retail
Fashion retailer Primark is to trial its first click-and-collect service later this year. The trial will offer an expanded selection of children’s clothing, accessories and lifestyle products from 25 stores in the North West of the UK. Some products will be exclusive to click-and-collect customers as the average-sized Primark store is not able to stock the brand’s full range. Primark said that the trial has “the potential to fulfil unsatisfied demand, driving footfall from both existing and new customers to deliver incremental sales in store”.
Women’s lingerie and loungewear brand Gilly Hicks has opened its first UK standalone store on London’s Carnaby Street. The brand is owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, who also own Hollister. The new flagship is part of Gilly Hicks’ growth strategy as it looks to expand its product range and become more gender-inclusive.
Leisure
Canadian coffee brand Tim Hortons is to open its first London site in Park Royal this month. Following its UK launch in Glasgow in 2017, it now operates around 60 sites. The London site will offer dine-in, takeaway and drive-through, with the Tim Hortons range of hot drinks, baked goods and breakfast and lunch menus. The opening has been planned to coincide with Canada Day on the 1st of July but the restaurant will open just ahead of that date.
PROPERTY
Shaftesbury and Capco will proceed with their proposed merger. Their combined portfolio comprises around 670 mainly freehold buildings with approximately 2,000 commercial and residential units. Retail makes up around 35% of the portfolio value, hospitality and leisure 34% and offices and residential 31%. The new Shaftesbury Capital portfolio includes key London retail and leisure districts such as Covent Garden, Carnaby and Soho.
Luxury store brand Flannels has opened a new 10,000sq ft store at Braehead on a long-term lease. The store stocks men’s, women’s and children’s designer clothing and accessories. Global Mutual head of European retail asset management, Steve Gray, said: “In the wake of the pandemic, brands are once again investing in their physical offering. In-person stores continue to form a central pillar of wider omni-channel strategies and quality space like that here at Braehead – where footfall is strong, and the existing tenant mix compelling – is once again in demand.”
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