INTERVIEW “People are going to shop online, that’s a given,”
concedes Adam. “However, they also want to have a day out as well. I
think intu has been quite forward-thinking in how it blends the online and physical worlds. For example, our transactional website allows you to shop online in the majority of shops in the centre 24/7 and then click and collect the item from the shopping centre.” So what are the pressure points and threats facing
retailers and how can they be combated? Much of it, Adam suggests, comes down to the experience of customers. “There’s an element of keeping the store fresh – for
example, new brands in our centre include Footlocker, Foot Asylum, Hotel Chocolat, with Lush and Starbucks benefiting from an upsize. Retail is forever changing and it is good to freshen the offering up and give customers what they want. “The risk is not moving with the times. Derby is in quite a
good place I think as we already have that good mixture of offers including leisure, food and retail all in one place but I have been quite vocal in my view that we have too many shops in the city centre and the city needs to think differently about what they are going to do with those empty units. “This year we’ve seen Debenhams, House of Fraser and
Marks and Spencer all close bigger stores and we need to think about what the future of town centres is going to look like. If you walk from intu to the Cathedral Quarter, for example, it isn’t a great experience and that’s the feedback we get from our customers. “We need to make sure Derby is a place where people
want to come as a destination – it isn’t just about the shopping centre. It’s crucial that we deliver projects in Derby, such as the Assembly Rooms, the Market Hall, Becketwell – a development which is currently under planning. All of these are really important in making Derby an inviting place to be where people want to spend time and money.” And by achieving this, Adam believes, Derby and its Retail
sector can start really tapping into the city’s strengths to encourage further growth and inward investment. “Something that is quite unique about Derby is the
wealth that is in the city,” he argues. “We have big businesses like Rolls-Royce, Toyota and
Bombardier but a lot of those companies are based on the ring roads outside of the city centre, so we need to try to retain some of that wealth better and create a destination where workers want to spend their money, rather than just going home at the end of the day.” With the Festive period rapidly approaching, the onus
will be on retailers up and down the country to maximise a period where customers spend more than at any other time of the year. For Adam, the opportunities associated with the Festive
period are two-fold, it’s a chance to build new relationships with customers and also to provide a unique and unforgettable shopping experience. “Christmas is always going to be the key time in retail.
That’s when people traditionally spend money and it is when we see footfall go up,” says Adam. “We have 23 million visitors a year and a lot of those
people might only come to the centre once or twice a year – and one of those times is likely to be at Christmas to do their Christmas shop. “We’ve done quite a few things to create an experience
for customers this Christmas such as our Festive Forest, a soft play area where children can also meet Santa. For the first time, we’ve also opened a bar called Glacier which is an ice-themed bar serving dry ice-themed cocktails with the décor kitted out with artificial ice, which looks amazing. This demonstrates the range of customers that need to be catered for and how it is important to deliver experiences to everyone.” So what does the future hold for the Retail sector and
what trends are we likely to see moving forward? “I think in the future retail, leisure and food will be
immersed into one experience and you’ll see that in some of the more successful shopping centres. People demand more now, they want a quality experience and the
46 business network December 2018/January 2019 The new Glacier bar is kitted out with artificial ice intu Derby offers a mix of leisure, food and retail
successful retailers will move with the times and embrace online and the physical together. “The other thing to point out is that what customers
want is also changing rapidly. For example the independent sector in this country is really thriving and intu has taken ownership of the Eagle Market and over the past few months we have seen occupancy go from 50% to over 70% and many of those are small, independent businesses - that is what customers are wanting from traditional markets. “The Grade A standard would be for a retailer to do
really well there and then expand into intu itself.” On the grand scheme of things, collaboration and mutual
interests will, Adam believes, help drive the Retail sector and the city forward. “I think Derby is small enough that you can pull
everybody together to do something really good. “A vibrant and attractive city attracts investment and
that’s something we can all benefit from – residents, retailers and businesses alike.”
‘Christmas is always going to be the key time in retail. That’s when people traditionally spend money and it is when we see footfall go up’
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