Landlords and councils are losing Christmas spending to retail parks by leaving empty shop windows bare, according to the boss of a Derbyshire signage company.
Filip Jovetic, managing director of Ilkeston-based GiantSquidPrint.co.uk, is urging landlords, councils and business improvement districts to commit to “no bare windows” on main shopping streets this Christmas, with empty units filled with work by local artists or the winning designs from school competitions.
The call comes as around 13% of high street units in Britain stand empty, according to Savills. At the same time, PwC’s latest survey found consumer sentiment positive for the first time in five years, with a quarter of people planning to spend more this Christmas than last year.
Jovetic said: “The demand is there, the problem is what shoppers find when they arrive. You can tell how a town is doing before you’ve walked fifty yards down its high street. Faded ‘To Let’ boards, whitewashed glass, a pile of post behind the door. Shoppers see those signs, draw their own conclusions and drive to the retail park instead.”
Already paying for empty units
In England, most landlords pay full business rates on an empty shop once the first three months are up. Jovetic argues that makes the cost of dressing a vacant window small by comparison.
“They’re already paying for that unit to sit there,” he said. “Filling the window with work by a local artist, or the winning designs from a school competition, costs very little and gives people a reason to stop and look. It tells shoppers and potential tenants that the street is cared for. A bare window with a faded sign from 2019 tells them it’s in decline.
“Filling an empty shop takes months, sometimes years, but to stop it looking empty takes days.”
Independents urged not to wait
The Voices of Retail 2026 report found 96% of shoppers want more independent shops where they live. Jovetic said independent retailers should act on their own shopfronts now rather than wait for neighbouring units to be let.
“If you run a shop, your window and fascia are the most-seen advert you will ever pay for, yet plenty of businesses haven’t touched their shopfront since the day they opened,” he said.
“Stand across the road and ask whether a stranger can tell what you sell in three seconds, and whether your sign is clean and lit. Then ask your council what shopfront support is available, because you won’t know unless you ask.
“Shoppers have told us year after year that they want to spend locally. This Christmas, they have the money to do it. Whether that money reaches the high street depends on whether it looks open for business.”