How has COVID-19 impacted the economic resilience of retail clusters?: Examining the difference between neighborhood-level and district-level retail clusters.

The spread of COVID-19 greatly restricted physical and economic activities in global cities due to growing fears of infection and lockdown policies. Accordingly, the transfer of shopping activities from traditional markets to e-commerce has accelerated. Urban retail has substantially declined by competing with these disrupting factors, but resilience capabilities are known to vary by scale and regional characteristics. This study identifies which types of retail clusters were more resilient to the economic shock caused by the pandemic. This research focuses on the changes in online and in-store sales and how retailers recovered differently at the neighborhood and district levels in 2019 and 2020. This research compares the resilience of two types of retail clusters by calculating the loss of resilience and online adaptivity. The findings suggest that neighborhood-level retail areas were more resilient and bounced back in sales at a faster rate than district-level retail areas during the pandemic. These findings suggest that retail clusters are more resilient if they have steady populations and low-rent loads and can accommodate online shopping. The study contributes theoretical insights into how sales have changed and how e-commerce has increased the resilience of retail clusters throughout the pandemic by examining in-store and online sales.

An Investigation of the Impact and Resilience of British High Streets Following the COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions.

British high streets have faced significant economic and cultural challenges as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is predominantly due to government enforced restrictions which required all 'non-essential' retail to close, resulting in a significant change in the way consumers interacted with high streets. While all premises related to the retail or hospitality sector were forced to close, leading to rising vacancy rates, some high streets were more resilient to the economic shock than others. In this paper we detect some of the unforeseen consequences of the pandemic on British high streets and create a measure of resilience. The impact of the lockdown restrictions have resulted in some high streets, notably Spring Street in Paddington, London, experiencing disproportionate decline. Others including Northolt Road in Harrow, London were able maintain their occupancy. This study provides a typology of high street resilience incorporating the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and links the impact of government policy to the economic performance of high streets. The outcomes from this research address both local and national policy contexts as the resilience typology has the potential to assist in funding allocation for recovery and regeneration projects.