As the Christmas cards come down, so will the shutters on hundreds of shops, Woolworths being only the highest-profile chain making an exit. Notwithstanding the relief about yesterday's trading statements, there's hardly been a Twelfth Night as short on festive cheer since the Puritans.

Where will that leave the high streets, retail parks and shopping centres of Britain? Not as full as they were, evidently. King Sturge, the property consultancy, forecasts there will be 14m sq ft more of retail space available at the end of this year. Experian suggests one in 10 retail outlets will stand vacant by next month, and 15 per cent by the end of the year.

Paradoxically, that could be good for the survivors. Occupying a gap-toothed shopping centre or a retail park that seems to be reverting to brownfield is not good for morale, or business. If there are fewer reasons for shoppers to visit a particular site, then the all-important footfall (or, at out-of-town centres, tyre-tread) starts to decline for the remaining inhabitants.

But survivors know that landlords and developers have to try to limit the damage. Property companies can simply freeze, or abandon, new schemes (the 10m sq ft of shopping centres scheduled for 2010 look in doubt, according to King Sturge). But they can also cluster their remaining tenants in more welcoming parts of the development, encourage more promotions and offer sweeter terms to occupiers to set up, or to stay. It's hard to be precise about who will win, and who will lose. Every new shopping centre is "primary" when it opens - but it may take better opening deals to keep the dreaded "void" levels down. Meanwhile, the negotiating position of retailers with cash and patience can surely only get stronger.

British Energy: ed.crooks@ft.com andrew.hill@ft.com To comment, visit www.ft.com/lombard