happened this year, we’re confident we’ll achieve them.
“Once restrictions begin to ease, we’re ready to go full steam ahead and support the hospitality sector as it starts to rebuild.”
Non essential retail is now open, May 17 sees the return of indoor dining and hotels reopening with, hopefully, lockdown restrictions lifted by the middle of the year.