The retail warehousing sector will this year see two significant entrants – Smyths Toys and Home Store + More. While to anyone working on city centre property, this may not seem like a big deal, it marks something of a turnaround for retail parks.
Retail parks have reached their peak in terms of development. With the Government focusing on protecting town centres, it isn’t likely that there will be many more retail parks created from scratch. And new space is not really needed. Many have been worried that the glut of space left over from corporate failures – mainly in the furniture sector – and retailers downsizing means lesser parks will be left to rot.
Yet these newcomers have sparked enthusiasm in the bulky goods sector. Smyths Toys took an old Courts unit at Chadwell Heath in Essex, and Home Store + More will open this month at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, after The Junction redeveloped its Cambridge Close retail park.
While the market can hardly be described as buoyant, the fact that landlords are pulling in new retailers to fill vacant space and redeveloping their parks to fulfil retailers’ requirements is encouraging. They are not just waiting for the market to pick up, they are examining every option.
Redevelopment of parks is also leading to new opportunities for retailers that would not necessarily take space on retail parks otherwise.
The likes of Body Shop and Starbucks would not have been able to get into parks if landlords had not carved up the space left by major space users and created smaller units of between 2,000 sq ft and 3,000 sq ft (185 sq m and 280 sq m). And innovations from retailers such as Carphone Warehouse, Jessops and Game,
which created a triple-branded store to share the rent, are being examined by other retailers.
The experience of the retail park is also evolving. In a bid to shake off the image of cold, dusty retail parks that comprise nothing but shops and car parks, developers are seeking ways to make them more customer-friendly. Innovations such as public facilities, banks and crèches are all starting to creep onto parks.
Catering has also taken off. The coffee shops are leading the way and adding to the parks’ dwell time. Restaurants such as Pizza Express are also trying out the idea. There are even rumours of the first drive-through coffee shops and restaurants whizzing their way over here from the US.
Retail parks have matured and are now seeing the benefit of adapting to the customer. Yes, they are still convenient, but that is not enough any more. Landlords have realised that competition is fierce and making each square foot of space work better makes all the difference.
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