http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8504766.stm

Some of the drop is down to the rise in VAT as people brought forward purchases to December, some down to the weather, and some for people worrying about the future. If that is the case then the recession is not quite over.

Small growth is better than decline.

Yes but the current growth of 0.1% is so low as to be eradicated by simple margin of error. The growth will be very low for many years as households pay down their debts, companies will suffer from poor sales as their customers reduce spending to clear debts. Then when the economy recovers interest rates will start to hurt home owners, though until then low interest rates will hurt pensioners and those about to retire, forcing them to save more. The best outcome for retailers is that they can hopefully drive down the rents that they pay, though many leases have upward only rent reviews.