Out of Town Retail; The Way Forward?

A survey of Sept 2008 apparently suggested (not a paid subscriber so cannot get access) that out-of town retail would be more successful than town centres in terms of instigating retail resurgence. This assertion is given some credence, perhaps, through the tone of a more recent item from June 2011 which talks of vacant shops triggering 'terminal' town decline,

The Inverness Courier however has news that 5 stores are to open in the 'Eastgate' in Inverness Town Centre, more here, and in the same paper a relatively recent item covered the proposals for six new restaurants etc at the out-of-town Inverness Retail Park

So could the wider Inverness / A96 corridor area be the exception? Could 'blanket' retail development - Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Co-op, Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons, Town Centre and 'Out-of Town' all work together to help us spend our way out of this recession?