Leading global retailers are expanding into close to 100,000 square feet of extra, upgraded space at the Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City shopping centres in a developing trend.
Occupiers including sports equipment stores Nike and Footlocker, tech giant Apple and fashion retailers Gucci, Tommy and Pull&Bear have recently put pen to paper to move into larger stores in West and East London respectively.
At almost 17,000 square feet Nike has almost tripled the size of its store in Westfield London and Gucci has doubled its footprint, adding 4,552 square feet for its permanent store.
Also at Westfield London in Shepherd's Bush, toy shop Hamleys will move into an extra 11,000 square feet in the autumn, US tech giant Apple is taking another 11,908 square feet, while US fashion chain Tommy Hilfiger is taking 5,651 square feet more space and home retailer Raft a further 5,982 square feet.
At Stratford City on the former 2012 Olympic Park, Pull&Bear, Lacoste, Tommy Hillfiger, Footlocker, Dr Martins, Calvin Klein and Ghara have all signed to increase their space and will be moving in later this year or at the beginning of 2023.
“Brands are choosing to upsize in the best locations, as we have seen with the Nike Rise store and the expansion of Gucci at The Village Westfield London, representing a broader trend among retailers," says Kate Orwin, leasing director at the malls' owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield UK. She adds that as global retailers have invested in integrated digital and physical experiences, their focus has shifted from pure sales generation to creating a "sense of community and connection for consumers which ultimately drives brand loyalty".
Orwin says the recently opened Nike Rise Concept store at Westfield London, the first in Europe, demonstrates this trend, creating an immersive environment that offers customers "off-to-online experiences with a range of products and events".
It is clear that retailers are also taking advantage of rebased rents at major shopping centres to improve and modernise space, especially as consumers are demanding a fuller selection of stock.
On top of this, a range of key units have been vacated by department stores and other retailers that left the scene during the pandemic. There is also understood to be a strong drive to put space under offer and open before the cost of living crisis eats into consumer activity.
Jonathan de Mello, the founder and CEO of JDM Retail, says leading shopping centre owners have clearly had to think about the changed world of retail.
"I think Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield increasingly sees West London more from a community perspective, a hub for everything, a city centre in a mall.
"The two London schemes are among the premier schemes in the UK and Europe and pretty unparalleled. Occupiers want to be there to sell product but also to convey brand in the possible light.
"You will see more flagship formats testing the market because they want to convey brand identity and deliver halo effects across channels. There is also a repositioning opportunity. A physical store is a way of conveying change and convincing people that you do more things. Having people in stores able to convey the full catalogue can only be done in the best locations too and that is key."
Westfield centres are also seeing an increasing number of up-and-coming brands signing new leases, the group said. In 2022, more than 30 new tenants have been signed to the centres as brands "look to use physical spaces to build closer connections with their audiences".
These new brands include leisure and food and beverage concepts: Java Whiskers, a cat café; Bike Soup, a hybrid café and cycle hire and repair centre; Gravity, the leisure and entertainment concept; and Sticks’n’Sushi and Flat Iron restaurants. Health is another sector seeing significant growth with skincare and cosmetic clinic Laser Clinics and teeth alignment brand SmileDirectClub both signing leases at Westfield’s London centres.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said the trend to take larger spaces is not limited to the UK, with Zara opening its largest store in Europe at Westfield Les 4 Temps in Paris last year and H&M will also extend its footprint at the centre, while Bershka expands in Villeneuve 2.
Nash Bond and CBRE advise at Westfield London while JLL and Cushman & Wakefield advise at Westfield Stratford City.