Hammerson : Brand giants ‘flight to quality’ with flagship investment in Hammerson’s destinations

Retail and leisure brands are investing at their fastest rate since pre-pandemic, according to Hammerson, who are experiencing brands' flight to quality with the introduction and expansion of new, flagship stores and millions of pounds of investment across its thriving city centre assets and estates.

Hammerson, owner operator and developer of sustainable, prime real estate in some of the fastest growing cities in the UK, Ireland and France has seen existing brand partners and occupiers invest over £50 million this year to improve and expand their offer within Hammerson's portfolio.

In total, significantly more brands have reinvested in existing stores or relocated to larger premises compared with 2022. Leading the way were Goldsmiths at Bullring (Birmingham), H&M at Cabot Circus (Bristol) and Les 3 Fontaines (Paris), Penneys at Dundrum (Dublin), Pandora at The Oracle (Reading), Boss at Brent Cross (London) and most recently JD Sports at Bullring. This new 27,800 sq. ft store follows JD's iconic formula and marks the brand's biggest UK opening this year.

In addition to the above, Hammerson's UK portfolio attracted a number of significant brands and high-profile new entrants including regional debuts, such as Pull& Bear and Bershka, new to the West Midlands, Reserved a portfolio first at Brent Cross and Nike's first Rise concept outside of London at Bullring. Complemented by powerhouse leisure brands such as Sandbox VR and, Lane7, as well as Toca Social (due to open at Bullring in 2024).

Commenting on the findings, Paul O'Brien, Director of Leasing and Commercialisation at Hammerson said: "This reaffirms Hammerson's focus on 'flight to quality' which continues to attract best-in-class brands with investment strategies that leverage city centre destinations that offer visitors integrated retail, dining and leisure experiences.

"These regional and portfolio firsts, alongside the reinvestment from our brand partners in their existing footprint, recognises the success of our strategy to reposition our assets; the strength of our brand partners relationships and the attractiveness of our city centre focus on living spaces."

"High profile brands have come out fighting since the pandemic, with a focus on key locations as part of a shift in growth strategies. Previously occupiers would have looked to traditional expansion models based upon new openings, but we're now seeing more brands put significant capital behind modernising and expanding existing stores, with a focus on quality, city locations which complement their online aspirations for key catchments."

"We're experiencing unprecedented demand for our destinations and our teams are continually working to reimagine how we best utilise our space. From car parks to former storage space, everything is explored and considered to ensure we can welcome new brands and concepts that engage and attract our visitors and communities and in turn, drive revenue streams from the entire destination."

Location, location…flagship location
With assets located right in the heart of prime urban cities across Europe, Hammerson is well positioned to take advantage of the flight to quality. This has been reflected in an upswing in brands opening 'flagship locations' this year across our portfolio:

• Marks & Spencer's new Birmingham 65,000 sq ft store. Relocated from the High Street to Bullring, now the brand's largest in the Midlands
• Pull&Bear and Bershka's, Inditex's urban fashion brands, have made their regional debut at Bullring, following in the footsteps of Zara. The two stores, spread over 36,000 sq ft in total, take Inditex's presence at Bullring to over 76,000 sq ft.
• JD Sports more than doubled its footprint at Bullring. The 27,500 sq ft store is its best performing in the region (including Manchester and West Midlands)
• Penneys at Dundrum Town Centre. At 80,000 sq ft it is the third largest in Ireland, creating 130 new jobs
• H&M and H&M Home at Cabot Circus. At 26,000 sq ft it is the largest in the Southwest. The brand also opened a new 23,000 sq ft store at Les 3 Fontaines in Cergy
• Nike Live at Dundrum Town Centre, the first ever 'Live' concept store in Ireland and designed to be experiential led with events connecting the fitness community
• Nike Rise at Bullring, the first Rise concept outside of London. The store includes data-driven design features, a 'huddle' allowing customers to sign up for events, group runs and in-store workouts

Diversifying with new concepts
The diversification of Hammerson's portfolio is instrumental to changing the perception of our assets from places where customers come to shop to 'destinations' offering innovative entertainment, leisure and social experiences that drive footfall and stronger levels of engagement. Big openings this year include:

• The first ever multi-charity retail store in the UK, Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross where 40,000 second hand items were sold in just 41 days. Subsequently opened at The Oracle in Reading and Cabot Circus in Bristol
• Sandbox VR opening its largest venue globally at Bullring & Grand Central, boutique bowling brand Lane7 opened its largest site to date (28,000 sq ft) at the Bullring destination, while Coca-Cola has returned to Bullring after seven years with its experiential-led Christmas truck

Digitally native brands turn physical
During 2023, Hammerson has worked with a number of digitally-native retailers as they explore bricks and mortar stores for the first time including:

• Shein which opened its first ever physical pop-up outside of London at Bullring
• Limited edition sneaker brand, Hyped Economy, opened its only UK store at Cabot Circus
• Trinny London, eponymous beauty brand by Trinny Woodall, has opened its first ever retail space in Birmingham at Bullring

ENDS