News

CBRE IM offloads Chiswick retail asset

CBRE Investment Management (IM) has completed the sale of 216-226 Chiswick High Road in West London. Situated adjacent to the recently refurbished M&S food store, the property extends to approximately 9,750 sq ft and produces a total annual income of £340,000, 65% of which is secured to Waterstones until June 2030. The property also offers a number of long-term asset management potential through potential redevelopment or reconfiguration. Jonathon Mills, equity partner at Forge Property Consultants, which acted for CBRE IM, said: “It was great to achieve a successful sale outcome for our longstanding client, CBRE Investment Management. The property attracted very competitive bidding from a range of UK based and overseas investors, culminating in a successful sale to a UK based family property company. Forge have been extremely active in the SW London retail market in recent months and we look forward to continuing this strong run with a number of further forthcoming sales in the area”. TW Keil represented the purchaser.

Deals

Flight Club to open 17th UK venue in Exeter

Red Engine, the hospitality group behind the Flight Club and Electric Shuffle concepts, is set to open a new Flight Club venue in Exeter. The darts-themed competitive socialising operator’s new venue will be its 17th in the UK and its second in the South West, joining Flight Club Bristol which opened in 2021. The concept will occupy the former Revolution site on Queen Street, 500 feet from Exeter Central Station. Spanning 11,916 sq ft across two floors, Flight Club Exeter will feature the operator’s signature style, which looks to combine the feel of a traditional pub with a fairground twist. This comes as Red Engine prepares to open five additional international venues, bringing its global portfolio to 48 locations. Steve Moore, CEO and co-founder of Red Engine, said, “Hitting 1 billion darts thrown earlier this year was a huge milestone, and Exeter is where Flight Club’s next chapter starts. Five years since we opened in Bristol, we’re excited to be back in the Southwest, bringing Social Darts to the heart of Exeter this Winter.”

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

Aldi to open one new store per week in September

Aldi is set to open one new store every week in September, with the retailer opening a total of four stores during the month. The supermarket discounter opened a store at Balsall Common near Solihull earlier this week, and will subsequently open stores in Telford, Rayleigh in Essex, and Hoxton in London. The openings form part of Aldi’s wider £370m investment in new stores this year and its long-term ambition to operate 1,500 stores across the UK. Jonathan Neale, managing director of national real estate at Aldi UK, said: “We know there are still communities across the country that want access to an Aldi store, and we’re working hard to bring our unbeatable value to more of them. “Opening a new store every week throughout September demonstrates the pace of our expansion, while creating new jobs and bringing high-quality, affordable food to even more shoppers.”