Westfield sees global brands increase store footprint at UK centres

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has revealed continued growth in store upsizes at its UK centres, as brands increased their focus on creating “innovative store experiences”. Building on a trend established in 2022 at Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City, URW said both centres have seen a surge in demand from retailers seeking to grow their physical store presence this year. Notable examples include luxury jeweller Bucherer, which has increased its space from 2,583 to 3,949 sq. ft. at Westfield London. Likewise, Whistles has expanded its store space from 1,980 sq. ft to 2,052 sq. ft. at Westfield Stratford City. Rituals has also joined the trend, increasing its store footprint from 1,009 to 2,043 sq. ft. 2023 also saw key openings for brands embracing larger spaces to cater for increased demand, including Zara, which upped its store space by almost 30% at Westfield Stratford City, and EE Studio’s flagship store which almost tripled its store footprint to 9,700 sq. ft. at Westfield London. Looking ahead, URW said it has a “strong pipeline” of further brand openings scheduled for the second half of the year. This year, there has been a notable surge in signings and store openings by various sportswear brands. New Balance has made strategic deals at both Westfield centres to introduce its new store concept in the UK. Additionally, Origin Kicks and Lids have also signed at Westfield Stratford City. This follows a host of new signings and upsized openings for the category including FootAsylum’s upsized store format (which added over 9,000 sq. ft. to its retail footprint) at Westfield Stratford City alongside Under Armour, with athleisure brand, Oysho opening at Westfield London. URW added this builds on the major expansion of JD Sports’ flagship store at Westfield Stratford City which has begun this year and will eventually take the store to 45,000 sq. ft. by 2024. Beauty also continued to boom at both Westfield centres in the UK. Building on the success of Sephora’s first UK store, which drove a 13% footfall increase at Westfield London on opening day in March 2023, the brand has just signed for a second store at Westfield Stratford City. Kate Orwin, leasing director UK at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield UK, said: “We've experienced a strong half year in retail leasing, primarily fuelled by a substantial demand for upsizing at both of our UK centres. Major brands are increasingly investing in our prime physical locations to offer customers unique and captivating in-store experiences. This impressive growth has been further amplified by the addition of renowned brands like Sephora and New Balance to our portfolio.”