Body Shop in receivership again & a big department store closing in Cheltenham. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/feb/17/big-mausoleums-of-stuff-cheltenham-is-latest-town-to-mourn-loss-of-beloved-department-store
I'm a couple of months late to this particular snippet, but I lived in Cheltenham for a decade and a half, and visited Cav House about twice in all that time. Even back then, it clearly appealed more to the well heeled customer who didn't bother looking at the price. It was one of those places where there were weird routes to get in and out of places, with steps in strange locations, and entrances where you didn't expect them, because they'd had to progressively change the shape and organisation of an old building, which was never designed or built for the more modern ideas of current shops.
I'm somewhat surprised it lasted this long. It felt very dated in the late 1990s, so most have been positively prehistoric by now. There's only so long you can keep your trade going, based on tradition and a shopping experience more beloved by those who are retired with a six figure income, which I'd suspect is more common in Cheltenham than many other parts of the country!
As many others have said, unless you want to feel and touch an item, or you're buying something like food, for immediate consumption, department stores really cannot provide the range of items that online shopping can, and often cannot even provide an item as fast.