The FSP approach to attracting town and shopping centre occupiers

In an environment where an increasing number of opportunities are chasing a decreasing number of occupiers, data on its own is not sufficient to position strong opportunities for occupiers. Successfully attracting new occupiers involves presenting a mix of ‘relevant’ information which will position a town centre as a viable and attractive location for investment. It is also important to be realistic about the nature of those occupiers which can be attracted into the town or centre, both now and in the future, and focusing on an achievable set of targets. Unlike, commercial investors, town centre managers do not have a ‘war chest’ to buy new occupiers and so this realism and focus is essential to maximise the effectiveness of your investment of time and scarce financial resources.

FSP’s approach to attracting occupiers is practical, straight forward and aims to assemble the most appropriate mix of data and supporting evidence for potential recruits. A typical FSP project will:

Establish the market opportunity. Catchment models [e.g. CACI, CBRE, Experian] can underplay the local strength of your town or centre and disguise gaps where inadequate provision leads to groups of residents under performing as shoppers). An intercept survey will often produce a more robust estimate of market potential, is more trusted by retailers than ‘modelled’ data and can be used to reposition your town or centre in the published retail rankings

Assess local trading performance. New retailers will not be attracted to locations where local trading performance is poor and the value of a glossy brochure can instantly be destroyed by a brief telephone conversation on local performance between retailers. It is therefore essential to identify whether under performance of retailers in your town centre is a barrier to entry, to establish the profitability and trading risk in the town centre, to identify market gap opportunities (between turnover and shopper potential) and to understand how much improvement is required to attract better quality retailers. In FSP’s experience, if you can demonstrate that you understand the issues and have strategies in place to improve performance then the more enlightened potential occupiers will look more favourably upon the opportunity.

Quantify market gaps. It is important to identify and quantify market gaps in terms of overall turnover (by merchandise category), price position and fashion buying attitudes. These will identify the low hanging fruit to immediately target and more medium term opportunities to improve the balance of the retail offer. This approach is much more effective than simple benchmark comparisons with peer group centres because it recognises the capacity of your town centre to support improved provision in specific market segments

Identify Absent Retailers who are best placed to address the gaps identified earlier. It is important to be realistic about the types of retailer available in the short term and to have a strategy which uses success to create a growing momentum of interest amongst quality occupiers. Comparing retailer portfolios against the catchment characteristics for your town is a good way of producing a shortlist of targets

Prepare summary documentation. This must assimilate a range of relevant key indicators for the town centre and not just regurgitate a single source of market statistics. Occupiers need to be reassured that in choosing your town or centre, they will get better or more certain returns than if they invest elsewhere and details of growth plans, town centre strategies, recent improvements, available properties and even testimonials from existing retailers are of great assistance

Implement Findings. Many retailers rely on property agents to find locations for them and as these are ‘deal driven’, a pretty brochure on the town centre will not in itself encourage new retailers to open in your town or centre. It is important to consider the most appropriate way to get your message across to the market and to ensure that the right information is received by the right individual. One potential avenue is to use a retailer directory such as SnapShop to identify key contacts or to engage the support of a specialist retail property agent.
 
For more information on how FSP can help you attract the right occupiers to your town or
centre, please contact us.