WAREHOUSING THE FUTURE


Parks and recreation


Harvester pub restaurants, banks and ‘health villages’ are popping up where once stood DIY stores and furniture shops. Mark Faithfull asks what such changes mean for the world of retail parks


W


hile the demise of some leg- acy retailers has left large tranches of the UK’s high


streets with gaping holes and created headaches for shopping centres, the retail warehouse market has re- invented its offer in the wake of the dis- appearance and downsizing of stalwarts such as some DIY retailers and big-ticket furniture shops. Where retailers such as Next, Boots


and TK Maxx pioneered, now retail parks also play host to names such as Costa, Everything Everywhere, Toby and Harvester pub restaurants, gyms, banks and myriad other offers that once


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Retail parks have changed, welcoming leisure and food offers such as Costa


would never have been seen out-of- town. But has the sector got enough juice in it for another metamorphosis? “We have seen a huge change in


“WHAT WE WILL SEE IN THE FUTURE IS EVOLUTION, NOT


REVOLUTION” Nikki Skelton, CBRE


retail warehousing over the past dec- ade and I think the market has matured to the point where what we will see in the future is evolution, not revolution,” says CBRE head of out-of-town retail Nikki Skelton. “In some ways the development has mirrored that of shopping centres, with food and bever- age in particular becoming more and more important.” Key to the future of individual parks is the income potential for landlords


against capital expenditure, and so their location, the catchment and acces- sibility will determine those that justify refurbishment and those that decline or, as Skelton puts it: “What we will see is more winners and losers.” Henderson portfolio manager for


warehouse fund Katherine Pye adds: “Location is of paramount importance, including easy accessibility to get on or off a retail park. Parks that are well sited – even if they are looking a bit shabby now – will provide asset management opportunities, especially if units can be split and mezzanine floors added in. Parks that don’t have those attributes face the prospect of going into decline.”


Weekly shopping Hammerson director of retail parks Andrew Berger-North says that location is taking prominence as consumers


November 2011 Retail Week XIX


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