Mall remodel increases footfall
With anxious retailers on tenterhooks over this year's festive trading, Retail-week.com is interviewing The Mall centre managers during this final week of Christmas shopping.

The last report comes from The Mall Southampton general manager Jerry Stampfer.

He said: 'Our footfall was a little down early in the Christmas season due, in some part, to the development work we have been undertaking at the centre. But since the completion of the work, the numbers have really picked up.

'We have totally remodelled our main entrance and installed an escalator in the newly paved and roofed area that takes shoppers directly to the upper level, where we have provided our food court concept, The Mall Kitchen. This has really made a difference and has been a major talking point, as well as tangibly increasing footfall on the upper level.

'Whilst expectations and targets have perhaps been unrealistic for some retailers, business is not as bad as some would have you believe. Some retailers are struggling and some are having a bumper time. But in my experience, it tends to be the ones who have found it difficult all year who are finding it tough now, whilst those who have had a good year continue to do well.

'There are the obvious seasonal winners, such as The Entertainer and Hawkins Bazaar, but also some more surprising winners, such as Adams.

'Inevitably, some sales have already begun and the public are smart enough to wait, which is why more business is done closer to - and even after - Christmas Day.

'Whoever said that advertising doesn't work should talk to the manageress of The Perfume Shop, where sales of Jean Paul Gautier in both ladies' and men's have been top of the table for the past three weeks.

'With some 50 stores and about 210,000 sq ft of retail space, we are not the largest shopping centre in the region by a long way, but we are delighted that the loyalty of our shoppers keeps them coming back in numbers not far off what they were last year.

'Although business may have been a little patchy, it has been generally quite healthy and, with a bumper weekend expected, I think most retailers will sleep soundly as Santa fills their stocking with Christmas cheer.'