FOR many islanders, news that The Pioneer is to close in the High Street in the new year will be greeted with sadness. While perhaps not quite the institution that Gabriels was, it has been a cherished part of the Town retail scene since after the Occupation ended.

How many remember the equally charming Evelyn’s, now occupied in Church Square by Healthspan?

Yet while looking back wistfully on another part of old Guernsey disappearing, perhaps we should ask ourselves how often we shopped at The Pioneer. While it reminded many of what a ‘proper’ shop should be, it is in marked contrast to, say, New Look or any of the other, modern, popular stores in Town. Arguably, the business would have closed earlier had it been paying rent rather than been operating from its own premises.

That said, the real question is what will replace The Pioneer and what – if any – changes the planning authorities allow to be made to the property.

What seems increasingly clear is that the growing number of empty shops in Town and on St Sampson’s Bridge aren’t simply a short-term blip caused by the economy but are symptomatic of a much broader structural change in shopping, which is in part why the Commerce and Employment Department has commissioned a study of retailing in Guernsey.

One of the things it will have to acknowledge – something that local retailers who insist on referring to online sales as ‘leakage’ are reluctant to – is that internet shopping is the norm with even brands like Clarks, the world’s biggest shoe company, anticipating scaling down its chain of 400 High Street shops in the UK.

A hint at the size of the problem came from an Island Analysis survey in 2007, which asked 16-29-year-olds what the best things were about shopping in St Peter Port. The second biggest response was, ‘nothing good’.

But this isn’t just a retail problem. It affects everyone because of the importance of the sector, from the 3,500 jobs it provides to the tax it generates and the footfall it provides for other Town businesses and its health directly influences the appearance and architecture of Town.

And if this is an island problem then there is a further difficulty to overcome: lack of parking is a real retail killer.