In a week when the chancellor announced that he will cut business rates by a third for almost half a million small high street shops, an article in the BBC warns that close to 200 shopping centres are on the brink of collapse.
The demise of "major anchor stores" like BHS and Toys R Us and the rise of online shopping is blamed for this downward spiral, leaving many places at risk of becoming “ghost malls” that have no appeal and are a negative asset for the towns.
Too many centres fail to attract visitors for two key reasons: the offer is not what today's customer wants or expects and, fundamentally, there are too many of them, doing exactly the same thing.