Recent figures have shown that last year three times more shops left the high street than in 2013.
According to data from professional services firm PwC, a total of 987 shops disappeared from the high street in 2014 with phone shops, travel agents and pawnbrokers hit the hardest.
As customers continue to embrace new technologies and ways of shopping, it’s an unfortunate fact that the rate of closures on the high street is likely to continue.
While there are some advantages to trading on the high street, including increased visibility, there’s no doubt that opening up a shop is a big step to take for any small business. It’s often the case that companies end up with more outgoing costs including business rates and rental payments, and find that actually they can’t afford to move to the high street at all.
With the ‘traditional’ high street no longer the place of choice for traders, more and more small businesses are now choosing to migrate their stores online and run stock from self-storage units.
Self-storage costs are far less than renting a store on the high street – plus you get all the freedom! When you move into a Spaces and Places unit you have full access to your unit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and there are no long contracts or notice periods to get tied into.
If things do take a turn for the worst and you decide to ‘shut up shop’, you will find that there are no major issues or costs involved in doing so.
We often surprise businesses with how much money they can save when they choose to store with us – and we are often talking £ks!
So if the decline of the high street continues could we all end up shopping from storage units instead…?!
Contact us to find out how we could help your business.