FSP Retail Blog

Even the great philosopher would struggle to shed light on the confused commentary on retail parks. In July, the latest footfall trends survey from Experian told us that Britons are cutting back on trips to out-of-town retail parks due to rising petrol prices and doing more of their shopping on the Internet.

Now Verdict tells us that an unprecedented wave of investment in town centres will fail to reverse the long standing migration of retail sales from town centres to out-of-town retail parks.

So, there appears to be some disagreement. However, read on and you will find that Experian didn’t actually mean out-of-town retail parks. It meant, I think, regional shopping centres. Furthermore, the threat to town centres from out-of-town retail parks identified by Verdict is as much anticipated as actual. Verdict notes that currently retail parks have a high exposure to big ticket retailers. This means they are more vulnerable than town centres to the current fall in sales of large household merchandise.

Is all this throwing up of dust just a publicity stunt, to draw attention to over-priced standard reports and therefore to be disregarded? Or when supposedly serious commentators confuse the debate about the development of UK retailing, is it actually irresponsibility that should be condemned?

As FSP has pointed out before, town centres and their shopping both need to be imaginatively re-invented to enhance the users’ experience. This would apply to out-of-town centres too. Know your customer and delight them with your offer and you will be impervious to whatever trend is being reported at the time!