Devon is no exception to the struggle of the high streets which stretches across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.
Shops and boutiques continue to struggle against online retailers and the added pressure of increasing business rates and rents.
In Barnstaple, North Devon, there are clear signs that retail on the High Street is in decline.
In February, how four high street shops, just metres apart from one another, revealed they were closing.
The bleak announcement comes just weeks after the closures of two Warrens Bakery stores, the town centre's KFC and independent toy shop Super Heroes - which joined the ranks of other vacant store fronts visible throughout the town.
The team that manages Barnstaple town centre says high street vacancy rate is on the rise - and there are several reasons for this.
As well as online retailers like Amazon taking huge slices of the market, businesses in Barnstaple high street also have to contend with an increase in supermarkets (there are at least eight in the town) and out of town shopping districts such as Barnstaple retail park and the recently opened Anchorwood Bank development.
Speaking about the recent closures in the high street, Barnstaple Town Centre Manager Hannah Harrington said: "A number of regional/national retailers who are closing a number of stores. Millets is relocating to the old Nationwide building as their lease expired and Cook Mate closed due to retirement of the owner.
"The proximity of the closures therefore isn’t necessarily a reflection on the health of that end of the high street.  We are also aware of a couple of other retailers who have shown interest in moving into the vacant units and are hopeful that they will be let soon."
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