The general opinion appears to be that some shops that have shut their doors, a result of the virus pandemic, will not reopen when things return to normal, and that our high streets will never be the same again.
However, perhaps it will just be a case of different shops taking the place of those that were there previously.
For example, Dave Brown, Lancing’s butcher, decided to branch out recently and started selling greengrocery to augment his income.
Despite the fact that the village’s shopping centre is book-ended with two major supermarkets this has proved so popular that, next week, he will be opening up another shop, directly opposite his present business, as a fully-fledged greengrocers.
Hopefully, this will just the first instance of many, whereby retailers will spot new opportunities and so help to bring some bustle back to our shopping centres, and thereby ensure that boarded-up premises will not become the norm.