One in six shops is lying empty in Scotland amid claims the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis is having a “heavy toll” on retail.
New figures show that 15.7% of shops have been vacant for three consecutive quarters.
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has now issued a warning that high streets may struggle to “ever fully recover”.
It also said retailers were being affected by people continuing to work from home.
Where are the vacancies?
Shopping centres: 20.5% (of shops are empty)
High streets: 14.8%
Retail parks: 9.8%
SRC director David Lonsdale said there was “little sign” of improvement in the vacancy rate.
He said: “Scotland’s vacancy rate has plateaued over the past three quarters and seems stubbornly stuck at a fifth higher than during pre-pandemic times.
“Whilst there has been a small improvement over the past year, the fact is Scotland’s store vacancy rate is above that for Great Britain as a whole, with one in six stores lying empty.
“The volume of empty units is especially marked in shopping centres.
“The fallout from the cost-of-living crunch and pandemic is exerting a heavy toll on retail destinations, as does what increasingly looks like a sustained shift towards hybrid working.
“This could make it trickier for store vacancy rates to ever fully recover.”
Despite a slight improvement since 2021, Scotland has the eighth highest number of empty shops in Britain.
Data shows that 15.7% have remained vacant for three consecutive quarters – compared to 18.2 in the north-east of England, the worst-hit area.
Lucy Stainton, director of the Local Data Company, which published the Vacant Monitor alongside the SRC, said new shopping habits had formed during the pandemic.
She said: “Retail parks continue to outperform other location types, with consumers favouring these drive-to locations and larger format units.
“The Christmas trading period seemed to indicate that consumers were favouring, and returning, to stores, alongside their online spend.”
