As a sign of the times, Shore Capital has carried out a liquidity analysis of the listed retailers following the problems highlighted recently at AO World and Joules.
AO was always a flawed business model from the point of view of shareholder returns, says the broker, but the problems for Joules came as more of a surprise.
Ocado is another well-known name that Shore suggests will have its weaknesses exposed by the current difficult trading environment and indeed its recommendations all have a traditional bricks-and-mortar element.
AB Foods (1,580p), for example, has a material non-discretionary food business while it is expanding the number of Primark stores.
JD Sports (123.4p) has been hit by governance issues but is exceptionally well-run and the appointment of Andrew Higginson as its new chairman might mark a turning point, Shore believes.
Marks & Spencer (134.8p) is a ShoreCap house stock but that aside, like ABF, it has a resilient and growing food business with a strong balance sheet, says the broker.
Next (6,330p) is the final choice and is the 'daddy of UK apparel', according to ShoreCap.
Like, M&S, it is using its stores as an integral part of the digital offer.
While it does not offer the equity value of the other three, Next is a ‘sleep easy’ stock ShoreCap concludes