The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Shop vacancies rise as footfall sags
The number of empty shops in Scotland increased during October as footfall declined during the month.
The Scottish Retail Consortium Spring board monitor, released today, shows the Scottish town centre vacancy rate was 11.1% in October.
This is an increase from 10.8% in July and above the average vacancy rate for the UK, which is 9.6%.
Footfall fell by 3.6% in October, the third month of consecutive decline and deeper than the three-month average decline of 2.5% and 12-month average of 2.9%.
Footfall fell both on the high street (7.5%) and in shopping centres (1.3%) but recorded strong growth of 2.4% in retail parks, the fastest rate of growth since August 2017.
David Lonsdale, director of Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “These figures make for sober reading.
“Shopper footfall in Scotland shrivelled further in October, and for the third consecutive month. The decline was more pronounced than over the past quarter and year as a whole.
“The sustained dip in footfall highlights the structural changes taking place within retail, albeit Scotland’s retailers are increasingly adept at harnessing the internet and multichannel innovations to get through to consumers who might not have time to travel to the shops.
“The shop vacancy rate in our town centres unfortunately nudged up again over the past quarter, reaching its second highest level in seven years.
“This is the third quarter in a row where the vacancy rate has exceeded 10%, the most sustained period in four and a half years.”
Mr Lonsdale said the figures underlined the need for action to bolster consumer confidence at the Scottish budget on December 12.
On the results, Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director for Springboard, added: “Not only does it reflect the ongoing challenges that the retail sector is facing but, as importantly, with the decline increasing in magnitude since May it illustrates that the challenges for retailers increased as we moved through the year.”