Meadowhall takes a new direction
Published: 30 June, 2011
Repositioning a centre of the size and strength of Meadowhall is a bit like turning round a supertanker. But that’s what British Land and London & Stamford are doing
As the Sheffield megamall approaches its 21st birthday this September, a multi-million-pound transformation is underway to prepare the centre for its third decade. Owners British Land and London & Stamford are adopting a two-pronged approach to change the centre’s offer which in turn will increase dwell time and customer spend.
The first initiative began in 2009, shortly after British Land sold a 50 per cent stake in Meadowhall for £587.7m to London & Stamford Property, the company led by property veterans Raymond Mould and Patrick Vaughan.
It focuses on the tenant mix, with a new drive to attract aspirational fashion brands. FR by Fashion Rocks, Crumpler, Vans and Boux Avenue have all recently opened and they follow the highly successful £5m refurbishment of House of Fraser, which has recorded a 20 per cent increase in sales since it re-opened at the end of October last year.
FR by Fashion Rocks’ new 3,888-sq ft store on Meadowhall’s Park Lane, the largest of the four new arrivals, is the first store in the UK of its kind. FR by Fashion Rocks is the retail brand launched by international fashion and music event, Fashion Rocks. The brand has received acclaim in the fashion press and is linked with designers such as Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Vivienne Westwood.
The second addition is new luxury lingerie label Boux Avenue, founded by Theo Phapitis, with a 2,978-sq ft store on the High Street. In addition, urban accessory brand, Crumpler, and US footwear icon, Vans, have opened 310-sq ft and 2,186-sq ft stores respectively.
Clare Juniper, asset manager at British Land, explains the strategy: “This year is all about building on the momentum generated during the previous 18 months. Meadowhall’s offer has evolved significantly, but these four brands are the first of the next stage in the centre’s evolution. Their offer, quality and brand strength is a perfect complement to Meadowhall.”
She said that the focus on aspirational fashion was designed to appeal to consumers in the outer reaches of Meadowhall’s catchment area, and this strategy is already paying off. “Research shows that we’ve already increased the market size by 11 per cent in two years – and we’ve achieved that during a recession. Now we’re out there competing with the major centres.”
And Juniper says that in parallel with the drive to attract new brands, there is a strategy to enable existing brands to relocate within the centre. “It’s about enabling retailers to trade to their optimum in the right locations,” she says. “We have a list of brands that want to move internally, but we’ll only do that if it allows us to bring in someone else to freshen up the offer.”
Between the two this means Meadowhall’s leasing team of Smith Young Partnership and CBRE are achieving 40 deals a year.
The second part of the strategy to reposition Meadowhall focuses on catering. When the centre opened the Oasis foodcourt was the place to be. But consumer tastes have changed and catering formats have moved on, and now Meadwhall is looking to introduce more restaurants, with catering distributed throughout the centre.
“Our aim is to increase catering spend from £7 to £14 per head,” explains Juniper, and one deal in particular epitomises the change in approach: Meadowhall’s first-ever champagne bar is due to open this summer.
Situated on the lower mall, just opposite the refurbished House of Fraser, the 1,100-sq ft champagne bar named Joie de Vivre, will be in a prime fashion location. Guests will be able to choose from a wide variety of champagnes in addition to a select menu of light meals and hot drinks.
Costa Peridakis, managing director of operator Blue Fig Foods, says: “The choice to open our modern champagne bar at Meadowhall was an easy decision; we felt it would sit perfectly alongside the many fashion brands and be very popular, especially with the female guests.”
At the same time British Land and London & Stamford are investing £7m to refurbish the Oasis Dining Quarter. TGI Friday’s opened last Autumn, having converted the old Mamma Amalfi into an exciting 7,000-sq ft restaurant on the upper level at the gateway to the Oasis, and it has since been joined by Wagamama and Cafe Rouge.
New fast food offers have also opened on the lower level, including Harpers British Classics, Go Pizza and Yangtze Express.
The Oasis refurbishment will refreshing the communal seating, lighting and flooring, as well as introducing four new restaurant spaces and two new kiosks. Giraffe has already signed, while deals are said to be close to agreement on the other sites meaning they too should be open in time for the relaunch in October. Davis Coffer Lyons is advising the owners.
While British Land is happy to talk about all the good things it is doing within the existing Meadowhall centre, it steadfastly refuses to comment about press speculation over its plans for the land surrounding the centre.
British Land owns 74 acres of land and it reportedly has plans for another 700,000 sq ft of space anchored by an Ikea store with a strong homewares focus, not unlike The Trafford Centre’s Barton Square extension.
All the while Hammerson’s Sevenstone project in Sheffield city centre was mothballed, Meadowhall had the market to itself. However, Hammerson is understood to be blowing the dust off plans for the 860,000-sq ft city centre scheme, anchored by a 260,000-sq ft John Lewis store. If it commits to the project, then the need to extend Meadowhall will become more urgent.
