But what it all means for property is something that won’t be clear for another few weeks. A slow start to the year might be common – but this is no ordinary year. This year the tentativeness is mixed with the uneasy ingredient of alarm, particularly among landlords.
The wave of administrations around Christmas spelt bad news for landlords. Pre-packs from the likes of Officers Club and USC might be a shrewd move for retailers but are the last thing a landlord wants. And then there is the little matter of the 800 stores left empty by the demise of Woolworths.
What we are facing at the moment is tension and hesitation. Retailers are still working out their position after Christmas and landlords are taking stock of their portfolios. For the former the question is whether to dispose or acquire, for the latter it is a simple case of filling voids at all costs. But the flow of deals has dried up.
There are retailers hungry for space. Grocers in particular are looking to seize more stores, as the interest in the 130-odd Somerfield stores Co-operative Group put on the market last year has shown. And value retailers are pressing ahead full steam.
Activity will pick up, probably within a month. Retailers will have a more clear idea of what their requirements are and the trickle of stores going back to landlords from administrators will turn into a flow. Quite rightly some landlords are already marketing stores in anticipation of this, and retailers should be being just as pre-emptive and prepare to jump on the stores they want.
After the current tension has eased, the big test of the health of the market is whether retailers press ahead with deals quickly and decisively.
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