WAREHOUSING MULTICHANNEL


Stores that click all of the boxes


Multichannel has transformed shopping and forced big changes to the way retailers and landlords do business. Ben Cooper fi nds out how multichannel is revolutionising the out-of-town market


T


he announcement by Wickes in September that it is drop- ping 1.4 million sq ft from its property port fol io and


“shrinking stores as the web transforms retail” has been seen by many as a sobering sign of the times. The days of giant retail property portfolios, it seems, are well and truly over. But is it that simple? If the whole


industry was going the same way as Wickes, you would expect hundreds of warehouse units to be lying empty on retail parks up and down the country. Not so. Some retail sectors are


expanding into retail parks and vacancy rates have declined in the past two years, just when things are appar- ently at their worst. So what’s happen- ing to the out-of-town market, and is multichannel really a threat to the traditional retail park? “We’re adding stores out of town at


the moment and that’s going to con- tinue,” says Pets at Home director of multichannel Matt Stead. “The mul- tichannel side has surprised some sectors. If you take women’s fashion it might make sense to have fewer stores,


www.retail-week.com


“WE’RE ADDING STORES OUT OF TOWN AT THE MOMENT AND THAT’S GOING


TO CONTINUE” Pets at Home, Matt Stead


but on the whole it’s about responding to how your customers are interacting with your brand”. First look at the facts. In the 10 years


since 2001 there has been a consistent rise in the amount of vacant space out of town (see box below). Initially there was a steady rise – between 2001 and 2007 – and then a sudden leap up to a high of just under 12% in the fi rst half


10% 11% 12%


1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9%


Q4 2001 Q4 2002 Q4 2003 Q4 2004 Q4 2005 Q4 2006 Q4 2007 Q4 2008 Q2 2009 Q4 2009 Q2 2010 Q4 2010 Source: ‘The Defi nitive Guide to Retail and Leisure Parks 2011’, Trevor Wood Associates ➤ November 2011 Retail Week V


of 2009 following a series of high-pro- fi le retail failures. But then, just as sharply as it rose,


the amount of empty space began to fall. If Wickes’ example is anything to go by, and if the relentless rise of online shopping is indeed cannibalising store sales, this doesn’t make sense. If you then compare this with the amount of space retailers are taking out


TOTAL RETAIL WAREHOUSING VACANCY RATES (PERCENTAGE, 2001 TO 2010)


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