News

Bruce Gillingham Pollard makes pair of appointments to leasing team

Bruce Gillingham Pollard has strengthened its leasing team with the addition of two new appointments. The retail and leisure agency has appointed Ben Sykes as a senior surveyor and Kate Martin as a graduate surveyor. Sykes joins from Green & Partners, where he worked on high street and shopping centre assets on behalf of both institutional and private landlords. Kate Martin joins as graduate surveyor in the leasing team, where she will support the team across a range of retail and leisure instructions. Meanwhile, Alex Todd and Will Penfold have been promoted to associate director,  in recognition of their contributions to the team and continued success across the leasing portfolio. Rupert Bentley Smith, equity director at Bruce Gillingham Pollard, said: “We’re continuing to handpick talented individuals who we feel will be great additions to BGP, and we’re looking forward to welcoming Ben to the team. “He brings strong market knowledge and valuable experience across the retail and leisure sector, and will play an important role across several of our key instructions.”

Deals

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 […]

Requirements

Søstrene Grene unveils target locations as it looks to continue expansion

Søstrene Grene has released its latest list of target locations in England as the retailer looks to continue its nationwide expansion. The Danish retailer – which is known for its homeware products and labyrinthian store layouts – is looking to open new stores in cities and affluent towns across England with a population of at least 40,000. Ideal units will be located on busy high streets and within shopping centres, and will span approximately 4,800 sq ft with a minimum internal width of 30 ft. Priority locations include: Søstrene Grene is also looking to open more stores in London, with priority locations including: Hynes Illingworth 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

Slazenger opens 35,000 sq ft padel club in Exeter

Slazenger has opened a 35,000 sq ft padel club at Haven Banks Retail Park in Exeter. The club features nine padel courts, two pickleball courts, communal spaces – including a members’ bar and café – as well as a shop and equipment hire hub. The Exeter opening comes as Slazenger Padel looks to become the UK’s leading padel operator, and follows successful openings in Leeds, Swindon, and Blackburn. A spokesperson for Slazenger Padel said: “The opening of Slazenger Exeter is an important milestone as we continue our mission to become the UK’s go-to padel provider. Partnerships with localised facilities like Haven Banks are central to that ambition, allowing us to work with established community destinations to make padel more accessible. By combining Slazenger’s expertise in racquet sports with Haven Banks’ strong community roots, we have created a multi-purpose destination gives more people the opportunity to discover and enjoy the sport.”