News

Game on for Activate as it makes regional debut at Harlequin Watford

Immersive gaming concept Activate has opened its third venue outside of London at Harlequin Watford, making its regional debut. The operator has taken a 15,592 sq ft unit, offering technology-driven challenges, interactive game rooms, enhanced with lasers, grids, hoops, portals and reaction-based challenges. The games are tailored for a variety of groups, including friends, families, birthday parties, and corporate teams. Activate joins an evolving leisure offering at Harlequin Watford, which includes operators such as Cineworld, Boom Battle Bar, and Flip Out. Rich Beese, co-founder of We Do Play, said: “The arrival of Activate at Harlequin is a pivotal time in the brand’s growth, as one of the first branches outside of London. With its impressive footfall from a broad catchment, we are certain that this branch in Watford will be well received as competitive socialising concepts offer something fresh and continue to grow in demand.” Robert Jewell, managing director of asset management at Pradera, said: “As Activate officially joins our evolving portfolio of leisure tenants, it affirms Harlequin’s position as the region’s premier all-day destination for shopping, dining and leisure. The immersive gaming concept joins as we are seeing strong performance of our competitive socialising options, signalling the scheme’s success as an all-day destination.” The opening […]

Deals

SushiDog to open its second-largest restaurant at The Broadway, St James’s Park

SushiDog is set to open at The Broadway, the one million sq ft mixed-use development in London’s St James’s Park, this September. The new restaurant, which will be SushiDog’s second-largest after its flagship on Warren Street, will span 1,138 sq ft and accommodate up to 28 guests. Founded in 2018, SushiDog pioneered the UK’s first build-your-own sushi concept and since then has become the UK’s fastest-growing Japanese culinary brand, expanding to 16 sites across Central London and Birmingham. It joins the existing food and beverage lineup at The Broadway, which includes Farmer J, Açaí Berry, Nostos Coffee, GAIL’s and Atis. The Broadway, which has been designed by architectural firm Squire & Partners and is asset managed by Valouran, occupies the historic site once home to New Scotland Yard. Set across six towers, the development comprises 116,000 sq ft of office space and 24,000 sq ft of retail and dining at street level, alongside 258 homes. The signing of SushiDog means that 13 of the 14 retail units are now leased, representing 82% of the total retail and dining area. In addition. Alex Michelin, co-founder and CEO of Valouran, said: “SushiDog is a fantastic addition to The Broadway’s line-up of retail and dining brands […]

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

Tenants invest over £3m at Queensgate Peterborough across more than 100,000 sq ft of store refurbishments

A trio of national retailers at Queensgate Peterborough have invested over £3m into their existing stores, completing more than 100,000 sq ft of refurbishments in total. Boots has unveiled its newly refurbished 64,000 sq ft store, which features the retailer’s latest interior concept and an enhanced beauty proposition. Meanwhile, Primark has completed a full refurbishment of its 59,000 sq ft anchor store, introducing a modernised store environment, an improved layout, and 18 new self-checkouts across both trading floors. Finally, Vision Express has also reopened its updated store in Central Mall, introducing a new design alongside enhanced clinical technology, including a new dry eye machine. This wave of tenant investment builds on strong momentum at Queensgate, following a series of openings from brands such as Frasers, Flannels, Sports Direct, MINISO, Rituals, and Lovisa. Ed Ginn, director of investment management at Invesco Real Estate, said: “The ongoing investment from our tenants has been transformative for Queensgate and is a key driver behind the growth across the scheme in recent months. Delivering the best customer experience and a market-leading retail offer has always been the priority, as well as ensuring visitors can shop the best brands including their latest concepts. Boots and Primark […]