Bricks-and-mortar shopping is gaining backs its lost sheen, states a recent report, saying cheaper rents, better deals and consumer's rekindled affinity for in-store shopping is driving this trend.
As stated in a recent Times report, retailers are being lured back by cheaper rents, investors are taking advantage of cut-price deals and consumers cooped up during the pandemic are rediscovering their affinity for in-store shopping.
The trend is visible from aggressive expansion mode of several big names in retail. Chains reportedly in expansion mode include Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and B&M, the discount stores group. This week Waitrose also said that it would spend £1 billion opening 100 new convenience stores.
Sosandar has revealed plans to open 50 stores, a dramatic shake-up of its business model, given that it has been an online retailer since it was founded in 2016. Mango, Hotel Chocolat, White Stuff and Dunelm are also planning to open new stores.
The report points out that due to massive migration to online shopping, many retailers went online considering it to be a cheaper way to sell. Over a period of time, warehouse rents have risen sharply since then, rents for units on high streets and in shopping centres have fallen dramatically.
Data from Avison Young, the commercial property agent, shows that retail rents in places such as Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham have fallen by a fifth, if not more, over the past decade. Even on Oxford Street in central London, rents are 21 per cent cheaper than they were ten years ago.
The report states, "That has tempted back retailers, which increasingly are moving into larger units. Zara is moving into an old Debenhams store in the Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow; Primark is upsizing at the Metrocentre in Gateshead; and Frasers Group, Mike Ashley’s retail empire, is opening a new department store in Meadowhall, Sheffield, this autumn."
