Battersea Power Station attracts 250,000+ visitors on opening weekend

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 20, 2022

The reopening of Battersea Power Station (BPS) as a supermall and leisure destination last Friday resulted in a surge of visitors who added up to more than a quarter of a million people over the opening weekend.

Of course, that wasn’t just about people shopping as the weekend also saw a Festival of Power (that continues this weekend) with free family-friendly activities and performances.

But it’s clearly a good start and even more so in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis that’s seeing UK consumers rein-in their spending.

BPS said new brands reported “stellar opening weekends, significantly exceeding their sales targets, as the public embraced experiential-led retail and dining”.

The transformed power station is now accessible to the public for the first time in almost 40 years and along with the adjacent pedestrianised high street, Electric Boulevard, features a raft of big retail names. They include Zara (with its first ‘Central London’ store south of the river), Mulberry, Uniqlo, Theory, Nike, Adidas, Aesop, Ralph Lauren, Mango, Rituals, Superdry, and many more.

The retailers pulled out all the stops to create retail-tainment experiences with Adidas, for instance, opening an ‘Empower Station’ pop-up. This featured fitness classes and challenges hosted by Olympic and Paralympic athletes, instructors and industry experts. It was fully booked across the weekend.

Importantly for the overall dwell time, there are plenty of food and beverage options and BPS said Inception Group’s new bar concept, Control Room B, sold more than 7,000 cocktails between Friday and Sunday. 

Simon Murphy, CEO of Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC), said of all this: “The public response to the opening of Battersea Power Station and our new pedestrianised high street, Electric Boulevard, has been truly amazing, and exceeded our expectations. Over 250,000 people from the local community, across London and from further afield, came to visit at the very earliest opportunity, demonstrating the attachment people feel to this iconic landmark.”