When Lehman Brothers went under it was a watershed moment. With the #iconic #debenhams now going under, it is one of those moments. With it comes the painful loss of 12,000 jobs.

The future of #retail needs to move beyond the online vs offline debate. It needs to be about creating #brands that have a differentiated offer and has the ability to create and rollout an #omnichannel offer.

In plain English, anything mass is easily replicable and is prone for a wipeout. Anyone with a retail ambition needs to think #niche, manageable scale, a highly developed online offer and a strong reason for store visits.