Another 81 stores are closing at clothing retailer Ethel Austin and sister company Au Naturale over the next month, with a total job loss of almost 700.

Colliers CRE’s third national retail barometer research report, which uses void rates as a key indicator, reveals there is a big and growing divergence in vacancy rates between prime and secondary shopping areas across the 15 centres in its sample.

Sales at Bluewater are up by almost double that of the UK as a whole, thanks to soaring trade during half term and weekends.

Average retail property rents declined just over 8 per cent in 2009 according to Cushman & Wakefield. But the agent is forecasting no further falls for 2010.

Prupim has thrown down the gauntlet to its rivals by allowing its retail tenants to pay rent monthly for another year

Four months after opening, Phase One of SouthGate Bath is now over 85 per cent let. Apple, O2, Game and Tommy Hilfiger are the latest retail names to sign up and all will have stores open and trading by the end of March.

thecentre:mk, Milton Keynes' regional shopping centre, has topped off a string of prominant signings by filling its new restaurant quarter: Destination Dining.

St Andrew’s Way, the new 400,000-sq ft extension at Eldon Square, was unveiled on 16 February in the heart of Newcastle city centre. The £170 million, five-year redevelopment has increase the centre to 1.3m sq ft, making it one of the largest retail destinations in the UK.

London & Stamford Property has secured Best Buy - the US consumer electronics giant which plans to enter the UK in a joint venture with Carphone Warehouse - as a new tenant at its Racecourse retail park in Aintree near Liverpool.

According to the research, unveiled at the British Property Federation Retail Summit, some town centres have one in five shops standing empty. And Kent, the Midlands and the North East are the hardest-hit regions of the UK.

Paramount among the issues under discussion was the continuing level of retailer failures and the rising tide of empty shops they leave in their wake, particularly after the Ethel Austin and Adams announcements.

Average retail property rents declined just over 8 per cent in 2009 according to Cushman & Wakefield. But the agent is forecasting no further falls for 2010.

Cross-border shoppers and a string of new lettings boosted Christmas trade at Multi Development and CRI's Victoria Square in Belfast.

Garden Park Investments' £25m Peterborough Garden Park opened with 85 per cent of the scheme's retail accommodation pre-let.

Capital Shopping Centres and Newcastle City Council today unveil St Andrew’s Way, the new 400,000-sq ft extension to Eldon Square in Newcastle. The new mall is fully let and takes Eldon Square to 1.3 million sq ft making it the largest city centre scheme in the UK.

Further evidence of the upturn in the out-of-town retail market has emerged with a string of lettings at Land Securities' parks across the country.

Shaftesbury and the Mercers’ Company have kickstarted the marketing of the 67,000-sq ft St Martin's Courtyard scheme in London’s Covent Garden with a pre-letting to Jack Wills.

Retail occupancy levels are continuing to decline, although the rate of closures has slowed, according to new research from the Local Data Company.

John Lewis is to open its second new format shop, John Lewis at home, in Croydon, south London. The 'at home' format focuses exclusively on the home sector, including electrical and home technology.

Carluccio’s has chosen St David’s, Cardiff, as the location for its first restaurant in Wales.

Food operator Nandos has chosen the recently extended St Enoch Centre to open its first Glasgow-based restaurant. Fashion retailer Xile and designer jeweller Ortak are also taking units at the 765,000-sq ft scheme.