By Kevin Peachey
Consumer affairs reporter, BBC News, Maidstone, Kent
A message on the green signboard is the only clue that this vacant unit was recently a shoe shop. It suggests passing shoppers "love their feet".
This podiatric love affair appears to have turned sour. A handwritten note on the door explains that the store - Sole Solution - has closed.
It is one of eight empty units on Week Street in what is still a bustling shopping centre in Kent's county town of Maidstone.
By far the largest of these - 50 yards away - is an abandoned Woolworths.
Double trouble
Woolworths and Sole Solution both went into administration on the same week in November.
"The consumer is not looking at how much has been taken off the price. They are asking 'do I need to spend the money?' and considering the value of the product"
While every last breath in the demise of Woolies was understandably analysed and debated in the media and Parliament, Sole Solution quietly slipped away.
After two years of trading, hearing number 10109 in the High Court on 24 November sealed Sole Solution Europe Ltd's fate as administrators were appointed.
As some Woolies staff danced a non-celebratory conga out of the door, 10 staff members at Sole Solution were also told they no longer had jobs.
They all find themselves searching for new employment in a bleak retail environment.
So, is this the way in which the UK High Street will be wounded during the downturn? The odd big household name collapsing in a flurry of publicity, as some small independent stores limp, stumble and fall?
Specialists
Established brands might be able to survive a downturn, but it is "no surprise" that some specialist, independent stores are in difficulty, according to Sole Solution's administrator Asher Miller.
The store sold fitted shoes and staff offered specialist footcare advice. Its stock was based around cellulite-busting MBT shoes - which at around £160 a pair suggests they were the definition of discretionary spending.
Mr Miller explains that two years ago, setting up a new store was relatively cheap.
Sole Solution opened six branches in the south of England. The Maidstone shop boasted being shortlisted for a "best new store" award.
Yet, eventually, it ran out of money. No immediate buyout was forthcoming and hopes of recovering money for creditors were pinned on big discount sales in the run-up to Christmas.
"But everyone was discounting; 50% to 70% reductions were de rigueur," says Mr Miller.
"The consumer is not looking at how much has been taken off the price. They are asking 'Do I need to spend the money?' and considering the value of the product."
Even so, turnover "had not fallen off a cliff", he says. Staff were still shocked and upset to hear that the shop would close, coming as it did before a series of high-profile stores went into administration.
The administrators - David Rubin and Partners - managed to sell four stores to a bigger competitor, saving 16 jobs.
There is no obligation to keep these running, but Mr Miller hopes the new owners will do so.
Replacements
The Maidstone store was not one of the four sold and it was emptied.
Of course, retailers come and go from the High Street during upturns as well as downturns and this creates a turnover of stores.
But locals, and councillors, hate to see empty shops.
"It is very sad when any shop shuts," says retired department store worker Mary Tolhurst, 73.
"We need a variety of shops and competition."
"We have plenty of charity shops so we do not need any more of those," says husband Raymond, 77, carrying a couple of bags of groceries.
"And we've got enough restaurants if people are not going out to eat.
"At the moment it is hard to see what kind of shops might survive."
Mike Quinn, of Eqos - which advises retailers on software - suggests big stores offering own-brand products that they can source from overseas are likely to be better off.
But he argues that while the small generalists might struggle, some retailers offering niche products such as in fashion and home electronics can still get through the downturn relatively unscathed.
"There will always be a market for some specialist stores," he says.
Back in Maidstone, Denise Owens, 38, is preparing to feed four-month-old son Matthew.
"I'd like a Matalan to replace the Woolworths here," she says, maintaining the discounting theme.
Yet, in the current climate it will take courage for a retailer to expand and fill empty shops - big or small.
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