Vigorous sales spur more outlet growth - Value Retail News

COvER STORy
Outlet Center Sales
Value Retail’s
global approach
builds sales
Value Retail’s marketing to international
shoppers is paying off.
For 2009 the developer’s nine outlet
villages in Europe welcomed more than
25 million international visitors who
helped produce a 52-percent increase in
tax-refunded sales compared to 2008.
Shoppers from Southeast Asia
produced a 76-percent increase in
tax-refunded sales, and shoppers from
China nearly doubled their spending to a
97-percent increase in tax refunds.
Southeast Asians represent 9 percent
of Value Retail’s tax-refunded sales, and
Chinese visitors represent 24 percent
of those sales. China is Value Retail’s
fastest-growing non-EU market.
Collectively, in Q4 2009 the Villages recorded
an average spend per tax refunded
transaction of €281. Brazilians purchase
the most in the tax-refund category, with
an average spend of €297 per transaction,
an increase of 6 percent compared to Q4
2008. Southeast Asians have an average
spend of €243, up 4 percent from 2008.
Dalton Park sees
solid growth
ING’s Dalton Park ended 2009 on a
high note with total sales for January to
December up 8.5 percent, and comparative
space sales up 8 percent. Spend per
head was up by 4 percent, and footfall also
increased by 4 percent (2.3 million through
the door versus 2.2 million in 2008).
Paul Donaghue, area manager for Marks
& Spencer, says he is delighted with the
performance of the Dalton Park unit.
“The Marks & Spencer outlet store
at Dalton Park delivered its best-ever
Christmas trading and also broke quite a
sales record on the way. Despite the current
challenging economic environment,
M&S outlet at Dalton Park delivered a
vast like-for-like sales growth. We’ve also
experienced a big increase in customer
conversion and average spend values in
the past 12 months.”
4 INteRNatIONaL OutLet JOuRNaL SPRiNg 2010
ING’s seven-year-old Dalton Park outlet center in Murton, England saw healthy increases
in both sales and footfall for 2009.
The 160,000-sf center, which opened
in 2003, is in Murton, England, 30 minutes
from Newcastle.
Land Securities sees
7 percent holiday boost
Two outlet properties in the UK, the
320,000-sf Galleria in Hatfield and the
324,030-sf Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth,
each saw a 7 percent increase in
sales during the Christmas trading period.
Both outlet centers are owned and
managed by Land Securities and have
continued to flourish despite the overall
economy.
Gunwharf Quays, which opened in
2000, saw a 4.4 percent increase in footfall
over Christmas compared with 2008,
with many retailers reporting record sales.
The Galleria, which opened in 1998,
saw spend per head up 7 percent and
leisure sales up more than 8 percent
year-on-year for the fourth quarter.
even bad weather
doesn’t dampen
Bideford sales
January trading figures for Atlantic
Village in Bideford, England, were up 20
percent compared to 2009. The 95,000sf
center, owned by Development
Securities PLC and leased by Realm, has
been riding a crest of new openings and
higher footfall. In 2009, Café Lily’s, M&S
Outlet, Hush Puppies and Yeomans Outdoors
opened in the center, and Cotton
Traders increased its space to become its
largest unit in the UK.
Even a spell of bad weather in early
January – which forced the 10-yearold
center to close for almost two days
-- didn’t significantly affect sales, says
center manager Jane McLeod.
“We’re bucking the trend with our retail
performance,” she says. “We have seen
a significant upturn in sales, especially on
luggage, footwear and outdoor clothing
ranges. With such a good start to the year
we can only see it getting better. Obviously
our trading success has not gone unnoticed
… we already have a number of blue chip
brands lined up to join us in 2010.”
Kids clothes fly
at McG centers
McArthurGlen’s seven UK designer
outlet centers enjoyed strong Christmas
trading, despite suffering through the
coldest winter in decades.
From Nov. 30, 2009 to Jan. 3, 2010,
sales increased 4 percent at McArthur-
Glen’s seven centers compared to the same
selling period last year. The real portfolio
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