From flagship openings and international arrivals, to trials of store formats and the first click-and-collect hub in a shopping centre, Laura Heywood recaps the latest retail-focused property news making the headlines

Australian stationer Smiggle opened its first UK store at Westfield Stratford City on February 20 and plans up to 200

Openings show confidence returning

A host of big-name retailers have opened the doors to new stores in the past few months, or announced ambitious plans to do so, reflecting the industry’s returning confidence in the UK’s economic recovery.

Bluewater had its fair share of openings - Topshop upsized at the shopping centre in November with a specially created 30,340 sq ft statement store on two levels; US lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret and sister brand, Pink, opened their first stores in the Southeast in the former Topshop unit in January; and Jack Wills took space in the centre, marking its first outside a city centre. Adidas will also open a new format store in the shopping centre in the spring. It is understood the 5,485 sq ft Adidas store will feature a raft of digital elements including a virtual footwear wall.

Meanwhile, premium footwear retailer French Sole is opening its first store outside London in the Hammerson-owned Victoria Quarter in Leeds at the end of the month.

Holland & Barrett also intends to double the pace of its store openings and increase the size of its shops. The 711-store health and beauty retailer will add up to 65 sites to its UK and Ireland estate in its financial year to September 2014. The stores will measure 1,500 sq ft to 2,500 sq ft, an increase on its traditional size of 950 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft, and up to 60% will be on high streets.

Focusing on the capital, the location of Jigsaw’s new London flagship was revealed. The premium fashion retailer will be an anchor tenant at the Grosvenor-owned Duke Street development in north Mayfair. The 5,500 sq ft store will trade over the ground and basement floors on a 10-year lease.

London’s Oxford Street is also preparing for a new addition - Warehouse will open a flagship at the end of this month. The 2,500 sq ft shop at 264 Oxford Street, formerly occupied by Monsoon, will feature iPads to allow customers to browse and buy without queuing.

Matalan’s sports fascia, Sporting Pro, opened its first London store on Kensington High Street. The 6,000 sq ft shop is focused on women’s sportswear.

International names make UK debut

As many retailers look outside their domestic markets for expansion opportunities, the UK retail scene is preparing for the arrival of a number of new faces.

Australian stationery retailer Smiggle opened its first UK store at Westfield Stratford City on February 20. The debut will be followed by stores at the Oracle in Reading and Churchill Square in Brighton, in deals that were signed over the new year.

Eight further units are under offer to bring Smiggle to the Midlands, North and Southwest in the coming months.

Harper Dennis Hobbs and MMX Retail are acting jointly on Smiggle’s UK expansion drive. It is targeting a minimum of 15 UK stores by the end of 2014 and up to 200 within four years.

Dutch value retailer Hema plans to launch in the UK during the first half of this year.

It already has stores in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg, and is eyeing the UK and Spain.

US furniture giant Williams-Sonoma is also poised to launch an assault on the UK market and is seeking sites for its famous Pottery Barn fascia. The news came in December as Williams-Sonoma, which operates 590 stores globally, opened its West Elm brand on London’s Tottenham Court Road.

Retailers innovate with new formats

Experimentation with new formats has accelerated, and EE, Maplin, The Original Factory Shop and Topps Tiles are among the latest names to test different models.

Topps Tiles is piloting a smaller store format as it aims to expand faster and offer customers more convenience. The retailer said it could open up to 60 of its small-format Boutique stores if the three-store trial is successful.

The stores cover 1,000 sq ft, compared with the average 5,000 sq ft Topps Tiles shop, and will be located on high streets.

Maplin opened its first airport store after enjoying a surge in Christmas custom in December. The 1,000 sq ft shop in Glasgow Airport has been designed to test the model.

Mobile phone retailer EE plans to open a tranche of statement stores in a new format.

In mid-January the retailer reopened a revamped store on Oxford Street featuring an innovation hub displaying cutting-edge products yet to hit the market and a private consultation area for business customers. A similar shop in Birmingham’s Bullring will follow, and elements of the format will be rolled out.

Shopping centre becomes click-and-collect hub

In what it claims is a shopping centre first, c that allows shoppers to pick up their online orders from the centre.

The dedicated hub in Westfield London enables shoppers to try on their purchases before taking them home. As part of the initiative, Westfield is offering shoppers one hour of free parking to collect their deliveries in a dedicated car park area.

More than 260 retailers are signed up to the Collect+ service, including John Lewis, Amazon and Asos.

Westfield marketing director, UK and Europe Myf Ryan said: “With the growing popularity of click-and-collect and shoppers’ wanting to use click-and-collect services at convenient locations, we saw an opportunity to respond to shoppers’ needs and help deliver a seamless experience for customers shopping online and in store at Westfield London.”

The digital impact on property requirements

Retailers expect to increase store openings and create larger experiential stores to drive footfall as a result of their digital strategies, according to a report by global property adviser CBRE. The survey of 50 retailers found:

40% will increase store openings as a result of their digital strategy

63% have modified their stores - including installing iPads and digital screens, and creating larger experiential stores

87% want the same or more stores in the future

58% plan to make further changes to their store design to incorporate digital technology 18% said digital technology had not affected their store design and would not do so in future

35% anticipate the need for additional warehouse space to support their growing online business

40% would typically open a physical store and an online platform together when entering new markets

Source: The Physical Store in the Digital World report, CBRE