Many Dundonians have expressed fears the city centre may never look the same, as major retailers continue to cut local branches.
In a hammer-blow for Dundee, retail giants Zara and Debenhams both announced the closure of their city branches, with Topman set to follow suit after its parent company was purchased by online-only retailer Asos.
While the closures are mainly being pinned on the financial impact of lockdown, there have been concerns for years about the future of bricks-and-mortar stores due to the rising popularity of online shopping – a practice which rapidly accelerated during the pandemic.
Many smaller retailers have been left worried by the shutdowns, with some fearing that a decrease in city centre footfall will have a knock-on effect for them
Heather Sharp, who owns Coffee and Co on Reform Street, said: “Obviously, it is going to be a concern.
“When I was growing up you always had the city centre and the high street with their shops. People would go there for hours, so seeing them close is a concern.
“I’m gutted to see them go but it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next.
“My main concern is my businesses, so I’ve done a lot of research into who our customers are, why they come in, what they want.
“Right now we are open from 7am until 2pm. We mostly serve people who are on their way to work.
“By 2pm there’s no footfall.
“The good thing for us is that folks are always going to want a cup of coffee.”
The city’s shoppers are also mourning the loss of the major retailers – and the jobs that they bring in.
Neil McCartney, a 21-year-old call centre employee, claims many of his friends were left out of work after employers closed their doors.
He said: “It’s had a big impact on a lot of folks already.
“I personally have had people I know left without a job due to their shops shutting.
“The government are going to have to do something to get all of these people back to work once the pandemic is over, whatever they can.”
Pensioner Billy Thornton added: “It’s down to shopping online and this virus.
“Years ago, people used to go up into town on a Saturday to do their shopping. You could feel it, there was an atmosphere, a nice buzz.
“There’s nothing like shopping in town, but now there’s too many of these shops closing their doors.
“If this vaccine is as effective as they were saying it was on the news today then, yes, it could be saved, but young people do so much online shopping now it’s hard to know.”
Others, such as carer Joyce Elizabeth Anderson, have blamed the fall of the city centre on politicians.
She told the Tele: “There’s ample shops here, but Covid has made people too scared to come out and use them.
“I think that Boris Johnson was too politically minded too deal with this, he didn’t think of what the impact would be.
“He made one mistake, then a second mistake, now he just keeps making mistakes.
“Now these shops are closing and everyone is suffering.”
As bigger stores continue to pull down their shutters in the city centre, Alison Henderson, chief executive of Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce, has claimed that “small independents” may be the key to recovery.
She said: “I think there is always going to be a concern when we lose these large, flagship stores.
“Everyone recognises that the economic recovery from this is going to take a long time, years not months, and it’s not going to be the same as it was a year ago.
“We just aren’t going to have these national retailers coming in, but we are already seeing these small independents popping up all over the place and I think we’re going to see a lot more of that.
“That could attract people to the town, and Dundonians have proven that they can be that resilient.”
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