Business Wire

GREEN-STREET

Share
According to Green Street's Local Data Company, Retail Market Activity Spikes Amid Economic Challenges

New retail and leisure research has revealed a boom in commercial real estate activity over 2023. The latest report by the Local Data Company and Green Street, covering key developments across the entire GB retail and leisure market over 2023, shows a spike in numbers of both closures and openings, representing significant churn. The overall data picture demonstrates the resilience and flexibility of GB retailers and leisure operators in the face of widespread economic difficulty, with clear opportunities emerging for businesses and landlords.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240321897891/en/

To view this piece of content from mms.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Local Data Company 2023 Retail and Leisure Trends Analysis (Graphic: Green Street & Local Data Company)

Rises in interest rates and operational costs compounded the challenges for GB retailers, leading to a year-on-year increase in closures of 14% between 2022 and 2023. However, closures were somewhat tempered by a 5% rise in openings during the same period, indicating a much more resilient and adaptable market than has been seen in previous years. Innovative changes of use and retail-to-residential conversions have become increasingly attractive, offering an economically viable option to address vacancies, align locations with current demand and revitalise town centres.

Retail parks were a particular area of strength, continuing the positive trajectory they have seen in recent years. With a net increase in units of 0.4% over 2023, they were the only location type to see a positive overall change. Demand remained high for retail park units, driving a 1.4% year-on-year decrease in vacancy rate. Further decreases are expected as retailers continue to expand their out-of-town offer, with investors in this space projected to see some rental growth.

While competition from out-of-town retail drove a 1.3% decrease in units for shopping centres, vacancy did improve by 0.5%, reflecting continued efforts to attract occupiers following the pandemic as well as convert long term vacant space into other uses. Analysis by Green Street reveals that strong, experience-led tenant mix is the key to thriving shopping centres; accordingly, for many retailers in this sector, the focus has been on creating immersive in-store experiences and prioritising highly-visible prime locations.

Barbers, nail salons and beauty salons were among the fastest-growing categories in 2023, reflecting sustained demand for personal grooming services. Convenience stores also continued to expand, with c-store formats ideally positioned to cater to cost of living-influenced shopping trends for more frequent trips and smaller basket sizes. Green Street predicts that community provision will continue to be a major theme in local retail strategy, with mixed-use development projects becoming easier to realise following changes to UK planning regulations.

Despite the economic headwinds seen over 2023, the latest data indicates a notable level of resilience across GB retail and leisure. While inflation and interest rates ease, making space for growth, uncertainty is still present in the form of anticipated economic and political change. Green Street and LDC anticipate that flexibility and careful strategy will enable agile retailers and developers to navigate any upcoming challenges and identify opportunities.

Notes for editors

Please contact the LDC Press Office with any additional data or interview requests at press@localdatacompany.com or 07889591487.

The full report will be available to download via the LDC website on Thursday 21st March. Please visit www.localdatacompany.com/insights/reports to access a copy.

The full report will include further detail on:

  • Openings and closures
  • Vacancy rates
  • Multiple vs independent performance
  • Growing and declining retail and leisure categories
  • Central London’s office hotspots
  • Long-term vacancy rates
  • Reoccupation of ex-Arcadia sites and department stores
  • The potential for repurposing and repositioning retail assets, including via retail-to-residential conversion

Methodology

The Local Data Company visits over 3,300 towns and cities (retail centres and government-defined retail core), retail parks and shopping centres across England, Scotland and Wales.

Towns are updated on a 6- to 12-month cycle depending on size and churn, with both a field survey and office research team tracking changes in the local market.

Each centre has been physically walked and each premises recorded as vacant, occupied or demolished as recorded on the day of survey. Vacant units are units that did not have a trading business at that premise on the day of survey.

‘Retail’ refers to convenience retail, comparison goods retail and service retail, while ‘leisure’ refers to leisure destinations, namely entertainment venues, restaurants, bars, pubs & clubs, coffee shops and fast food outlets.

The GB vacancy rate analyses the top 650 town centres across England, Wales and Scotland.

About Local Data Company

The Local Data Company is the UK’s most accurate retail location insight company. We track openings and closures activity for every retail and leisure business across the country. Our data, analytics and insights power strategy and decision-making for businesses working across retail, leisure, out-of-home media, investment, property and financial services. For more information, please see www.localdatacompany.com.

About Green Street

Green Street is the preeminent provider of actionable commercial real estate research, news, data, analytics, and advisory services in the U.S. and Europe. For more than 35 years, Green Street has delivered unparalleled intelligence and trusted data on the public and private real estate markets, helping investors, banks, lenders, and other industry participants optimize investment and strategic decisions. The firm delivers exclusive market information, conclusion-driven insights, and predictive analytics through a SaaS platform. To learn more, please visit www.greenstreet.com.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240321897891/en/

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com
DK

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Bardstown Bourbon Company and Brindiamo Expand Relationship with First-of-its-kind Barrel Leasing Program9.12.2024 20:21:00 CET | Press release

Bardstown Bourbon Company, the leading custom American whiskey distiller and Brindiamo, the global leader in sourcing bulk whiskey, today announced an exclusive relationship to provide a market-leading barrel leasing program for whiskey brand contract distillation customers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241209024956/en/ Bardstown Bourbon Company, the leading custom American whiskey distiller and Brindiamo, the global leader in sourcing bulk whiskey, will launch an exclusive barrel leasing program -- a timely, tailored solution for non-distilling brands. Roughly one-third of the cost of a new fill barrel is tied up in the wood used to make the barrel. This program allows brands to simplify this significant upfront expense into manageable monthly payments, offering customers the flexibility to plan for tomorrow while maintaining the cashflow to support their needs today. (Photo: Business Wire) As the whiskey

Bynder Kicks Off Peak Shopping Season by Serving a Record 6 Billion Assets - Powering Exceptional Global Content Experiences Online9.12.2024 16:07:00 CET | Press release

Bynder, a global leader in AI-powered enterprise DAM, has helped a number of global brands break Black Friday and Cyber Monday records by delivering exceptional content experiences at scale across a number of worldwide e-commerce channels. During the seven day period (November 27 - Dec 2 2024) which included Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Bynder’s Content Experiences (CX) for Omnichannel solution was responsible for serving more than 6 billion assets to over 70,000 websites, with more than 4.5 billion asset transformations undertaken. The figures represent a 15% increase in assets delivered vs 2023, plus 67% more assets were delivered through CX for Omnichannel on Black Friday than an average day in 2024. Customers such as Sur La Table, Bose, Raymour & Flanigan and Puma used CX for Omnichannel to deliver targeted and optimized content at scale to their digital channels over the busiest shopping days. Bynder customers were able to utilize the assets stored in t

NIQ, World Data Lab, and SPATE launch "Beauty Futures" Report - A guide to generational journeys of global beauty buyers9.12.2024 15:00:00 CET | Press release

Comprehensive report reveals generational beauty spending trends and preferencesMillennials drive the highest growth at US$193 Billion overtaking Gen X by 2034Gen X lead beauty spending in 2024, with an expected $150B increase over the next decade NielsenIQ (NIQ) collaborated with World Data Lab and SPATE to release a comprehensive generational report purely focused on the beauty market in the next decade. The report reveals key insights into generational preferences, spending habits, values, priorities, motivators, shopping behaviors, and their influence on global beauty trends. It highlights the crucial role each generation will play in shaping consumer preferences and spending over the next decade. Millennials will be at the helm of this trend by driving nearly half of global beauty spend at US$ 193 Billion with Gen Z coming a close second at US$ 158 Billion. The global beauty industry is seeing unprecedented growth at US$ 1.1 Trillion, with a projected growth of US$ 700 Billion by

SLB adds AI-driven geosteering to its autonomous drilling solutions to achieve more efficient and productive wells9.12.2024 14:29:00 CET | Press release

Intelligent closed-loop drilling system dynamically responds to subsurface geological informationKeeps well trajectory in the “sweet spot” of the reservoir for maximum productionImproves efficiency — minimizing the carbon footprint of drilling operations Global energy technology company SLB (NYSE: SLB) introduces Neuro™ autonomous geosteering, which dynamically responds to subsurface complexities to drill more efficient, higher-performing wells, while reducing the carbon footprint of the drilling operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241127402342/en/ Using AI, Neuro geosteering integrates and interprets complex real-time subsurface information to autonomously guide the drill bit through the most productive layer or “sweet spot” of the reservoir. (Photo: Business Wire) Using artificial intelligence (AI), Neuro geosteering integrates and interprets complex real-time subsurface information to autonomously g

DeepGreenX Group and Hues Capital Launch $10 Billion USD Fund to Accelerate AI, Green Energy, and Computing Power9.12.2024 13:00:00 CET | Press release

New DXG-Hues Fund will target innovative enterprises and solutions in these transformative ecosystems worldwide DeepGreenX Group Inc. (“DeepGreenX,” “DXG,” or the “Company”), an AI-enabled green energy and technology company, and Hues Capital (“Hues”), a leading capital provider enabling financial technology ecosystems, AI, and green energy enterprises, jointly announced the formation of a new $10 billion USD fund (the “Fund”) to drive global advancements in AI, green energy, and computing power and accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide. DeepGreenX and Hues will each hold a 50% stake and act as co-general partners in the $10 billion USD DXG-Hues parent fund, which will be based in the EU and comprise two $5 billion USD sub-funds: the DXG-Hues AI Computing Infrastructure Fund and the DXG-Hues AI Energy Fund. The former will focus on global investments in AI computing power and green energy infrastructure projects, while the latter will target emerging enterprises in the fields

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye