Pace of shoe shops’ decline second only to fashion stores

SHOE shops are dying out, a report has warned, as they are among the stores disappearing fastest from the high street.

Second only to fashion retailers, the number of shoe shops in the UK reduced by 86 last year as 164 closed and just 78 opened, according to the Local Data Company.

Experts described the rate of decline as “surprising”, and said it signalled a move away from the traditional process of consumers trying on shoes before buying them.

Shoe shops were followed by charity shops, pubs and convenience stores, which also saw high levels of closures.

A total of 5,855 outlets closed on Britain’s high streets in 2017, at a rate of 16 stores a day, a slight increase on the 15 stores a day that closed in 2016, when 5,430 outlets shut down. It is the second consecutive year that the number of closures has risen. The findings equate to an overall net loss of 1,772 stores disappearing in 2017.

Clive Black, head of research at Shore Capital, the consumer analyst, said: “I am surprised to see shoe shops losing out so much as they are usually more protected from shoppers going online instead of to a physical store.

“Previously a lot of women have tended to browse online and then try shoes on in store, but clearly the shoe sector is not immune from people ditching this approach.”

Zelf Hussain, a restructuring partner at PWC, which commissioned the research, said: “The end of 2017 was hard for UK retail and we’ve seen this continue into 2018, with the toughest first quarter ... for the sector since the recession. We’ve seen some well-known names impacted as they face a perfect storm of issues – a fall in consumer confidence and reduced spending alongside a number of cost headwinds.”

Shoe shops are closing at a faster rate than just about any in the high street. Sometimes it seems that only nail bars are left open, and even that’s because they’re still working on how to offer a manicure online. To many shoe fanatics, it’s unthinkable to seek the ideal style and fit by remote control. Yet the old shoe-shop system seldom worked well. If the shopper could find a seat not bagged by customers who looked set, like the drizzle outside, to hang around all day, there would always come a moment when the assistant, after a tantalisingly long absence downstairs in the stockroom, would return with the news: “I could do your size in mauve,” or else: “We’ve got that style half a size smaller.” Too often it ended in buying something unwearable. Online, even sending shoes back is good news for courier firms.