So the recession has finished, the economy grew by 0.1% but still, our of recession we are! We can now breathe a sigh of relief and get back to normal… or can we?

Well according to retail company King Sturge,  high streets will recover quickly from the recession due to tenant friendly deals and retail expansion.

Stores such as Tesco and Sainsburys are planning aggressive programmes for retail growth, as is Waitrose. Other retailers such as Poundland John Lewis, Next Home, TK Maxx and Pets at Home are all planning on expanding their business empires this year.

So where does that leave us? The gaps left in our high street are very likely to be filled if you believe King Sturge. However, personally I think it’s going to take a lot longer than a year to recover fully from the recession.

I must point out that King Sturge did say to expect more casualties and that the retail industry is not out of the woods yet. However, I think that the announcement that high streets will be back to normal is pretty optimistic.

Retailers lost a lot of money Christmas 2008 and although Christmas 2009 was better for retailers, there is still a long way to go. Retailers have to face up to changing shopper behaviours, the fact that some shoppers switched to cheaper stores and these shoppers are unlikely to switch back. More and more shoppers turned to the internet for cheaper products and shoppers are much more price savvy.

All of these things need to be addressed by retailers, as well as trying to continue on in the early post recession days. I do not think it’s as simple as ‘recession over, back to normal’

Subscribe to VoucherSeeker Voucher Codes Blog by Email