Retail Destination's Looking Ahead to 2023

Thoughts shared with Retail Destination from several of our clients, about their expectations for 2023.

All published by Retail Destination on 15 December 2022.

Janine Constantin-Russell, Managing Director at Icon Outlet at The O2 and The Entertainment District

Icon Outlet at The O2 has been delivering a compelling destination-focused offer for years. It’s ingrained within our values, and our priority is to really ‘wow’ our visitors, delivering a 360-degree experience and setting new benchmarks time and time again for sales and footfall performance. This is a strategy we’ll continue to implement into 2023 and beyond.  

Looking ahead, it’s also crucial to ensure we remain responsive to how consumers want to engage with retail, anticipate how they want to socialise and how they want to spend their time. Given the current climate, we are continuously looking to highlight more effective ways for consumers to enjoy our space and showcase the varied offer available at Icon Outlet and all that we have at the destination. As such, our approach won’t change but rather come to fruition. For example, one area we are keen to develop further in 2023, are our brand pop-ups. Following considerable success with brands like Hackett, Reiss, Frugi and Zwilling this year, we believe it hits a sweet spot for the landlord, brand, and consumer, mutually benefiting all parties. Pop-ups allow brands to test the water, often with seasonal stock, before potentially committing to a longer-term store, whilst consumers appreciate the sense of ‘newness’ on every visit to the destination. Finally, landlords are also able to keep their line-up flexible, novel and thus enticing. 

We are committed to making 2023 Icon Outlet’s best year yet and are confident the groundwork we have put in place will continue to drive consumer and brand interest.

Ciara Daffy, Asset Manager at CBRE Investment Management UK

2022 has been an important year for Angel Central. We’ve diversified our F&B offering, embraced brand investment, and enhanced our leisure proposition. Through proactive management, we’ve been able to use vacant units as incubator space for fresh ideas and local brands, from standalone concepts to wider placemaking initiatives. As we enter 2023, the collaborative tenant and landlord relationship, defined by consistent communication, will remain a significant priority, especially given the current economic climate. A new year brings fresh opportunity, but there will be headwinds and we therefore cannot be complacent about the role of destinations. As technology continues to advance, it’s important that retail experiences remain attractive, relevant, and innovative, and are able to flex with changing consumer habits and behaviours. ESG also remains key; retail brands and landlords should work together on practices such as energy saving policies and recycling quotas, to ensure that environmental considerations are at the forefront of any strategy, reflecting the priorities of the wider destination and its communities.

Hannah Grievson, Property Director at Sloane Stanley Estate

It’s easy to lack positivity when looking ahead to the new year. We understand everyone will bear the effects of the cost-of-living crisis; however, this also provides real opportunities for landlords and tenants to embrace these challenges. Sloane Stanley continues to be pioneers with our ‘on-demand’ leasing strategy which helps attract creative independents to the King’s Road and Fulham Road. We have several detailed negotiations underway with numerous operators to extend and diversify our offering, exploring fitness, sustainability and re-sale, beauty, and the F&B sectors.

Sloane Stanley will utilise the groundwork that we have built over the last few years to propel us forward as we enter a new era of retail. Our flexible pop-up capabilities mean that we can adapt to the market and modify our tenant mix with changing consumer habits, and with social governance at the top of our agenda, we will continue to craft a community which embraces innovation and creativity, supporting tenants, residents, and visitors. Our collaborative relationships with both the Chelsea BID and the Chelsea Design Collective cement the importance of community for Sloane Stanley, and we’re looking forward to continuing this approach throughout next year and beyond.

Paul Carter, Asset Director at Gloucester Quays

Re-evaluating how places deliver for communities will be a theme that runs through 2023. With all the pressures faced by individuals and businesses, it’s so important that retail destinations play their part, giving new reasons to visit to maintain vitality. What we are doing at Gloucester Quays this Christmas provides examples of what we can expect more of next year. Giving a unit to a foodbank to store produce – to help vulnerable people and families at such a challenging time – supporting tenants with a ‘random act of kindness’ initiative for customers, and working closely with other stakeholders, from our local church to our chosen charity. Typically, Christmas-only community focus will extend throughout the year, and I see free events becoming more important in creating a great day out. Outlets will have plenty of relevance in 2023, combining popular brands with amazing value, so their curation will be equally important. The relationship between landlord and tenant has never been so close, and in places like Gloucester Quays we are working flexibly and fairly, to ensure our retailers have the incentive and opportunity to do what they do best – connect with their customers and create compelling reasons to shop, dine, or spend leisure time with them.

Tim Buckley, Asset Manager at Moyallen 

I expect to 2023 to be another tough year for retail, with the main pressure being exerted by reduced consumer spending. While the government’s intervention on business rates is welcome, running costs of business will continue to be a challenge and it will be hard going for a lot of companies throughout the year.

These same challenges will affect leisure and F&B too, albeit some of the simpler luxuries might show resilience as people look to secure some enjoyment in more value or experiential-related environments.

Residential lettings will probably suffer a squeeze, but better quality curated residential schemes will continue to lease up, particularly where they are a part of something bigger: a wider community that operates with complimentary retail, F&B and leisure options.

In Woking, for example, the Marches at Victoria Place has been a significant success and, given all the positives for the town, I do not expect to see any great slowing of the residential demand. Quality counts, and towns need to provide good public realm, excellent transport links and a broad variety of offers to remain relevant.

It is a great time to be a small and successful retailer as viable opportunity is now present in most locations.  As an industry, we should be looking to nurture these fledgling businesses to be our future occupiers.  A sense of purpose, providing a different offer to an ever-curious consumer, should succeed and, with some patience, we may discover a range of exciting new multiple retailers.

Samantha Bain-Mollison, Retail Director, Shaftesbury

Our primary objective is to create great partnerships with occupiers who complement our values and ethos. At Shaftesbury we’ve consistently focused on providing fulfilling and interesting destinations for people to live, work and visit, and will continue to do so into the future.

Looking ahead, we want to see proactive change to address long term issues with government policies and will continue to lobby for quicker policy wins to ultimately support all the retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses – particularly independents and start-ups. It is these type of occupiers whose point of difference and ability to be as creative as possible in our locations contributes to the success of London’s West End.

Shaftesbury is always on the lookout for highly sustainable, transparent, and exciting brands and seeks to introduce more initiatives to assist these types of occupiers. The intention is to work closely with them in sharing our own data analytics and support them with our dedicated communications and events strategy. 

Investment in public realm, connectivity plus creating exciting and memorable marketing campaigns and events for all our villages, such as Seven Dials, are all essential elements to support our occupiers and help navigate through the next year and beyond.

Thomas Ingham, Place and Marketing Manager at CBRE Ltd

From a leasing and new openings perspective, 2022 has been a great year for The Yards, Covent Garden. We are now coming towards the end of the destination’s leasing campaign, following the completed £8million refurbishment providing flagship retail and restaurant space. Attracting both independents and big-name-brands, The Yards has made a name for itself as the place to be, both as a retail destination to peruse and a day-to-night dining hub in central Covent Garden. Looking at the year ahead, we know that the Cost-of-Living crisis is driving consumers to really consider their spending habits, and this will be a strong focus for us in 2023. With a wide variety of retail and hospitality locations in the capital, there is a need to be offering higher quality experiences and products which will capture consumers’ attention. Our latest positioning, ‘Only at The Yards’, is dedicated to creating lasting memories that cannot be found anywhere else. We wanted to personalise this activation and have secured a first-of-its-kind geolocation technology, to provide bespoke and targeted gifting offers from our participating retailers. It has been great to be able to work collaboratively with Longmartin Properties, the joint venture between Shaftesbury and The Mercers’ Company, Knight Frank and the occupiers to see the transformation of this destination. Looking ahead we want to focus on providing sustainable events and activations, as part of the Covent Garden community and for Longmartin Properties.

Criona Collins, Director - Head of Retail Agency at Lambert Smith Hampton

This year, whilst in the process of recovery, two factors have been highlighted. Firstly, shopping centres remain important to their communities; and secondly, the team behind a destination plays a significant part in its success. Ultimately, a destination is nothing without its team, and this will separate the strong from the disconnected. If a destination is serviced correctly and everyone aligns with the same vision – understanding the customer, supporting tenants, and recognising the wider community – they will see the dividends of renewals and brand investment. As we enter a difficult economic period, brands will choose to invest in existing stores which bring the most value, and regional shopping centres serving vibrant communities will sit high on the agenda. Asset and brand investment, alongside recommitment, are components that demonstrate a destination’s success. If a location understands its demographic, and mirrors this through its retail proposition, it will be able to execute an abundance of brand regears, from established and independent brands. Tenant mix is also imperative, to keep the offer fresh, exciting, and relevant for visitors. Brands need to fit seamlessly, making it easier to deliver experience and memorable customer service. Build a great team, and this success will follow.