Success in the retail world is about adaptation; shops offer the best service they can with the help of retail maintenance partners, and they constantly adapt to the needs of customers who change in a changing world.

Because of this, there are types of retail areas that rise and fall in popularity over the years, something that is reflected in the ever-changing face of the high street.

Shops such as HMV adapted to a digital-first music world by widening their focus away from music whilst maintaining that core part of their business, whilst Game took a similar approach before it was acquired by Sports Direct.

Generally, there are two options retailers can take when facing a lull in their particular sector; turn their sails towards the winds or try to weather the storm.

For department stores that managed to do the latter, they might be finally getting the comeback they deserve, with a return to the curated shopping experience becoming desirable after eCommerce, a financial crisis and a retail apocalypse took down the likes of Woolworths and Debenhams.

At one point it looked particularly bleak for department stores in particular, with their luxury selection box approach to their product range rendering them unable to provide the right product at the right price for the right customer, or so the logic went.

However, going into 2025, the opposite has seemingly become true; customer acquisition has become extremely difficult due to the rapid changes and movements of potential customers away from environments that suit digital-native companies, and the rise of dropshipping has caused many brands to themselves be squeezed on price.

This has led to the amusing irony that the very types of disrupting shops that nearly brought the department store model to an end rely on it to get exposure, new customers and new eyes on their brands.

The rise of experience-based retail is also helping here, given that department stores have centuries of expertise in making shopping an event.