Brick and mortar retail has been declining for a while, and we’ve been unsure what the future landscape would look like. What would be on the high street and in the shopping centres?

With the recent failure of Comet, I think the reality can be seen fairly clearly now, at least in the UK. There will remain exactly one large brand in each of the retail sectors. Here’s progress so far:

Books: Books Etc. / Borders / WH Smiths / Waterstones

Entertainment: Ourprice / Music Zone / VirginMegastores / Fopp / Woolworths / Zavvi / Blockbuster /HMV

DIY: Focus DIY / Wickes / Homebase / B&Q

Electricals: Powerhouse / Currys / Best Buy / Comet / Dixons

Sportswear: All:sports / JJB Sports / JD Sports / Sports Direct

The lists are in order of failure (or predicted failure). Italics indicate that a brand is already leaning close to collapse. My prediction for the winning brand is in bold.

Some of these brands have be reincarnated multiple times but a clear trend is that the surviving brand never drops into any form of insolvency.

Rather than the high street being obliterated, we’ll see one business with the ability to set prices. Want it in your hand today? Then pay what we ask. Want to wait for it? Pick from dozens of online retailers. These surviving businesses will enjoy lack of competition, lower rents due to the surplus of units left behind and the pick of their failed competitors’ prime sites.

There are unknowns - clothing, bric-a-brac pound retailers. And all the sectors face some competition from supermarkets who stock a narrow range of their products.

I’m curious about the longevity of mobile phone retailers - middlemen by definition in a technology driven business. Virtually every shopping centre contains (sometimes multiple): o2, Orange, Vodafone, Three, T-Mobile, Carphone Warehouse, and Phones4U. I cannot see this persisting.

Disclosure: I hold shares in Kingfisher - the parent company of B&Q. I was the founder and editor of Insolvency News.