8,700 chain stores closed in the first six months of this year, with the permanent closure of stores like Debenhams and Topshop leaving gaping holes on the high street.There has been some recovery since the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
In its second quarter results, H&M’s sales were 9 percent up on the same period last year, an improvement but not as strong as expected.
John Lewis saw only a 6 percent rise in sales, reporting a £29m pre-tax loss for the year's first half, despite eight store closures and over 1,000 redundancies.
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