Retail Property Insights

High Streets missing the mark for over 55s

19th December 2023

A recent survey by CACI revealed a disconnect between the offerings of local high streets and the preferences of residents aged over 55. Despite being generally content with local services and leisure options, this demographic overwhelmingly desires a shift towards shops catering to their tastes and spending habits. The demand for improved retail options is particularly pronounced in the Northeast, with an astounding 64% of over-55s seeking more stores they favour. This sentiment echoes across other regions, with 62% in Scotland, 61% in Wales, and 60% in the Southeast expressing similar desires. Interestingly, affluence doesn’t seem to be a major factor in this trend. Across different Acorn groups representing older demographics, a majority voiced a lack of desired retail options: 63% of “mature success”, 68% of “constrained pensioners”, 61% in “semi-rural maturity”, and 52% of “stable seniors”. In contrast, local services like pharmacies, doctors, libraries, and opticians appear to be meeting the needs of over-55s, with only a quarter of “constrained pensioners” and “semi-rural maturity” groups, and slightly higher percentages for “stable seniors” and “mature success”, requesting more such options. Leisure options also rank low on the desired improvements list, with only around 11-22% across Acorn groups feeling a lack […]

Lone Design Club: Attracting Gen Z “biggest challenge” for landlords

23rd November 2023

Getting Gen Z consumers to spend time and money at retail destinations is the “biggest challenge” facing landlords, says Rebecca Morter, founder and CEO of Lone Design Club (LDC). “The data on shopping behaviours – especially from the Gen Z audiences – show that they need discovery and freshness from their physical retail and shopping”, she tells Completely Retail News. Launched in 2018, Lone Design Club – which opened its latest location at One New Change in London on Monday – utilises a pop-up format to bring online brands into physical spaces. Morter says the retail platform offers a chance for young consumers who interested in digital and social media-led brands to get away from “copy-and-paste high streets”. She cites brands such as Spanx, Charlotte Tilbury, and ASOS as part of a long list of retailers which are looking for a home on the high street. “Omnichannel is the future”, Morter explains, stating that some customers prefer to look online but convert in-store, whilst others prefer to browse on the high street but then actually purchase online. “Now what we’re seeing with these trends emerging is that brands have to be online and offline to have a proper relationship with...

Cotswolds Designer Outlet: Q&A with the firm leading the development

27th October 2023

Work on the first phase of the 185,000 sq ft Cotswolds Designer Outlet destination, located at Tewkesbury Junction 9 of the M5, is due to start in the autumn. The development will offer retail and dining space for 56 new brands, with outlet retail specialist Realm leasing the scheme. Simon Tothill, property and development director at Robert Hitchins – which is delivering the project – shares an update on its progress with Completely Retail News: How is the development of Cotswolds Designer Outlet progressing? “We have now appointed Bouygues UK as main contractor to deliver the first phase of Cotswolds Designer Outlet, comprising 136,000sq ft of retail and F&B space for 56 new brands. Construction will commence on-site in November, with an anticipated launch in Spring 2025. “When fully complete, the new outlet centre will offer 90+ retail brands over 185,000 sq ft of outlet space. The designer outlet is the final piece of our long-term aspirations for this 300acre mixed-use development site located immediately adjacent to Junction 9 of the M5 Motorway. We are creating new retail, F&B, garden centre, community play areas and new homes, and significantly contributing to the continued economic growth of this area. “Some of […]

Exclusive: Landlord’s changes to Poole scheme hailed as “the future of retail”

23rd October 2023

Changes made by Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) to a high street in Poole are “the future of retail,” according to a leading industry figure. Ibrahim Ibrahim, managing director of Portland Design and director of the High Streets Task Force, tells Completely Retail News that LGIM’s changes in Poole have had “an amazing impact”. In April 2021, the asset manager waived rents and rates for 10 new retailers for two years, at Kingland Crescent, adjacent to the Dolphin Shopping Centre, following a redevelopment. Of the original occupiers, six remain at Kingland Crescent. LGIM has since welcomed four new tenants bringing the street to full occupancy, with all operators moving towards performance-linked leases. Between March and May 2023 – following the arrival of a number of new tenants – overall turnover across Kingland Crescent was up 9% and the average turnover per unit was up 36% year-on-year. Footfall across the scheme, including at the Dolphin Shopping Centre, was up 11% during the first half of 2023 compared to 2022. Completely Retail News spoke to Matthew Soffair, senior research manager for retail and leisure assets at LGIM, about the changes made and the impact they have had. “From our perspective it […]

Cinema phenomenon drives leisure surge

9th October 2023

CACI have unveiled the remarkable impact of the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon on the cinema industry. The release of both Barbie and Oppenheimer films on July 21st enjoyed resounding critical acclaim and box office success. Examining the effect through CACI’s Brand Dimensions data, major cinemas displayed impressive month-on-month and year-on-year growth. Curzon led the pack with a 223% surge in sales and a 192% rise in transactions compared to June, closely trailed by Picture House (170% sales increase, 129% transaction boost), a noteworthy feat considering the limited 11-day screening period for both films. In the year-on-year comparison, Everyman witnessed a 71% uptick against July 2022, while Curzon achieved a remarkable 144% increase. The three largest cinema brands – Cineworld, Vue, and The Odeon – all experienced year-on-year sales growth exceeding 30%, with only the latter two falling slightly below the industry average of 44%. July 2023 witnessed a 23% month-on-month sales surge in the broader leisure sector, which encompasses gyms, music, video, and participation leisure, along with a 17% increase in transactions. This boost wasn’t exclusive to cinema, as adverse weather conditions played a pivotal role in driving success across various leisure activities. Analyzing year-on-year growth within the Competitive Socializing sector, including […]

Watch: Why “Data is king” and why we need to “rewire our brains” about the future of retail

5th October 2023

The use of data and technology to underpin, not just large retailers, but smaller independent retailers’ strategies, is more important now than ever. Speaking to Completely Retail News executive editor Lisa Pilkington, at the recent Completely Retail Marketplace event, Lucy Stainton, commercial director at Local Data Company, said it was often the larger operators who were maybe more data-hungry. “We’ve seen such a shift in terms of the types of projects we’re working on with the types of brands – maybe they’re more in their infancy – but they’re coming at it off the bat really wanting to embed data into their strategy.” Stainton said that prior to the Pandemic, there was still “a lot of gut feeling involved” in terms of how retailer’s shaped their brand and what their store strategy looked like. Fellow panellist Olaide Oboh, executive director of Socius, agreed, declaring “Data is king!” Oboh explained: “Understanding your customers, and actually people who aren’t coming to you is so important. Hyper-local data is so powerful now and its determining where you spend your advertising, where you locate your stores, and where you focus your experiential experiences on.” Another trend Oboh noted was the shift towards greater awareness...

Watch: “Stronger” ESG considerations will shape out-of-town retail

4th October 2023

“Stronger and stronger” ESG (environmental, social, and governance) considerations will shape the out-of-town retail market, said James Honeyman, partner at Quadrant Estates. Whilst the retail market has “dabbled” in electric vehicle (EV) charging and PV (solar cells), larger scale ESG requirements will become an increasing trend, he told Completely Retail News executive editor Lisa Pilkington. Speaking at the recent Completely Retail Marketplace event, Honeyman said that landlord-led scalable PV and the use of renewable energy on-site will be a feature of out-of-town destinations: “We’ve seen a lot of brown-to-green potential for stranded assets in the world of office. Clearly yet we haven’t seen a lot of environmental considerations to that scale in retail, but I believe that is certainly going to be a future trend.” Honeyman was joined by Paul Davis, founder of Nimbus Maps, who drew a comparison to the industrial market, in which he said the ESG agenda is “so hot”. He added: “In the retail space, the occupiers aren’t quite so big, but that ESG agenda is going to start biting further down. It’s very obvious in a supershed market of just how much that trend has hit, and that clearly is coming to retail.” The pair also discussed […]

Watch: Next generation US department stores eye UK market

3rd October 2023

Next generation department stores are eyeing the UK retail market with a view to getting a foothold on the British high street. Speaking at the recent Completely Retail Marketplace event, P-THREE co-founder Hannah McNamara told Completely Retail News executive editor Lisa Pilkington, that international brands have formed the “bedrock of the UK retail industry.” International brands including Zara, Nike, and Sephora will continue to dominate the sector, however she added: “… At this point in the market, there’s probably fewer international retailers than at other points who have been looking [for space]. McNamara said: “There’s interesting American concepts that are the next version of a department store – so [brands such as] Neighborhood Goods, Showfields – that curate interesting types of retail. That would be really interesting [for them] to come over to the UK, in terms of the next generation of what a department store might be.” Asked how these next-gen department stores would look, McNamara said: “It would be a similar concession-type model in terms of a mix of different retail brands within a location, but that combined with a sense of community like other brands have created – like GymShark on Regent Street for example, where they […]

Watch: Leisure sector is “on the crest of a wave”

2nd October 2023

The leisure industry is currently on “the crest of a wave”, said Neil Hockin, managing director of Lunson Mitchenall. Speaking at September’s Completely Retail Marketplace event, he said that at the moment leisure feels “quite resilient”, but the proof is yet to be seen that these companies can survive when rent-free periods end: “So I think there’s sometime to go in that sector. And there will be a consolidation because there’s been a massive explosion and one, invariably, follows the other.” He was joined by Alice Keown, leasing director for hospitality and leisure at British Land, to discuss the rise of experiential retail and the incorporation of leisure activities in shopping spaces with Completely Retail News executive editor Lisa Pilkington. “There are sectors that seem to be more resilient, so QSR (quick-service restaurants) always does well in a recession or a downturn”, said Keown. She added: “All of the usual QSR’s like Maccie D’s (McDonald’s) and Burger King will be here to stay, but I’m loving the new generation coming through. We heard that Popeyes think they’ll get a tenfold growth over the next ten years, and given the sales they’re doing in [British Land’s] assets I believe that’s possible.” […]

Watch: High streets must kick “addiction to transactional retail”

29th September 2023

High streets must kick their "addiction to transactional retail", said Ibrahim Ibrahim, managing director of Portland Design, speaking with Lisa Pilkington, executive editor of Completely Retail News, at Completely Retail Marketplace on Tuesday (26th of September).

Five key opinions from Completely Retail Marketplace

28th September 2023

Over 1,600 delegates and almost 500 retailers came through the doors at the largest Completely Retail Marketplace event ever on Tuesday. Completely Retail News sat down with some expert figures in the retail and leisure property market to get their views and forecasts. Here are some of the key takeaways: The industry just needs “to get on and do it” We don’t need more high street reviews such as 2011’s Portas Review and 2013’s (and latterly updated in 2018) Grimsey Review, instead the industry should focus on action, said Ruth Moorhouse, director at Ellandi. “We’re in a position now where we just need to get on and do it as a retail environment”, she said. “We just need to… put our foot down and get on with making some of this change and start making some smaller steps and try and move our high streets forward”, Moorhouse added. Her sentiments were echoed by Ibrahim Ibrahim, managing director of Portland Design: “[It’s] time to stop reviews, time to stop talking, and let’s put some great initiatives forward and use those as best practice and share them, really understand what the data is, how it happened, and show some really good benchmarks […]

Property developers look to padel to reinvigorate destinations and build communities

21st September 2023

Property crazes come and go, but padel, a new racket sport, looks set to stay, as developers, landlords and agents look to incorporate it at their sites, to help build communities and attract footfall. Touted as the world’s fastest growing sport, padel was invented in Mexico in the 1970s. Fast forward to now and over 25 million people around the world play the game regularly. In Argentina there are more padel players than footballers. In the Middle East the sport is on the national curriculum. In Europe, 15,000 new courts were registered in 2021. By 2032, it is expected to become an Olympic sport. Celebrity fans of the game include Andy Murray and Virgil van Dijk, who have both invested in British company, Game4Padel, as well as David Beckham, Pep Guardiola, Elle MacPherson and Nicole Scherzinger. What makes padel so appealing is its relatively simple rules, the ease with which it can be learned and mastered, and, the big draw, the fact it is highly social. Played in doubles pairs, on a small court, there is always lots of laughter, banter and friendly rivalry between players. It’s this that is convincing property developers and landlords to introduce it to their...