The Government appears to have delayed publishing a progress  report on the towns which received taxpayer money to revitalise their local high streets until later this year.

Paul Bignell discovers a simple truth – women hold the key to the regeneration of the high street

Town centres must stop just trying to copy Oxford Street if they are to recover from the economic crisis, according to a Business Department-backed report to be launched this week.

Irreversible changes in consumer behaviour, disruptive technologies, and recession are together destroying our High Streets. I know, send for the Queen of Shops!

News of a major British high street retailer announcing thousands of job cuts or going into administration comes round with depressing regularity. Earlier this week, the fashion chain Republic took the latter course, following Blockbusters, HMV and Jessops into a place of no return.

Of the recent high street collapses, none has had quite the impact on the national consciousness as that of HMV. People remember where they were when they bought a record in a way that they don't when the purchase is a fridge, or even a camera, regrettable though the demise of both Comet and Jessops has been.

TV pick of the week: The Town Taking on China

I think one big problem for the couples in Love Life, ITV's new romantic drama, is that they're absolutely lousy at buying Christmas presents for each other. We got not just one but two flashback unwrapping scenes in last night's opening episode, neatly employed by the writer Bill Gallagher to fill out the relationship dynamics but unfortunately only at the cost of making the characters look like complete idiots. Here's Joe, for example, unwrapping his gift from long-term girlfriend, Lucy. What has he got? Oh, that's so thoughtful. A memory foam pillow and a book of pudding recipes. Is it possible that Lucy is trying to send a message about domestication and nest-building? Never mind, perhaps Joe will do a bit better with his present for Lucy. No, seems not. She's got a pair of high-altitude climbing gloves, which is very clearly what adventurer Joe wants her to want, rather than what she actually does. Then again, Joe is a paragon of selfless generosity when compared to Dominic, whose wife tugs aside the decorative wrapping paper to find a brochure on adoption. Nice one, Dominic. There was an outside chance that she might forget her traumatic childlessness for at least one day of the year, but you've blown that.

Despite reports of the high street's 'death spiral', young people still want to go out shopping. Gideon Spanier reports

The former chairman of the fashion retailer New Look has said the high street is in an "death spiral" and has recommended re-classing empty shops for residential use.

I haven't seen him before.

Investors piled back into SuperGroup yesterday after the fashion retailer said it had "rectified" an IT glitch that left it out of stock in the autumn and dented its profits.

Investors piled back into SuperGroup yesterday after the fashion retailer said it had "rectified" an IT glitch that left it out of stock in the autumn and dented its profits.

Outlook A while ago Labour leader Ed Miliband spoke of the difference between "good" business people and "bad" ones.