Shopping centres look to more creative ways of filling vacant space
Published: 26 April, 2010
Vacancy levels remain stubbornly high among UK shopping centres. But for those specialising in promotional space, empty shops mark a plethora of opportunity.
The first Legoland Discovery Centre opened in Berlin in 2007, with another two following in Duisberg and Chicago in 2008. “Chicago was the first to be based in a shopping centre, and it was the most successful of the three,” says marketing manager Rachael Lockitt, who works specifically on the UK’s first Legoland Discovery Centre.
When choosing a location, the brief – “a key city centre mall location where retail and leisure work well together” – led the team to The Trafford Centre. With a wide range of shops and leisure activities, free parking and numerous transport links to Manchester city centre, it ticked all the right boxes.
“We’ve been working with The Trafford Centre since early 2009,” says Neil Crittenden, general manager of Manchester’s Legoland Discovery Centre which opened on March 22. “There were a lot of places to choose from, but we wanted one that would work for us and for the shopping centre.” The Trafford Centre is a destination in its own right, with outdoor leisure activities and a hotel nearby.
And it had one more vital attribute: 37,500 sq ft going spare. The adjoining Barton Square opened in 2008 and was originally reserved for homeware brands like Next Home, Habitat and Mark & Spencer Home. As with any retail park, an empty unit leaves a lot of space to fill. Luckily, the Legoland Discovery Centre stepped in to broaden Barton Square’s offering and occupy some vacant space.
“Since it opened, Barton Square has been strictly a purchase destination,” says Lockitt, meaning that people only came to browse the shops and then leave. “But our key demographic is 3-12 year olds so we’ll help pull a different market of families into Barton Square. Dads can take the kids to the Discovery Centre while mums shop.”
Inside the Centre, a lift takes visitors from the entrance up to a Lego-building factory, where children are encouraged to jump about to get the factory working. Parents participate too, either with building and racing model cars or taking in the MINILAND: iconic Northern landmarks made out of Lego. “There’s Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the set of Coronation Street and The Trafford Centre itself – things adults will instantly recognise,” explains Crittenden.
Annual tickets at £27.50 per child (£75 for a family pass) encourage return visits to The Trafford Centre, not just for an afternoon shopping but for the whole day or even a weekend. “The Trafford Centre already gets 35 million visitors a year and we’ll only add to that,” says Crittenden. “There’s a Laser Quest and dry ski slopes here, and the Lake District is only a couple of hours’ drive away so there’s something for everyone. What we’d love is for people to come to The Trafford Centre for an entire weekend, with a visit to the Legoland Discovery Centre being part of that.”
As well as school groups and birthday parties – both designed to maintain the flow of visitors to the Discovery Centre during term time – there’s also a shop inside the unit that stays open all year round. “The shop has a separate exit so we can keep it open longer,” explains Lockitt. “From September onwards, the main Discovery Centre will close for winter and we’ll promote ourselves as a Lego retailer instead. It will be strange to switch comms half way through the year, but it means we can stay flexible.”
Popping up
Flexibility is a major bonus, judging by the recent popularity surge of the pop-up store. But as with any long-standing concept, creativity and innovation is needed to keep things fresh and draw people in. Sarah Jenkinson holds a similar view in her role as marketing manager at Pavilions Shopping Centre, Birmingham. Here, a pop-up shop selling locally produced contemporary arts and designer crafts was a hit for five days over the Easter period, reinforcing the idea that shoppers want to see something a bit different.
“The pop-up shop concept gives customers a lot more choice,” agrees Jenkinson. “There’s something new every time they come in.” Crucially the products on sale were unique one-offs, hand made by up-and-coming artists from around the city. Pavilions teamed up with a locally based feltmaker, Jamie Lewis, to create the five-day Pop Up Arts Shop selling gifts, jewellery, arts and homewares.
“We wanted it to appeal to a wide range of people,” Jenkinson explains. “There were things for £5 which would make perfect little Easter gifts, and for those really into their art there were the £500 pieces.”
A pop-up shop selling items up to £500 marks a complete transformation from those flimsy units of old that centres quickly threw up to fill space. Even the fit-out was creative: featured artists made display plinths to such a high standard that Jenkinson is keen to use them again in the future. “Pop-up stores used to be stark and rather tacky, but there’s a lot more effort going into them now because, for the occupiers, this is their first real step into retail. The benefit to us is that it makes the centre look a lot fuller.”
And with designer products made by renowned architects, glassmakers and illustrators, an entirely new sector was being catered for at Pavilions. “We had a different audience accessing the centre, keen to buy designer art for hundreds of pounds. Once we get that type of shopper in, they can see what else we’ve got on offer here and make return visits,” says Jenkinson.
However, despite the obvious advantages to such a shift in core demographic, Jenkinson insists this was simply a happy by-product of an innovative and unique commercialisation project. “The overall objective and aim was to put a vacant unit to creative use and increase footfall. Getting high spenders in is an added bonus.”
By turning to local markets first, Pavilions avoided complaints by in-line tenants selling similar products. The bespoke quality of the jewellery and crafts didn’t cause conflict with major brands’ offerings. Peter Preddy, director of the Retail Property Management team at DTZ, is a firm advocator of a wide range of choice in shopping centres. “We work with centre managers to fully utilise the local angle. One criticism of shopping centres is that they’re all the same, so we bring in local arts groups; something a bit different that brings life in to the centre,” he says.
Not only does this ensure in-line retailers are kept happy – “You don’t want to upset tenants by selling the same products throughout the mall” – but a range of unique items add to the credibility of the overall offer. “What managers need to focus on is the ambience and attractiveness of the shopping centre as a whole. The appeal of a pop-up shop and the appeal of the shopping centre shouldn’t be seen as distinct – they are inextricably tied together and demand a coordinated approach,” argues Preddy.
Although the pop-up store is a short-term solution to vacant space, more successful retailers can often move on to longer leases of two or three years. This, according to Preddy, is the aim for the future: “Better and more diverse occupiers across the centre as a whole”.
Clare Andrew, managing director of Shoppertainment, is also adamant that occupiers of RMUs and pop-up stores follow the same strict guidelines as in-line retailers.
“We ensure that the RMUs, and all income generating events, meet the highest levels expected by ourselves, the centre management team and the shoppers. We also need to make sure that the promotions do not have an adverse impact on the tenants,” says Andrew, meaning that they must be attractive and appealing to shoppers, and that their products don’t clash with anything currently being sold at the centre.
“It is extremely important in the current climate to keep all parties happy, as it is vital within a centre that not only are the tenants satisfied with marketing and promotions but that they also encourage shoppers to spend more time there and show their loyalty by returning to the centre,” Andrew concludes.
Past and future
Taunton High Street has recently embraced local culture with an empty shop project called ‘Our Place, Your Place: Taunton’. The project opened for six weeks on 8 February in the former Peter Briggs shoe shop – right on the edge of a hub of shopping activity. This wasn’t ideal, but despite its location project leader Jan Horrell is pleased with the scheme’s success. “Initially we were quite concerned about the unit we ended up with. We wanted something more central. The only things we had going for us was a department store and a nearby car park,” says Horrell. “But Taunton is full of small shop units, and small businesses looking to start up fit them perfectly.”
The scheme aimed to engage adults in an informal learning experience that was both fun and educational. Funded by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, which focuses on the access of culture and heritage in the community, the aim of the project was to bring residents together to learn about Taunton’s past, present and future.
“There was a combination of all sorts of things,” says Horrell, including workshops, talks on local history, guided walks and researching family trees. One of the main partners was Project Taunton, the team responsible for the regeneration of the town centre. A big aspect of the initiative was involving residents in plans for the future: “People came in specifically to look at the regeneration plans.”
“They were invited to contribute to a memory board and participate in discussions about environment issues and heritage. The aim wasn’t to feed people with information, but to have them find out for themselves. The talks were especially well attended.”
And the figures speak for themselves. After aiming for 1,000 visitors in six weeks, Our Place, Your Place: Taunton attracted a total of 3,000 people, with 800 in the first week alone. The project clearly struck a chord with residents, and interaction with people on a local level really brought Taunton High Street to life. Publicity in local press and radio helped drum up interest, though word of mouth was primarily responsible.
“We would have attracted more people if we’d stayed opened longer. The only problem we had was that some people didn’t find out about the shop until it was about to close,” says Horrell.
So are similar projects in the pipeline for the future? “It was such a low cost scheme, and many of the staff were volunteers. But it caused a real buzz and now we want to keep the momentum going. We’re looking at the things people have shown an interest in to make sure it’s all built into further plans.”
There’s certainly a lot to be said for locally-themed projects. Smaller centres in secondary locations may not have the budget of bigger city centre schemes, but there’s nothing to stop them reuniting communities with their local history and heritage. According to Andrew Keiller at Brandspace, if big brands aren’t queuing up to fill vacant units then local retailers are the next best thing.
“Our primary objective is to get brands into vacant spaces because this is the best case scenario for everyone, but it can be tough. If big brands want a shop, then they’ll open one. Taking promotional space on a short-term let is not as valuable for the brand or for the shopping centre.”
This is where new companies come in. “The move towards RMUs is incredibly positive for everyone. It lowers cost of entry for start-up retailers and gets them going,” he says. “The most successful ones tend to be young, local brands that don’t have the budget to open a shop but do have a great product.”
Promotional sites are Brandspace’s area of expertise, and the increase in vacancies over the past year has altered the way these sites can be used for commercialisation. “Promotion sites in front of empty units can be incredibly valuable for us,” explains Keiller. “Before, an RMU or pop-up store would have blocked an existing shop front. But anything can go in front of a vacant unit.”
Positioning RMUs in front of stores is preferable because it gives retailers the opportunity to be on the mall itself. Power cables can run from inside the shop, and valuable promotional space in central atriums can be reserved for other activity.
And if there’s no RMU in front of an empty unit, managers can always be creative with it. “Princes Mall in Edinburgh had a store they wanted to promote elsewhere in the centre, so they wrapped an empty unit with promotional wrapping. All of a sudden, it became attractive,” says Keiller, who has plenty of other suggestions for filling empty shops with money-making activity.
“Our two target areas are brands, such as a car launch, or local car dealerships,” he says. “Temporary showrooms are very visual and have their own footfall – people who are interested in buying a car will go and have a look.” Putting a car inside a shopping centre, just like adding a unique pop-up store, provides that all important point of difference that drives shoppers back time and again.
Show time
London’s Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, owned by St Modwen, is not a typical centre in itself. James Stockdale, development surveyor at St Modwen, describes it as “a real mix – not just a standard shopping centre but more of a community feel”. So when it comes to commercialisation, Stockdale wanted to capitalise on this sense of community and interaction.
“We’re always on the lookout for local projects to fill up vacant space and bring life and creativity into the shopping centre,” he says. Although Elephant & Castle has only one remaining vacancy, it’s built a reputation for bringing arts events to a different audience. A current initiative, Theatre Local, sees the centre team up with the Royal Court Theatre to bring a series of plays to its vacant unit.
“The idea was to bring theatre into the community,” explains Stockdale. “The Royal Court Theatre is based in Sloane Square, but it wanted to move to a location with a completely different demographic to people who usually go to the theatre.”
The Royal Court’s first stint at Elephant & Castle 18 months ago was a “massive success” according to Stockdale, with many people who wouldn’t normally go to the theatre coming to watch the play. This time round, there are four plays running over a total of six months: “Normally, we offer a rolling monthly basis for charities, but this is a proper six month term with The Royal Court paying rent and business rates for two units on the upper ground floor,” adds Stockdale,
People can book tickets before or turn up when the shows start, at 4pm for matinees and 7pm for the evening performance. The audience sit the front of the store, and new signage and projector screens allow people to stand outside and watch. “It looks great even when there isn’t a performance on. For me, that’s the main aim of all of this. The last thing anyone wants is a barren unit. Posters are good, but what you really want is people milling around inside.”
Theatre Local is one of six initiatives designed to continue the success of Elephant & Castle’s regeneration project and encourage a wider range of people to the centre. “We’ve had a charity fashion show and artists in residence,” says Stockdale. “The important thing is to make sure that the activity you’re putting on opens up the unit. We’re never too stringent with temporary lettings – some experiences only last a few days. But we always have a detailed discussion on what the retailers are going to offer so that we avoid upsetting existing tenants.”
