News

Merry Hill bolsters health and beauty offer with Bath & Body Works signing

Merry Hill in the West Midlands has added to its health and beauty offer after signing body care and home fragrance retailer Bath & Body Works. The retailer is set to open in a 1,270 sq ft space opposite The Body Shop and Holland & Barrett for its first standalone space at Merry Hill, complementing its existing concession within NEXT. The store will offer a range of fragrance-led body care, home scents, gifting products, and seasonal collections. Bath & Body works will add to the health and beauty lineup at Merry Hill, joining brands such as Superdrug, Rituals, and Boots. Alistair Winning, leasing manager for Redical, said: “The addition of a standalone Bath & Body Works to Merry Hill is a strong endorsement of both the desirability of the destination and its continued relevance as the go-to destination for the West Midlands and the surrounding catchment. Health and beauty remains a key category for our visitors, and one in which we continue to see strong performance. Bath & Body Works’ distinctive, desirable products and loyal customer base will further strengthen this already successful category, giving our customers even more reason to visit Merry Hill.” A representative from Bath & Body […]

Deals

New Era to open flagship store on London’s Oxford Street

New Era is set to open a flagship store at 386 Oxford Street in London after signing a 10-year lease. The heritage sports and lifestyle brand will occupy the entire corner building, taking over 2,500 sq ft of space across basement, ground, and four upper floors. The store will sit adjacent to Selfridges and close to Bond Street Station, providing New Era with a highly visible position at the western end of Oxford Street. Founded in 1920, New Era has evolved from a family-owned cap manufacturer into a global brand. Best known for its 59FIFTY cap and its longstanding partnerships with major US sports leagues, the brand has become a staple of professional sports and streetwear culture. Callum White, associate director in retail at Savills, which acted on behalf of the landlord, said: “The momentum on Oxford Street is accelerating, with the upcoming pedestrianisation acting as a powerful magnet for global retailers. New Era’s arrival is another vote of confidence in this shifting energy, proving that top brands are eager to plant their flags ahead of a reimagined, traffic-free environment.”

Requirements

Toolstation eyes new sites as it looks to expand London and South East estate

Toolstation has released its latest property requirements list as it looks to expand its store estate across Greater London and the South East. The trade supplies retailer is seeking units on high streets and trade parks ranging between 2,000 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft in size, located in prominent and visible roadside locations. Ideal units will be situated in easily accessible locations, with access to parking and loading bays essential. Target locations include: GCW has been retained to find suitable locations.

Insights

The rise of ‘treatonomics’: how changing spending patterns are affecting retail destinations

Times of economic difficulty and reduced consumer confidence have traditionally seen consumers tighten their purse strings, occasionally saving up for a larger purchase. But a recent shift in spending patterns suggests that shoppers are now shunning big-ticket purchases in favour of smaller, less expensive products or experiences. This concept, dubbed ‘treatonomics’, has been observed by Alex Petit, head of research and insights at Global Mutual, within the group’s portfolio of outlet shopping centres. “What we’ve seen is that cost-of-living crisis, combined with people wanting to keep on treating themselves, means that people are suddenly treating themselves on much smaller price points. That’s what we’re seeing with treatonomics”, she tells Completely Retail News. Data from the ONS found that despite increasing costs, sales volumes have remained broadly flat against pre-pandemic levels. This implies a shift towards consumers spending money less often, but instead choosing to make select purchases of higher values. “People are being very considered”, says Petit, “I think it comes from the pandemic as well, when we were all locked at home and we were deprived of a lot of things. People now have a slightly different outlook on life as there’s this hang-up psychologically, from us not being […]

Advice

Turn lease events from growing pains into commercial gains

By Simon Matley, director for dilapidations and occupier services at TFT After a period of acquisition, a large commercial retail portfolio can become either a major liability or a powerful cost saver for retailers who need every advantage they can get in a challenging consumer market. For national multiples and high street brands, often with sizeable portfolios numbering in the hundreds of units, or for smaller regional operations that are growing at speed, flexibility and control are hugely important. Brands today are adapting their portfolios in light of changing consumer behaviour and omni-channel retailing, and this is shaped by the increasingly sophisticated data capture that allows them to better understand stock, fulfilment, customer behaviour, and operations. For many who have been acquiring premises over the past 10 years, they will almost certainly find that data allows them to be more efficient in the space they need, not least because of the growth of last mile logistics and on demand deliveries which enables occupiers to be nimble in how they use their spaces. Whether they operate on the high street, in retail parks or rely on distribution centres, retailers want to scale fast, explore new territory and snap up the right […]

News

LondonMetric offloads Lidl supermarket in £85m sell-off

LondonMetric Property has sold a Lidl supermarket with an unexpired lease term of 17 years in Basildon, Essex, for £8.8m. The transaction was completed as part of a wider sell-off by LondonMetric, which saw it dispose of seven assets for a total of £85m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.3%. Also included in the sales were two Ramsay hospitals for £59.1m, two logistics warehouses for £13m, and two Travelodge hotels for £4.1m. Following these disposals, LondonMetric has now sold 32 assets for a total of £175m this financial year. The group has also made acquisitions in the year totalling £62m, reflecting a yield of 5.9%, and include a recently signed £20m forward funding of a 50,000 sq ft foodstore in Nuneaton, pre-let to Tesco on a 20-year lease. LondonMetric said it is also under offer on £140m of additional acquisitions at a yield in excess of 6%, primarily comprising long-let assets with occupiers including Lidl, M&S, Tesco, and Waitrose. Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, said: “Despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop, we have made excellent progress in selling further non-core assets over the past two months. Our activity has helped reduce our Ramsay exposure and further improve our NNN […]