Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has revealed continued growth in store upsizes, as brands solidify their focus on creating innovative store experiences.
Building on a trend established in 2022 at Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City, both centres have seen a surge in demand from retailers seeking to grow their physical store presence this year. Notable examples include luxury jeweller Bucherer, which has increased its space from 2,583 to 3,949sq ft at Westfield London. Likewise, Whistles has expanded its store space from 1,980sq ft to 2,052sq ft at Westfield Stratford City. Rituals has also joined the trend, increasing its store footprint from 1,009 to 2,043sq ft.
2023 also saw key openings for brands embracing larger spaces to cater for increased demand, including Zara, which upped its store space by almost 30 per cent at Westfield Stratford City, and EE Studio’s flagship store which almost tripled its store footprint to 9,700sq ft at Westfield London. Looking ahead, URW has a strong pipeline of further brand openings scheduled for the second half of the year.
Growth of sportswear
This year, there has been a notable surge in signings and store openings by various sportswear brands. New Balance has made strategic deals at both Westfield centres to introduce its new, cutting-edge store concept in the UK. Additionally, Origin Kicks and Lids have also signed at Westfield Stratford City, contributing to the centre’s already impressive array of sportswear offerings.
This follows a host of new signings and upsized openings for the category including FootAsylum’s upsized store format (which added over 9,000sq ft to its retail footprint) at Westfield Stratford City alongside Under Armour, with athleisure brand, Oysho opening at Westfield London. This builds on the major expansion of JD Sports’ flagship store at Westfield Stratford City which has begun this year and will eventually take the store to 45,000sq ft by 2024.
Beauty is booming
Beauty also continued to boom at both Westfield centres in the UK. Building on the success of Sephora’s first UK store, which drove a 13 per cent footfall increase at Westfield London on opening day in March 2023, the brand has just signed for a second store at Westfield Stratford City. Fiolas has also just signed adding to the line up at Westfield London which also launched the newly expanded Space NK’s earlier this year. These movements reflect a prevailing trend among beauty brands, investing heavily in physical retail spaces to cater to consumers’ growing desire for in-person beauty product shopping experiences.[1]
Kate Orwin, Leasing Director UK at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield UK, said: “We’ve experienced a strong half year in retail leasing, primarily fuelled by a substantial demand for upsizing at both of our UK centres. Major brands are increasingly investing in our prime physical locations to offer customers unique and captivating in-store experiences. This impressive growth has been further amplified by the addition of renowned brands like Sephora and New Balance to our portfolio.”
Food and beverage offering continues to grow
Both centres further bolstered their food and beverage offerings in 2023, elevating the overall leisure experiences for visitors. These signings include Italian gelato brand Badiani at Westfield London, Ristorante Siena at Westfield Stratford City, as well as highly acclaimed Thai restaurant, Busaba and popular eatery, The Real Greek signing for expanded space at this centre.
Other signings to Westfield London this year include Forever New and Boggi Milano, lingerie brand Lounge, luxury jeweller Bremont, visionary electric vehicle brand Fisker, and the efficient last mile logistics firm Toshi.
