Retail Property FAQs
Which retailers do you think are a risk?
FSP has used its knowledge and wealth of intelligence on retailers to identify those potentially At Risk. By linking this information on retailers to the locations of their stores, FSP has produced the first geographical assessment of the impact of At Risk retailers on towns and shopping centres.
Retailer Risk Analysis was launched by retail business consultants FSP in 2009, and provides unique insight into the financial health of retailers
Which are the best retailers for my property?
Tenant mix planning must reflect your objectives. With FSP specialists will help you maximise the value of your property by analysing the available market and the competition to plan a tenant mix. Only when shopper flows and retailer sales are running at optimum levels can opportunities for rental income be exploited.
FSP will help you create an appropriate balance of retail, catering, leisure and services, determined by the needs and aspirations of your target market.
See Tenant Mix Planning for more details of the FSP approach.
How will my asset be affected by competitive developments?
Successful retail developments change shopping patterns. Location, as well as site size and quality, will affect the impact that competitive developments have on existing shopping locations. Effective measurement of this impact is dependent upon an in-depth understanding of the existing situation – the overlap of catchment areas and the relative strength of the existing offer.
FSP uses modelling techniques to evaluate potential changes in the market and works with owners to develop an appropriate strategic response.
See Impact Strategies for more detail of the FSP approach.
Do I get tangible returns from my marketing budget?
Shopping centre marketing success is measured by the increase in the number of visits from target shoppers as compared against benchmarks – both for the centre in question and for other similar shopping centres. FSP’s sophisticated benchmarking system measures the effectiveness of shopping centre marketing and relates the areas from which shoppers originate to the areas covered by media expenditure.
See Marketing Effectiveness Programme for further details of how FSP can help you.
Will this retailer survive to pay this rent throughout the lease?
To answer this question you need to know:
- the value of sales achieved
- the gross margin on the sales
- the total costs of running the shop
Rent is usually the retailer’s largest single cost and once agreed, is outside their control. It is therefore critical to both occupier and landlord that it is set at an affordable level. FSP uses specialist techniques to understand the relevant factors in rent affordability and appraises the viability of hundreds of retailers each year. FSP estimates have provided early warnings of looming difficulties to many clients who have thus been able to avoid later crises.
See Due Diligence and Business Strategy Implementation for further details of the help FSP can provide.
Active asset management is the aim of many but can be challenging to achieve. It entails hard and detailed work but the results can outperform benchmarks and substantially enhance profitability.
The most obvious approaches are:
- to increase selling space within the existing building envelope
- to make better use of existing selling space by identifying and dealing with weak retailers
Both methods require site specific information. FSP will estimate the difference between GLA (gross lettable space) and net selling space, thus identifying space that can be put to more intensive use.
See Performance Improvement Strategies for more information.
How can I recruit profitable retailers?
On the one hand, retailers need to find profitable trading locations for their stores. On the other, retail property professionals have to identify the retailers for whom their centre represents an attractive business opportunity. The two sides then need to be brought together in a mutually attractive agreement. FSP has proven experience of working with letting teams to present a full business case that targets retailers and encourages them to take space in selected shopping locations.
See Tenant Mix Planning and Business Strategy Implementation for more details.
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As always with FSP, a well researched high quality project.
Richard Wassell BSc MRICS
TwentyRetail