A stroll down the high street used to be about buying pork chops at the butcher and a bunch of carnations from the florist, but a new study suggests a haircut and a nail buff now top our shopping lists.
The rapidly changing face of Britain's high streets shows an army of hairdressers and beauticians on the march but the number of newsagents, butchers and independent fashion stores in marked decline as they struggle to compete with the onslaught from supermarkets and larger chains.
A third of independent high street stores are now cafes, pubs, restaurants and takeaways rather than traditional retailers, according to a study of 75,000 retailers by an insurance company.
It also showed that in the past two years the number of independent clothes shops has declined to 5% of high street businesses, while they made up 6% of stores in 2008. Hairdressers increased from 4% to 5% of the high street over the same period and beauty salons from 2% to 3%. The number of newsagents and butchers declined the most, with the latter dropping out of the top 20 altogether, victims of the inexorable switch to supermarkets.
The analysis also threw up some regional anomalies: in Wales 17% of high street businesses are pubs or bars – 2% higher than the national average. Scotland, meanwhile, is the place to go for a haircut or a snack as 7% of the independents are hairdressers and 6% are takeaways, both above the norm. In the south-east 2% of high street shops are florists, double the average.
Retail analysts said the rise of the hairdressing and beauty salons was explained by low start-up costs as well as the absence of tough competitors like supermarkets. Personal grooming is a buoyant market as, despite the squeeze on household budgets, Britons splashed out more than £13bn on trips to the hairdresser, make-up and other cosmetics last year, £216 a head, according to research group Mintel, with spending on trips to the salon up 50% in the last decade.
The success of the beauty industry will provide a bright spot for the "Queen of Shops" Mary Portas, who was appointed last month by the government to lead an independent review into the future of the high street. Faced with complaints that the independent sector is being suffocated by high rents and parking restrictions, her brief is to find ways to foster "more prosperous and diverse" high streets.
She is due to report back in the autumn but has her work cut out. Property experts predict 10,000 shops will close this year as building societies, recruitment consultants and estate agents retreat from the high street. Betting shops, pound shops and pawnbrokers are among the few groups looking for stores, with the bulk of new retail space being taken by the major supermarket chains away from the high street. One in six high street shops now stand empty.
The study by insurer Simply Business used a sample of 75,000 independents. It excluded the bigger chains, but is seen to be representative of the national picture of more than 110,000 stores.
"The business climate has been more favourable for some retail businesses than others and is influencing the make-up of high streets across the UK," said the insurer's chief executive, Jason Stockwood. "While it's great that food and drink businesses are doing well, it's worrying to see that certain sectors such as fashion and newsagents are in decline, with competition from big high street brands a likely cause."
There is also a north/south divide that is "large and growing" when it comes to shop vacancies, says the Local Data Company. While big centres in London and the south-east are weathering the retail storm, two-thirds of the top 20 large retail centres ranked by vacancy are in the north and a further 30% are in the Midlands, with the public sector spending cuts expected to do further damage. The LDC says in Sunderland public sector workers account for 40% of the workforce and the shop vacancy rate already stands at more than 20%.
"There is no doubt that the economic downturn is causing seismic shift in the composition and look of our high streets." said James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores. "An aggressive wave of expansion by the largest multiple groups is taking place."
He added: "The challenge for government is to continue to ensure that there is opportunity for businesses to open up on the high street and that consumers continue to have choice."
The rapidly changing face of Britain's high streets shows an army of hairdressers and beauticians on the march but the number of newsagents, butchers and independent fashion stores in marked decline as they struggle to compete with the onslaught from supermarkets and larger chains.
A third of independent high street stores are now cafes, pubs, restaurants and takeaways rather than traditional retailers, according to a study of 75,000 retailers by an insurance company.
It also showed that in the past two years the number of independent clothes shops has declined to 5% of high street businesses, while they made up 6% of stores in 2008. Hairdressers increased from 4% to 5% of the high street over the same period and beauty salons from 2% to 3%. The number of newsagents and butchers declined the most, with the latter dropping out of the top 20 altogether, victims of the inexorable switch to supermarkets.
The analysis also threw up some regional anomalies: in Wales 17% of high street businesses are pubs or bars – 2% higher than the national average. Scotland, meanwhile, is the place to go for a haircut or a snack as 7% of the independents are hairdressers and 6% are takeaways, both above the norm. In the south-east 2% of high street shops are florists, double the average.
Retail analysts said the rise of the hairdressing and beauty salons was explained by low start-up costs as well as the absence of tough competitors like supermarkets. Personal grooming is a buoyant market as, despite the squeeze on household budgets, Britons splashed out more than £13bn on trips to the hairdresser, make-up and other cosmetics last year, £216 a head, according to research group Mintel, with spending on trips to the salon up 50% in the last decade.
The success of the beauty industry will provide a bright spot for the "Queen of Shops" Mary Portas, who was appointed last month by the government to lead an independent review into the future of the high street. Faced with complaints that the independent sector is being suffocated by high rents and parking restrictions, her brief is to find ways to foster "more prosperous and diverse" high streets.
The study by insurer Simply Business used a sample of 75,000 independents. It excluded the bigger chains, but is seen to be representative of the national picture of more than 110,000 stores.
"The business climate has been more favourable for some retail businesses than others and is influencing the make-up of high streets across the UK," said the insurer's chief executive, Jason Stockwood. "While it's great that food and drink businesses are doing well, it's worrying to see that certain sectors such as fashion and newsagents are in decline, with competition from big high street brands a likely cause."
There is also a north/south divide that is "large and growing" when it comes to shop vacancies, says the Local Data Company. While big centres in London and the south-east are weathering the retail storm, two-thirds of the top 20 large retail centres ranked by vacancy are in the north and a further 30% are in the Midlands, with the public sector spending cuts expected to do further damage. The LDC says in Sunderland public sector workers account for 40% of the workforce and the shop vacancy rate already stands at more than 20%.
"There is no doubt that the economic downturn is causing seismic shift in the composition and look of our high streets." said James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores. "An aggressive wave of expansion by the largest multiple groups is taking place."
He added: "The challenge for government is to continue to ensure that there is opportunity for businesses to open up on the high street and that consumers continue to have choice."
