Reports of the death of Kensington High Street are much exaggerated. It’s not even dying: just changing.

If you followed last month’s Tour de France for more than the most fleeting of moments, the name Mark Cavendish will probably be familiar. He’s the one who seemed to keep winning stages that involved sprint finishes and he’s the front man of the Columbia team, resplendent in their yellow and white kit.

A poster of Cavendish doing his thing adorns the door of the forthcoming Columbia shop on the north side of Kensington High Street, which is about six weeks away from opening.

This will be the American outdoor and sportswear clothing brand’s first European foray and it will be in good company. There are no fewer than seven outdoorwear and camping related retailers next to each other on this street, with names such as Blacks, Snow + Rock and Milletts all in evidence. And to help you on your way to the sort of places where you’ll be able to make use of the merchandise that’s on offer, there are a handful of upscale and adventure travel agents that have also opened up on the strip.

Columbia therefore will be in good company and in spite of the much-anticipated possible decline of the whole street, owing to the effect of nearby Westfield, the presence of so many retailers covering the same category is beneficial.

The western end of Kensington High Street is in fact a destination for those seeking to protect themselves from the elements while on their travels. And as such, it is absolutely the place for Columbia to set up a standalone shop, although doubtless there are plenty of shopping centres in London that would have welcomed its arrival.

Reports of the death of Kensington High Street are much exaggerated. It’s not even dying: just changing.

There are however casualties. All traces of the Sony Ericsson store have been expunged and in its place there is now a white hoarding with nothing on it. Unlike Columbia, Sony Ericsson took a real plunge when it opened up its whizzy store a couple of years ago. But this street is not a destination for electronics and while there is an argument that it’s a bit down-market, the lower end of Tottenham Court Road, maybe three miles away, might have been more appropriate.

Now more than ever, location matters and it’s about rather more than opening up a good-looking store on a busy street. Destinations are important and if a brand wants to be successful, it would do well to associate with its own kind. Ask Nokia on Regent Street.