Retailers were always going to struggle to keep the tills ringing after the sale signs came down.
Today's official high street figures prove that, for many, their worst fears were realised last month as the recession tightened its grip.
Food sales might be holding up (as yesterday's trading statement from Sainsbury's proved) but steep falls in demand for non-food goods sent overall retail sales plummeting nearly 2 per cent in February.
Now, that figure may not sound much when individual retailers have been reporting double-digit declines of late, but believe me it's a pretty drastic number.
In fact, the 1.9 per cent fall (nearly five times the downturn expected by analysts) takes the annual rate of retail growth to just 0.4 per cent – the weakest since September 1995.
Today's findings from the Office for National Statistics are particularly bleak as it had looked, from official figures in recent months, that sales were holding up reasonably well.
That said, many industry observers and analysts have
been pouring cold water on the ONS stats, pointing to contradictory evidence from the coal face.
Wednesday's distributive trades survey from the CBI showed retail sales falling more sharply than expected in March with stores just as gloomy about their prospects for the coming month.
We've heard from a string of major non-food retailers this week on just how tough it is out there.
Fashion chain Next, for example, has just unveiled a 14 per cent fall in annual profits.
The former high street darling expects like-for-like sales at its high street outlets to slide by between 6 and 9 per cent during a "particularly difficult" first half.
Designer brand Ted Baker is nursing an 11 per cent slump in profits with every sign that earnings will continue to head south in the current year.
H&M, the world's third-biggest clothing retailer by sales: a 12.6 per cent fall in first-quarter profits.
Home improvements giant Kingfisher: profits down almost a fifth at its B&Q business in the UK.
The list goes on.
Experts today warned of much more pain to come.
ING economist James Knightley said he expected "further sharp declines" given that "unemployment is surging, nominal wages are now falling due to lower bonus payments across the economy, wealth is plunging due to weak equity markets and falling house prices, while confidence is at all-time lows."
Cheery stuff, then.
And there's a further sting for Britain's hard-pressed shopkeepers.
Yesterday was quarterly rent payment day for many retailers and the equivalent day in December triggered a flurry of business failures in the sector.
The British Retail Consortium has warned of the "toughest quarterly rents payments day for at least 18 years" and urged landlords to show "more flexibility".
For many out there, though, this week's rent demand will prove to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
