Is Walsall town centre 'dirty' and putting off shoppers?

More shops closed in Walsall than anywhere else in the Black Country last year, alarming new figures have revealed.

The town suffered the loss of 16 shops during another challenging year for the high street. Across the West Midlands, only Birmingham lost more.

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said the typical high street was “doomed” and that town centre bosses needed to change focus in order to keep them alive.

The closure of Marks and Spencer after 84 years dealt a huge blow to the town, while the gloomy figures come as it was announced high street giant Debenhams, which has a shop in Walsall, had entered administration creating more uncertainty.

It comes as new figures have revealed shops in the West Midlands are continuing to close at an alarming rate.

The region saw a net loss of 188 shops operated by multiple retailers across its main high streets, retail parks and shopping centres last year.

While there were 287 openings, the number of closures hit 475, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' research compiled by the Local Data Company.

A “masterplan” for the future of Walsall town centre has been outlined by council chiefs but Councillor Bird said a “re-think” is needed to save the high street.

He said: “The days of the multi-high street stores are certainly doomed. Internet shopping is here to stay whether we like it or not.

“We need to turn it around with self-employed businesses, arts and crafts, shops that have a unique offering. It is no fun anymore going to the high street, people are going to out-of-town shopping areas.

"We need to re-think, what do people want on our high street?

"We need to look at which shops are attracting customers and footfall. Sadly, Walsall is among the worst and there are many issues surrounding that. The town itself is dirty and we need to address that.”

The figures by PricewaterhouseCoopers mark a significant rise in shop failures.

The region’s net loss in 2017 was 144 shops with 60 recorded in 2016, 19 in 2015 and 153 in 2014.

Birmingham saw the highest net loss in the region of 23 shops (61 openings and 84 closures), followed by Walsall which saw a net loss of 16 (11 openings and 27 closures).

Shrewsbury’s net loss was 12 (eight openings, 20 closures) and Kidderminster’s figure was nine (four openings, 13 closures).

Wolverhampton’s net loss was eight (21 openings and 29 closures) and Dudley had a loss of seven overall (three openings and 10 closures).

Lichfield also lost seven (four openings, 11 closures), Halesowen was down four (one opening, five closures); Cannock (one opening, four closures) and Stafford (16 openings, 19 closures) each has a net loss of three, while Stourbridge (six openings, seven closures) was one down overall.

Andy Lyon, retail and consumer markets leader for PwC in the Midlands, said: “It’s clear that 2018 was a turbulent year for retailers.

“Coupled with the growth in online and high occupancy costs impacted by business rates, retailers are facing some of the biggest challenges to hit the high street as we see closures hit record levels.

“There is still an important role for the high street to play, as it secure a sustainable future to support online and leisure activity."