TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of the paper is to present and critically discuss the findings of the ESRC-funded HS2020 project. The aim is to discuss the retail-led change that has happened to the High Streets that participated to the project that, in some cases, is revolutionary and is leading to the reinvention of the place. To do so reference is made to various retail change theories discussing both institutional and consumer-led change.Design/methodology/approach This is a discussion paper on the findings of the HS2020 project.Findings The major finding reported in this paper is that the reinvention is a natural learning process that involves the comprehension of change and the development of knowledge that will lead to the reinvention of the High Street.Research limitations/implications The findings of the research are based on data that were collected from a total of ten towns across the UK.Practical implications The paper suggests that to reinvent the High Street the stakeholders that are involved in the place decision-making processes they should embrace the change as a natural development and try to understand and learn from it rather than resisting to it. The HS2020 project provides a comprehensive guide of the areas that change can be managed and if it happens it can facilitate the reinvention.Originality/value The paper is relevant to the academic community, as it offers insight to the theories of retail change, and to the practitioners, as it provides evidence as to how to deal with the change that happens to the High Streets. VL - 10 IS - 4 SN - 1753-8335 DO - 10.1108/JPMD-03-2017-0031 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-03-2017-0031 AU - Theodoridis Costas AU - Ntounis Nikos AU - Pal John PY - 2017 Y1 - 2017/01/01 TI - How to reinvent the High Street: evidence from the HS2020 T2 - Journal of Place Management and Development PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 380 EP - 391 Y2 - 2024/04/26 ER -