Edinburgh

Key Facts

Total floorspace: 1.1 million sq ft (104,530 sq m)

Missing retailers in central Edinburgh: Envy, Faith, Primark, Ravel, MK One, Pumpkin Patch, Lacoste, Mango, Soletrader, Bank

Top five under-sized retailers in central Edinburgh: John Lewis (-48,877 sq ft), Debenhams (-48,894 sq ft), Marks & Spencer (-28,127 sq ft), Frasers (-26,300 sq ft), Bhs (-14,824 sq ft)

Top five centres that share the central Edinburgh total catchment: Kinnaird Park (12 per cent), The Gyle (7 per cent), Dunfermline (4 per cent), Edinburgh - Old Town (4 per cent), Livingston (3 per cent)

Area of highest rental growth over the past five years: St James Shopping Centre (8.3 per cent)

Average rental growth over the past five years: 4.1 per cent

New developments: Fort Kinnaird retail park is earmarked for a 107,060 sq ft (9,950 sq m) extension, which would take the total size of the scheme to 707,065 sq ft (65,690 sq m). The St James Shopping Centre is also planned to be redeveloped by owner Henderson Global Investors. Prime shopping street Princes Street is also the subject of improvement plans

Source: Experian/rental data from Churston Heard

In shopping terms, Edinburgh is sometimes thought of as a poorer cousin to Glasgow. However, this could be about to change if the redevelopment of St James Shopping Centre goes ahead.

Henderson Global Investors acquired St James Shopping Centre and St James House – the office space above the centre – last year for about£200 million. The investors are considering demolishing the entire premises and rebuilding it as a huge shopping centre, complete with large units.

This is fuelling interest in Edinburgh as a shopping destination among retailers. Cushman & Wakefield head of retail agency Stuart Moncur says: “Edinburgh has come higher up retailers’ radars and there is a master plan in development for the centre that is likely to come to fruition next year. People are enquiring about what is happening in the city now.”

There have been some new arrivals on mass-market favourite Princes Street, including Build-a-Bear Workshop and Mexx. The street continues to attract massive footfall as one of the main thoroughfares frequented by tourists, but suffers from having too small units, which has affected business. Moncur says that rents have historically dropped back in Princes Street because of the configuration of units, but adds: “Rents have not started moving forward, but there is definitely an improvement.”

ECCM has plans to regenerate the Princes Street area to help entice shoppers back and lift sales. Areas under review include car parking, transport links and trading from multiple floors. However, it is unclear how far these plans will go, given that many of the units in Princes Street are listed.

The Princes Mall in Princes Street was redeveloped and reconfigured into larger units last year. The mall is fashion-focused and the likes of New Look, Oasis and Principles all feature.

Moncur says any development of St James will not hit Princes Street too severely. “We will see people doing two stores – a small flagship in Princes Street and a big store in St James. Retailers will still want to be in Princes Street because of the huge number of tourists passing through,” he says.

The city centre itself has disparate shopping areas ranging from upmarket to mainstream. Designer stores are spread over George Street and Frederick Street and The Walk shopping centre in St Andrews Walk, which is anchored by Harvey Nichols. Brooks Brothers and Ronit Zilka have both taken space in George Street, while G-Star and Replay have taken sites in The Walk.

Edinburgh has suffered from out-of-town schemes, which have drawn customers away from the city centre to developments such as Fort Kinnaird and The Gyle.

Demographics

Population 2.1 million

Total retail spend£8.8 million

Weighted shopper population 448,273

Index of population with internet access 100

Cars per household 0.87

Annual gross household income£30,290

Most over-represented occupation Professional

Most over-represented age band 25-34

Source: Experian