The names of Max Spielman and Klick might not be regulars on the pages of Retail Week, but with over 300 stores on the UK high street, the collapse of the photo processing group which owned them is more bad news for the retail property world.

Retail Week takes a narrow definition of what constitutes a retailer, based on that used by the BRC. But the vitality of the high street also relies on many other businesses providing services to consumers, from dry cleaners to Chinese takeaways.

And many of those businesses are being clobbered by the downturn. Whether it be photo processors, whose role is being usurped by the digital revolution, or estate agents being savaged by the collapse of the housing market, many of them are in the eye of the storm.

Now I know that feeling sorry for estate agents doesn't come naturally, and that they're not great at driving shopper footfall, but it's still true that a shop occupied by an estate agent is better than an empty shop.

The point is that high streets full of empty shops aren't just bad news for landlords, but for those retailers on that street too.

Many UK high streets need reinventing, but with the economy only set to worsen in the short term, that will be easier said than done.

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