With footfall declining in so many town and city centres, there’s little wonder that retailers are thinking about how to reinvent themselves. John Lewis made the news this weekend for venturing into property. Their plans, in our opinion, are visionary.

That middle class shop with its premium supermarket sister, Waitrose, wants to exploit empty space around its outlets and build property to sell or rent, many with the option of John Lewis furniture.

If you’re of a certain age, you may recall Sainsbury’s in Meadowhall. Originally it occupied the footprint of an Amazonian rain forest, only to slowly reduce in size as consumer habits change. Walmart, or Asda, with its HQ in Leeds, has seen declining returns as it is one of the fewer supermarkets not to adopt an Express model, like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose (the latter two occupy many petrol station outlets).

Given that cities and shopping in cities is in decline, perhaps John Lewis have hit upon a winning idea.

In Sheffield, their now closed shop occupies a prime central location, as do others that have shut in places like Oxford Street, Birmingham, Aberdeen and Peterborough.

If we accept there is a dire shortage of homes to rent and buy, and physical shopping is in decline, then it stands to reason that commercial conversions into residential makes absolute sense.

It’s not just John Lewis who’ve closed. Debenhams, Toys R Us, Top Shop, Top Man, Dorothy Perkins, GAP, BHS have all gone never to return in all likelihood.

If cities are to survive and thrive, people need to be lured back to live in them.

Now don’t get us wrong, we know Leeds has a great legacy of people living and working in its city centre. Sheffield city centre is going that way, with student accommodation at the forefront. In Manchester, places like the Northern Quarter, a former industrial centre, have been rejuvenated and in London, Battersea Power Station is now a desirable (and expensive) place to live.

We may not want to see towns and cities decline as places to shop, but the internet is not going to disappear and allow a resurgence.

For that to happen, we need visionary thinking from the likes of John Lewis in providing homes to secure their own long term financial future.

Can you see others following suit?

We think there may well be.

M & S may be next? What do you think?