The acquisition of Thomas Cook by Hays Travel is potentially great news for high streets, one shaft of sunlight to pierce the clouds hanging over town centres.

The deal is a sign of faith from Hays, which recently broke through the £1bn revenues barrier, that consumers still value what bricks and mortar can offer.

Some will question whether that faith is justified. To take on 555 shops in the present climate as high streets suffer might almost seem foolhardy.

Footfall was down 3.1% on a three-month basis according to the most recent BRC data, and a net 1,234 shops on the top 500 high streets shut in the first half of the year, according to a study by PwC and the Local Data Company.

Hays is thought to have a six-month licence to occupy Thomas Cook stores. That will give it time to strike deals with landlords, surely essential if the newly acquired branches are to continue to trade.

New order

Many retail property owners, left reeling by the impact of CVAs and declining asset valuations, seem increasingly willing to face up to the fact that the old model is broken.

That is evident from the rent reductions being won by retailers such as Next and Primark when leases come up for renewal, and from store closures by big names such as Marks & Spencer.

So the likelihood is that landlords will want to accommodate Hays, whose presence should help keep the vibrancy of town centres that would otherwise be left with a Thomas Cook-shaped void.

The reset of retail property has a long way to run yet but, despite the pain at present, there’s little doubt that the store has a future at the heart of retail. It’s not just Hays that thinks so.

Allbirds, the eco-friendly online shoe retailer, revealed this week that it intends to more than double its store count next year with the opening of 20 shops.

“The reset of retail property has a long way to run yet but, despite the pain at present, there’s little doubt that the store has a future at the heart of retail.”

The reasons are as old as retail. Allbirds co-chief executive Tim Brown said most footwear is sold through shops, which also enable staff to explain the benefits of product.

Brown told AP: “The idea of being able to touch, feel and understand the quality of what we’re putting into our products is pretty important.”

Also affirming his faith in town centre retail this week was HMV’s new owner Doug Putman, as he prepared to open the doors to a new Birmingham flagship. At 25,000 sq ft, it is described as “Europe’s biggest entertainment retail space”.

He said: “Retail offers two things a purely digital experience of music simply can’t – the opportunity to experience the biggest acts live in our stores and our ability to offer a platform to new artists in the communities where we operate, as well as opportunities for fans to come together and share their passion for music and film with our dedicated staff.”

Right place

Given the undisputed hardship facing many town centres, such developments could be seen as head-in-the-sand stuff. Allbirds’ limited number of openings doesn’t come close the massive store roll-out programmes of old.

And didn’t the music stop for HMV under its previous ownership precisely because of factors such as the high costs of running bricks-and-mortar businesses?

Yes, but in some ways that is the point. Location, location, location matters more than ever for stores. If they are in the right place, they can thrive. And many retailers no longer need the number of shops they had in the past as multichannel grows.

Hays’ addition of Thomas Cook may dwarf the number of shops many other retailers would feel like taking on these days but, if the business model is right, the deal makes sense.

Hays has a strong company culture, akin to enlightened businesses such as Timpson, and aims to distinguish itself through characteristics such as excellent customer service. That should stand it in good stead as it takes up the Thomas Cook challenge.

A key reason why Thomas Cook collapsed was the burden of its debt. It actually had plenty of customers – evidenced by the biggest peacetime repatriation in UK history as 150,000 holidaymakers were flown home.

It seems appropriate that Hays’ founders, John and Irene Hays, celebrated the deal with breakfast at Greggs – the snacks retailer has 2,000 branches and will open 100 net new ones this year.

There’s life in the high street yet.