In mid-September retailers were already booking their space on RMUs so they could take advantage of the Christmas trade.

Steve Brooks, managing director at Blueprint Projects - a specialist in shopping centre RMUs - says the current RMU favourites continue to be make-up and the Dead Sea products, which he foresees continuing into the festive season. However, like every child in the country he is still waiting to discover what this year's favourite toy will be.

"I am sure that we will see a toy of some description," he says. "We are seeing the bubbly car and flying saucers and the general gifts as well, such as the croc shoes, crystal and squeezy pillows. By the beginning of October a product will probably break out that everyone will want to get their hands on.

"Already (mid-September) we are seeing an increase in calls into our business about people desperately seeking space for the beginning of October onwards."

Julia Langkraehr of Retail Profile Europe says she has recently been visiting gift shows across Europe in search of the latest new products for Christmas 2007.

"We are now getting distribution rights to the product lines," she says, though she is unable to expand on what these product lines are as yet. "But we are seeing jewellery continuing to perform well for us. People are accessorising with their outfits more and more with jewellery and accessories."

In general Steve Hughes, chief executive of Promotion Space, sees an increasing shift away from ad hoc traders in favour of more strategic merchants who may have three or four RMUs in various shopping centres and who also do not limit themselves to a single product group. "Rather they are aware of emerging trends and vogue products and can react very quickly to the public's desire for new and exciting product lines," says Hughes.

"Many are already sourcing next years 'must have' products for introduction to the marketplace in the New Year."

Kathryn Ling, managing director of Forum CentreSpace believes the key to generating maximum income lies in establishing maximum variety in the types of stalls available in any given place. "This helps immensely to increase interest in the general public, aiding dwell-time immensely," she says. "Examples of innovative stalls currently in vogue include juice bars, ethnic arts and crafts, dried fruit and nuts and the latest gadgets.

"It is important always to be on the lookout for new and innovative concepts coming onto the market. We regularly liaise with importers to determine upcoming market trends, and we always pay particular attention to what is currently succeeding in America."

Director of Shoppertainment Clare Andrew says RMUs are perfect for independent start-up businesses, in particular people selling local crafts. "Instead of having a clone town shopping centre where all centres look the same we like to bring local crafts and things into the mall so people can realise our centre is distinctive and unique. It adds to the heritage and adds to the mix," says Andrew.

So how much does demand for space vary from one centre to another, and what difference does the size of a mall make to prospective traders?

According to Brooks, both small and large centres do well but for different reasons. "The small centre that doesn't have a lot of space tends to do really well because, like most retailing environments during the Christmas period, they become incredibly busy and as there is not the other products around that stimulate interest, people go with what's available. But with the larger centres, because they have more space, they are not able to offer that same product exclusivity.

"However, there are pluses all round, there are no minuses. For the smaller centres space is a premium and it's better for the retailer because they don't have competition. While the bigger centres have more footfall and the shoppers tend to have a higher spending power."

However, it is not just at Christmas time that shopping centres need to get it right. They have to ensure they get their RMU presence right all year round. Langkraehr says the right number of RMUs in any one centre is determined by how wide the malls are and what other commercialisation activities are going on within the same mall.

"In some of the larger centres we have to have larger RMUs but also 6-sheets, promotions, Sky and so on, so it's about getting the right things in the right place," she says. "At the White Rose centre in Leeds, for instance, we have 23 RMUs but some malls of the same size may have only six or eight. It depends on the strategy and philosophy of the developer.

"In some of the middle-tier centres we want to make sure there are not 20 RMUs with 10 vacant so we look at supply and demand and if we have a lot of demand we will add another RMU or two. At White Rose we added another three units due to the demand. We work with the developers on that. You don't want too many units as the unit price goes down."

Andrew says one problem is with retailers who put a clause in their agreement not to have any mall promotions or RMUs outside their store. "It's our job to persuade them that whatever is outside their unit will be worthwhile, provide footfall and entice people to their end of the mall and hopefully into their store," she says.

Brooks stresses the importance of centre managers recognising that the space they have is an asset and insists they should not price it out of the reach of potential traders. "They may need to be a little more realistic in terms of what a small trader can afford in order to have a sustainable business," he says. "That has to be good news for them because where centre managers and shoppers want to see something new happening, shoppers don't want to see things changing every week either. Traders have done well because they have had a sustainable run in a centre and people get to know they are there."

However, Langkraehr says she looks at the market when deciding how much rent to charge and that, she says, is set by supply and demand. "Sometimes we will look at a centre and it is based on the footfall, the attraction of that shopping centre and it's dominance," she says. "So the better shopping centres are going to have higher rents. We don't price merchants out of the centre but it is competitive for the space as we have to have the right product at the right price. All those business principles have to be aligned especially on the RMUs. Margins are important."

New RMU for Neocene

United Aluminium has designed an RMU for Neocene, manufacturer of top quality costume jewellery, in preparation for its expansion plans.

Instead of calling on the experience and expertise of the centre management team for advice and invariably the supply of an RMU to sell their wares, Neocene proprietor Linda Zhang wanted to create something individual when adding to her existing portfolio of 16 shopping centres.

Zhang wanted to standardise on a unique design of RMU, and introduce corporate branding in order to make the kiosks instantly recognisable in any centre, anywhere in the UK.

The design of the kiosk utilised Unibox's range of UK manufactured showcases, which offer security and functionality, a combination of Unibox Modular Aluminium System, toughened glass and extensive lighting. The concept of glass and light, believes Zhang, perfectly compliments the Neocene range of jewellery.

The first of these units was installed at Lakeside in May. Neocene has since ordered two further units, with the potential for even more before the end of 2007.

Thinking outside the box

German mobile retailing solutions brand Mobile Technik - a new division of Mobile Promotions in the UK - has introduced two new concepts to the UK shopping centre industry.

The two stand-alone products are designed primarily for outdoor use within a shopping centre, factory outlet or retail park environment. The manufacturers claim they can provide an alternative to the traditional RMUs and kiosks frequently found on the UK malls.

The first product is a glass box of 5m by 2.5m. Although this is a fixed-size unit, because of its modular format it can be linked to other same size glass units to create larger spaces for retailers. The units have been purposely designed to fit into any location, but are primarily designed for outdoor use.

Simon Pauffley of Mobile Technik says: "These are ideal for outside centres. You can present it as an empty shell and shopping centres can let the unit to different tenants.

"Alternatively we can fit out the interior quite simply to suit individual retailers' requirements, whether that's food and drink or mobile phones or whatever it may be."

The second product is a 2.5m by 2.5m box where the roof and floor sections can be flipped up or down to create outdoor areas with roof coverings as well as enclosed undercover areas.

Pauffley explainss: "You can put the boxes together in different configurations.

"We see a potential market with outdoor shopping centre spaces to house flower sellers and things like that. We are getting our first one in fairly shortly but this is brand new to the UK," he emphasises.

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