[1andrew1]

House of Fraser will probably be the first of many seeking rent reductions and closing stores.

Three main reasons though each company has unique circumstances.
1) Growth of online shopping eg Asos, Amazon, Very.
2) Increase in costs for retailers following devaluation of the Pound, business rates hike in London and the south plus the difficulty in passing these increased costs on for discretionary items like fashion.
3) Squeeze on consumers' disposable income through increase in costs like food, petrol and rail fares but no uplifts in salaries.