Amsterdam and west London in Boxpark sights
The Dutch capital and a location in west London are the most likely locations for the next Boxpark ‘pop-up malls according to founder Roger Wade.
The new concept mall opened to the public on Saturday with a host of brands and food and beverage units in the urban chic Shoreditch area of London but it is unlikely to remain the only one.
Dealz enters UK as European launch draws closer
The prospect of a UK-based launch of a discount format into Europe came closer this week as Poundland confirmed that it is to open its first Dealz store outside of Ireland.
Although a widespread roll-out of Dealz stores is unlikely in the UK, Poundland has publicly proclaimed that it does intend to test the format with a view to taking it into mainland Europe.
Shopping centres wasting social media opportunity
Many shopping centres are struggling to embrace social media and need to re-examine their approach, research by retail property industry body BCSC claimed today.
The report showed that while more than 75% of centre managers said they are confident with social media, malls send out too many “generic marketing messages to consumers who are potentially indifferent”.
UGL buys DTZ in pre-pack
DTZ was yesterday sold to Australian services firm UGL in a pre-pack administration that will return nothing to DTZ shareholders.
The move signals UGL’s aspiration to become one of the world’s leading property services companies and also to exploit the strong early position DTZ has secured in Asia, especially China.
Network Rail pushes new UK retail space
The UK’s rail operator Network Rail has released station retail sales results for July to September 2011 showing a 3.85% growth in like for like sales, compared to the same time the previous year.
Results were slightly up on the previous quarter (April to June 2011), which recorded a 3.7% growth in like-for-like sales, compared to the same time the previous year.
Landmark UK mall up for partial or complete sale
One of the UK’s best known shopping centres has been put up for partial sale, with the possibility that the entire centre could come to market in a deal on a scale similar to the mega-transaction for the Trafford Centre last year.
The scheme is likely to attract overseas and sovereign wealth fund interest and a buyer is expected to be found this year.
Scandinavian outlet opens as Euro-giants confirm record sales
Scandinavia’s largest designer outlet centre partially opened this week, hoping to capitalise on the sales surge reported by two of the continent’s biggest players.
The indoor and outdoor project is one of several new schemes being pursued in the lucrative Scandinavian market, with REAM International’s Copenhagen Designer Outlet the other notable new project in the pipeline.
European Commission pledges to cross-border retail
Last week the European Union attempted to kick-start the adoption of Europe-wide fast broadband and common retailing practices in a bid to re-energise cross-border online retailing.
Fed up with a two-or-three speed Europe, the Commission has set out a number of commitments which it believes will aid cross-border ordering and fulfilment and which could have major implications for the retail real estate sector, especially over delivery.
Plaza Centers redirects US capital to CEE
London- and Warsaw-listed shopping centre developer Plaza Centers is to invest in new schemes in a number of key markets having sold its 47-shopping centre US portfolio.
The opportunistic sale made a profit of around euro189m on the divestment of a portfolio of all but two of the company’s US-based shopping centres.
Tesco results spark real estate growth fears
A profit warning and poor trading results at UK grocery giant Tesco last week have sparked fears of a major slowdown in its domestic real estate expansion plans.
Coupled with flaccid results in the US, where 12 more stores are slated to close, question marks have been raised about where Tesco will direct its capital expenditure.
Amsterdam and west London in Boxpark sights
The Dutch capital and a location in west London are the most likely locations for the next Boxpark ‘pop-up malls according to founder Roger Wade.The new concept mall opened to the public on Saturday with a host of brands and food and beverage units in the urban chic Shoreditch area of London but it is unlikely to remain the only one.
Boxpark has opened on a Hammerson and Ballymore Group site next to Shoreditch High Street station and on the fringes of a trendy area of the UK capital which is London's closest answer to a New York district.
The idea is that the mall - which is made of 40 refitted sea container units - will remain in place for around five years, which will give Hammerson an indication of whether a more conventional, permanent retail development would work on the site.
It also provides Hammerson with an active use for the site at a time when the economics of developing it fully don't add up. Wade hopes that Boxpark will also act as an anchor for the down-at-heel high street and will encourage retail and leisure activity around it.
As we recently reported, Wade has also signed an agreement with Corio to explore opportunities in mainland Europe and he said last week that the most likely next location is Amsterdam, which fits both with the general ethos and is also the home to a number of the brands which are operating out of the London scheme.
Wade also suggested that he would look to open more Boxpark projects in the UK and speculated that west London, Manchester and Birmingham would be the most likely next locations.
A west London scheme would be likely to have a greater leisure component, including either a stage or a skate park he said.
RPA Perspective
The likeable Roger Wade chose a chic, urban cinema just across from his new creation to introduce the soft opening of Boxpark, two days before its 3 December launch. The managing director of the business played the naïve fashion retailer turned landlord, explaining the dream he had to introduce something different to the high street and who put his life savings into it.
He stressed that he was "not a figures man" as he avoided all questions about costs and income but then this is the sharp operator who sold his Boxfresh business in its prime, who has attracted Carphone Warehouse boss and entrepreneur Charles Dunstone as a major investor, and who has signed a deal with Dutch development giant Corio to look at further potential sites in Europe.
The basic idea behind Boxpark combines Wade's own lifelong fascination with industrial design and the current malaise in retail development in Europe generally and the UK particularly. The first site is a 4.7ha former goods yard next to Shoreditch High Street station, on the edge of an area which has gone from urban decline to urban chic in just over a decade.
Wade had been thinking about the novel idea of refitting shipping containers to create low cost, low risk ‘box shops' and developed this further into a scheme to put them together as a unique mix of International and UK fashion talent and lifestyle brands, galleries and cafés.
At the launch he reflected that the naivety with which he went into the project was his greatest strength but did not prepare him for the challenges and issues the project faced.
Launched in November 2010, the project team envisaged that the 40 or so container units would be fabricated off-site and then dropped in, sitting over two levels with wooden decking for the first floor. Boxpark was expected to open first in the summer, then in early autumn but Wade said planning obstacles meant that three months in the scheme hit a snag and sat in hiatus for about six months, before finally getting the go-ahead and opening at the start of December. "If I'm honest, if I knew then what I know now I probably wouldn't have done it," he admitted.
