Intu Uxbridge signs trio of big names

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 28, 2018

The power of major shopping malls to attract quality tenants even in a tough UK retail market has been further illustrated with soon-to-merge Intu saying accessories retailer Lovisa is opening its seventh store in the property giant’s portfolio.

The opening, at Uxbridge in West London, also comes as Decathlon and Next have recently opened or expanded there.

Lovisa’s new 600 sq ft space is part of its selection of sites that attract a high proportion of female customers, which the Uxbridge mall does, with its visitor profile also skewing young and reasonably affluent.

Steve Doyle, CEO at Lovisa, said: “Uxbridge is a thriving Greater London town and a prime location for us. By working with Intu across the country, they’re helping us to reach our core demographic of fashion-conscious female customers as we continue our UK growth plans.”

The Decathlon opening this month was also a major boost for the mall. It underscores how the high-footfall retail destination is well located to reach the rising number of people building exercise into their working day thanks to its close proximity to the UK HQs of global giants like Apple, Coca-Cola and Cadbury.

Research from Mintel shows that increasing consumer interest in health and wellness trends is having an impact on sports sales, which were estimated to have risen by 6% last year compared to 2015. And the urban workforce is a key part of this sales growth. 

Decathlon has been actively targeting store growth in densely populated urban locations.

Meanwhile, Next has added an extra 8,000 sq ft of space to its store at the mall as part of its strategy to offer its full line-up in its physical stores as well as introducing leisure features such as restaurants and cafes.

But Intu Uxbridge’s progress hasn’t been one long triumph this year as one of the big sign-ups it announced back in February was Toys R Us. The now-failed chain was planning to move to a 5,750 sq ft store there.