High Street
The high street remains a vital battleground for pet retailers, balancing in-person service with growing digital competition. Pet Gazette covers the role of independent pet shops, regional chains, and national retailers on UK high streets — reporting on shop openings and closures, rent pressures, footfall trends, and evolving customer expectations. We also examine localised marketing strategies, product merchandising, and how high street stores adapt to omni-channel retail. For wholesalers and suppliers, this tag offers visibility into the challenges and opportunities facing brick-and-mortar stockists across towns and cities.
-
Dec- 2022 -21 DecemberRetailers
Jollyes unveils £600 cost of living payment for staff
Jollyes has announced that it is providing colleagues with a payment of £600 to help support them through the cost of living crisis, with over 900 Jollyes staff members set to benefit. The support, combined with enhanced staff discounts, is being made to thank staff for their work during a…
Read More » -
Aug- 2022 -1 AugustIndustry News
Shop vacancies fall for third quarter in a row
In the second quarter of 2022, the overall GB vacancy rate decreased to 14.0%, which was 0.1 percentage points better than Q1 and 0.5 percentage points better than the same period last year, according to the BRC. This was the third consecutive quarter of falling vacancy rates. All locations saw…
Read More » -
Jul- 2022 -18 JulyIndustry News
Footfall drops as heatwave hits UK
Footfall across UK high streets are down -7.3% on last week as the country experiences a heatwave, according to Springboard. However, high streets in coastal towns have seen a surge of footfall, rising by 9.0%. The largest drop was seen in greater London, which was down -13% across high streets…
Read More » -
13 JulyFeatures
The changing nature of pet ownership
The pet industry has transformed in the last decade and trends like premiumisation and anthropomorphism show no sign of slowing down. The pandemic saw 3.2 million animals purchased during lockdown alone, and much to The Pope’s frustration, more young people are choosing to parent pets, rather than children. But have…
Read More » -
8 JulyRetailing
Cost of living crisis weighs on retail sales growth
High levels of inflation and the deepening cost of living crisis have prompted further slowing of retail sales growth, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker (HSST). It found that total like-for-like (LFL) sales, combined in-store and online, increased by +8.4% in June compared to the equivalent month in 2021,…
Read More » -
7 JulyIndustry News
Footfall set to remain below 2019 for foreseeable future
Footfall is set to remain below 2019 levels for the “foreseeable future” as the cost of living crisis deepens and working from home becomes a permanent fixture, according to the latest Footfall Monitor and Insights from Springboard. Springboard found that footfall strengthened for the third consecutive month in June, with…
Read More » -
Jun- 2022 -22 JuneIndustry News
Footfall drops as strikes take action
Footfall across all UK high streets is down -8.5% compared to last week, as workers stay at home due to the transport strikes. London saw the greatest reduction, with a 17% drop from last week. Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard said: “The impact on train and tube strikes today…
Read More » -
20 JuneIndustry News
Footfall rises 4% as heatwave sweeps across UK
Footfall across UK retail destinations rose by +4.1% last week from the week before, with the largest rise of +5% in high streets, according to Springboard. Footfall aslo in retail parks rose by +2.5% and by +3.7% in shopping centres. On Saturday footfall in high streets declined by -7.6% whilst…
Read More » -
7 JuneIndustry News
Bank holiday boosts May footfall
Footfall strengthened in May to -13.7% below 2019, up from -15.9% in April 2022, according to the latest figures from Springboard, however it warned the results still “belie the underlying cost pressures that are starting to reveal themselves”. It found footfall declined by -16.4% in high streets, -17.8% in shopping…
Read More » -
May- 2022 -9 MayIndustry News
Shop owners to be forced to rent out empty premises
Shop owners in England could be forced to let out premises that have been vacant for over a year, under new plans from the government. The plans are set to be unveiled as part of the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill, expected to be unveiled in the Queen’s speech on…
Read More »
