There have never been so few shops in Flanders and Brussels. Nearly 2,400 businesses have disappeared in three years. Although that does not include the vacancy rate for rising.

6% fewer stores

The vacancy is for the first time, it sounded at Locatus in February 2022. Government support measures had artificially kept many businesses alive during the corona pandemic. Now that those measures have disappeared and consumer confidence is plummeting, a new analysis by De Tijd shows a different picture.

Since 2019, the number of stores in Flanders and Brussels has been calculated by about 4.5%, the newspaper calculated. Because there are almost 2,400 less stores† As a result, there are even fewer shops today than in 2008. It was mainly household stores, electrical stores and clothing stores that gave up.

The impact is particularly noticeable in the city centers of large cities: the shopping centers today have more than 6% fewer shops. Cities such as Bruges, Ostend and Leuven have to make do with less shops today. Sint-Niklaas is the leader with 9% fewer shops than in 2019. Only Mechelen has a clear picture: there are more shops there today than before the pandemic.

Vacant wanted diked in

Outside the city centers – in shopping centers under the retail warehouses – businesses generally held up better. During the corona pandemic, many people preferred shops with parking, so that they could get there quickly and safely by car without having to get into the bustle of the city.

However, cities and municipalities are more successful in combating vacancy and repurposing unused retail properties. Despite the decline in the number of shops, the vacancy rate in Flanders and Brussels has risen considerably: from 9.9% in 2019 to 10.8% now. In line with what Locatus indicated in February, getting has even managed to reduce vacancy rates. This is especially the case in Genk and Antwerp. Although there are other cases: in Ghent vacancy has risen by no less than 40%. Bruges, Roeselare and Leuven also have to contend with much more vacancy.