Say hej to the shopping centre of the future, as imagined by Ikea’s owner

Many shopping centres are not inspiring places. Although there are exceptions, run-down facilities and dingy shopfronts are a familiar sight in many UK malls, which have decayed through a lack of investment and struggled to recover visitor levels post-pandemic. 

According to real estate business Savills, as of December 2023, footfall in shopping centres in various countries was between 15% and 20% down on the levels seen in January 2020.

All the while, physical retail in general has been enjoying a renaissance, with footfall at retail parks and high streets recording a higher uplift than shopping centres as recently as the Easter weekend.

The footfall statistics raise the question of whether UK shopping centres today are doing enough to draw in consumers. So what does good actually look like? 

According to Inka Centres, the sister company to Ikea that builds and operates retail centres globally, the answer is to create a meeting place rather than a traditional shopping mall. 

“When we are looking into our spaces we have this work, play, shop mantra,” says Ingka Centres managing director Cindy Andersen. 

“We, of course, adjust the offer depending on the location, and they all don’t look the same, but one thing that does not change is that people want to be in a physical destination with other people.

“If you put that in focus you create experiences, you create opportunities for people to socialise and be together, and that creates relevance. That is the fundamental thing.” 

Saluhall – more than just meatballs

Andersen is speaking to Retail Week from San Francisco, California, where Ingka will today (April 11) open the latest stage of its Market Street centre in the city, Saluhall, a 23,000 sq ft food hall built for the modern era. 

The Saluhall pilot is described by Ingka as a “food culture hub”, featuring some of the city’s favourite independent restaurants alongside in-house offers such as bakery Smörgåsland, developed for the centre by Danish chef Claus Meyer.

Meyer will also offer lessons in the in-built Cookery Skola culinary school, which will host a roster of demonstrations and classes to inspire the community to get cooking. 

“We have known for years how important food is for the business and the importance of food to actually drive visitation, and create engagement and plans for coming together,” says Andersen.

“It’s not going to be less important in the future. For many, food has an emotional connection. It’s not just what you eat, but how you connect.

“This concept was not just something we did for San Francisco; it’s something we’re able to also scale to other locations in different forms or shapes.”

Potential in a challenged city

Several interesting concepts are being trialled at Market Street, but perhaps most interesting is the choice of the location itself.

Soaring levels of crime and drug abuse have plagued the San Francisco Bay Area in recent years. Two dozen retailers have thrown in the towel and closed their stores there since the start of 2023, including Macy’s, J Crew, Aldo and Nordstrom, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

And it’s not just retail. Downtown San Francisco was once the place to be for tech giants and fast-growing digital start-ups, but the city has undergone a ‘tech-xodus’ as big names such as Microsoft, Meta, Airbnb, Slack and Paypal have either hugely scaled back their presence in the city or fled altogether. 

It might then seem surprising that anyone would go out of their way to invest hundreds of millions in a centre that puts retail and office space at the heart of the operation, but Ingka doesn’t see it that way – in fact, Andersen says it offers an opportunity. 

“We have a very positive outlook for Market Street, the full economic district and San Francisco as a city,” she says.

“We’re excited about bringing this vibrant meeting place [to the city] where we can play our part in creating a space for people to meet, but also in job creation and bringing something of value to the many people living there. When we come into a location, we want to add value to people and communities.”  

“This is a very iconic district of San Francisco and being able to be part of revitalising the location, creating a destination and being where the people are – that’s core in our approach.

Andersen says the investment is already making a difference to the city: “We opened up Hej!Workshop earlier this year, which is a co-working space. Since then, we’ve seen many positive signals in the city with AI firms establishing themselves, etc. It’s a vibrant place where we see a lot of potential that will arise.” 

Brighton next?

Closer to home, Ingka has big plans for the Churchill Square shopping centre in Brighton and Hove, which it purchased last year. 

“We are so excited, both about the location of Churchill Square and also, of course, about the opening of Ikea within the – hopefully – not-too-distant future,” says Andersen.

“It’s a very iconic shopping centre in Brighton and it has a very natural visitation. There are lots of people living and working in Brighton who come there. It has a history, a significance and a very strong retail offer.”

The Saluhall pilot in San Francisco has given the group food for thought when planning Brighton and Andersen says it is considering a similar concept for the seaside city. 

“One of the things we said from the beginning is there’s a lot of potential to update and refresh the food offer,” she says. “We are very curious as to what we can offer and develop in Brighton.”

Perhaps it won’t be long until Brighton too can also say hej to the shopping centre of the future.