High streets and our key retail hubs are caught in something of a Catch-22 at the moment.

The traditional chain retailers are collapsing like dominoes while every time another coffee shop, nail bar, barbers or food outlet opens there’s the normal backlash about ‘why do we need another one?’. (Answer? Because you have to get off your backside if you want to use them rather than order online).

I wonder if people used to say that when the big fashion chains first started emerging and laid siege to our town centres?

But the reality is, as has so often being discussed and agreed on, our high streets need to change from a primarily retail environment to one where the balance may well tip in favour of the ‘things to do’ category.

We all know this – retail is no longer enough to pull in the crowds we were once used to seeing. We shop online or in big out-of-town supermarkets now. Any attempt to reverse that is completely futile. Life moves on, trends change and the consumer has voted with their feet.

But those same feet can be lured back in with an imaginative repurposing of our high streets and retail centres.

And it is the departure of the former stalwarts of our town centres – the big, sprawling department stores – which perhaps offer the greatest potential for innovation.

The good news, is that we’re already seeing it play out in Kent.

Plans for the old Debenhams complex in Canterbury should see an enticing blend of independent traders and food outlets pull in the punters. The same defunct retail giant’s anchor building in Westwood Cross is also about to be unveiled as an entertainment complex featuring a bowling alley and restaurant.

While Canterbury is, in many ways, immune to the challenges faced by so many of our towns courtesy of its steady flow of domestic and international tourists, for the likes of Westwood Cross, such a reimagining is crucial to reversing a perception that the shopping centre is becoming pockmarked by any empty shop fronts.

And a reputation of providing a strong offering is, as we all know, essential to these places. Become synonymous with being underwhelming and the declining number of shoppers will shrink once more.

There is no time like the present for town centres to embrace as opportunities, rather than mortal blows, the gaping holes left by the brand names on whom once we relied.