WHILE it’s fantastic that an empty unit in Worcester will be filled, the fact that a restaurant will replace a shop says a lot about the changing face of our city centre.

Art Deco themed restaurant Centenary Lounge, due to open on Saturday April 6, will replace the unit formerly occupied by jeweller A Forrest Hay Ltd, at number 31 The Cross.

A restaurant replacing a shop is a common theme in Worcester and city and town centres across the UK, as retailers struggle to survive with more and more people shopping online.

The result is that our high streets are increasingly becoming places to eat, drink and socialise rather than shop, and the retailers who survive tend to be the ones that embrace that change by doing more and more business online while keeping their physical store as a showcase of their stock.

While there’s a long list of shops which have shut down in Worcester in recent years, there’s an equally long list of restaurants, coffee shops and barbers/hair salons which have opened – so our high street is not really dying, just changing.