Opinion

It seems inevitable the pandemic will alter the retail landscape

While the roll out of coronavirus vaccines will hopefully help to restore normal life next year, the reality is that many businesses will never go back to where they were before the pandemic.

The travel and tourist industry as well as the hospitality sector have suffered devastating consequences as a result of a sharp decline in demand.

And although some retailers, chiefly supermarket chains and outlets with effective online operations, have to a large extent managed to weather the storm, traditional shops have been severely impacted by the restrictions aimed at suppressing the spread of the virus.

We must remember that even before coronavirus hit these shores there were fears over the future of the high street as shoppers moved online.

The pandemic - a catastrophic event that no business could have predicted or planned for - has dealt a hugely damaging blow to many big name brands, particularly clothing retailers, that rely heavily on customers walking into their stores.

That vital trading relationship has been greatly disrupted by the cycle of lockdowns, with many shops closed during the busiest time of the year.

Potentially one of the biggest casualties is the Arcadia Group, Sir Philip Green's retail empire, which has 500 stores and 13,000 staff across the UK, with around 50 outlets and hundreds of workers in Northern Ireland.

For many years, the businessman was seen as the king of the high street, his shops, including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Miss Selfridge and Wallis, well-established names that were familiar throughout town centres, department stores and shopping malls.

As the group teetered on the brink of collapse in recent days, commentators noted that the business was struggling even before the pandemic, was overly reliant on bricks and mortar stores and had lost ground to online fashion outlets.

Whatever the reasons for its difficulties, at the heart of this business are loyal employees who are now facing an uncertain future as well as fears over how the latest developments will affect their pensions.

It now seems inevitable that after this pandemic is eventually brought under control, we will see a very different retail landscape and a completely altered high street.