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.
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Oct- 2021 -19 OctoberIndustry News
UK footfall return remains steady
Footfall across UK retail destinations declined marginally by -0.7% last week from the week before, according to Springboard. UK footfall last week was +28.1% higher than in the same week in 2020, which was a strong improvement from +24.5% in the week before. The fact that footfall did not change…
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11 OctoberIndustry News
Christmas footfall predicted to remain 17% below 2019 levels
Footfall across UK retail destinations will average -17% lower than in 2019 over the six week Christmas trading period from November 21 to January 4, continuing the current trajectory seen in September with footfall down -17.4%, according to a forecast by Springboard. It projects Black Friday will be more popular…
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7 OctoberIndustry News
Footfall continues steady improvement in September
Retail footfall continued to strengthen in September, narrowing the gap from 2019 to -17.4%, down from -18.6% in August, countering the downward trend in footfall often recorded in September. The month also saw a 20% increase on September 2020 levels. Springboard said that this month’s results go against the long-term…
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Sep- 2021 -15 SeptemberIndustry News
Beco launches Independent Pet Shop Award
Beco, the UK-based sustainable pet brand, has announced the launch of the inaugural Beco Independent Pet Shop Awards to “champion the brilliant people who work tirelessly managing the independent pet shops we love up and down the country”. Beco will be honouring these workers by asking people to nominate their…
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8 SeptemberRetailers
Just For Pets opens two new stores
Just for Pets has announced it is continuing its expansion through the opening of two new stores. The retailer has now opened its biggest space to date in Stafford. The 10,000 sq ft store opened on Kingsmead Retail Park near the town centre following a 10-week bespoke fit-out. It features…
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Aug- 2021 -27 AugustRetailing
Contactless limit to hit £100 in October
The Government is set to raise the contactless card spending limit from £45 to £100 from 15 October 2021. Initial plans for the change were first announced in March’s budget announcement, and follow the increase from £30 to its current level at the start of the pandemic. The decision has…
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25 AugustRetailers
Footfall dampened by wet weather
Footfall across UK retail destinations fell by -1.7% last week from the week before as wet weather continued to dampen footfall across the nation. According to Springboard, there was a drop of -2.2% in high streets versus more “modest” drops of -1.3% in shopping centres and -1% in retail parks. …
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24 AugustRetailers
BPF calls for business rates reform
The British Property Federation (BPF) has called on the government to set out a roadmap to annually revalue business rates in a bid to avoid “crippling” high streets, citing that a business rates reform is “long overdue”. It comes as the government’s Business Rates Revaluations Consultation, proposing to introduce more…
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10 AugustCoronavirus
Bira in talks with metro mayors to help retailers post-pandemic
The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has said it is involved in discussions with mayors of UK metropolitan cities to discuss “new ways” of supporting independent retailers post-pandemic. The talks, which are being led by the group’s CEO Andrew Goodacre, have been looking at support for reforms to business rates…
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Jul- 2021 -30 JulyCoronavirus
One in seven UK shops still remain vacant, BRC reveals
More than one in seven shops on UK high streets, retail parks and shopping centres are currently vacant, according to the latest data from the Local Data Company and the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The data revealed that fashion stores were amongst the “hardest hit” as customers primarily shifted to online shopping…
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