Iconic shopping and leisure district in Manchester, King Street has revealed record breaking footfall numbers on the back of its impressive placemaking strategy implementation.
Landlords, DTZ Investors became majority shareholders across the street in 2016 and have since worked to reposition King Street as the leading leisure destination within the city.
Footfall on King Street has continued to increase year on year and has seen impressive growth around key annuals holidays. Visitors to the street increased by 50% this year compared to May Bank Holiday in 2019 and a 28% increase on the May Bank Holiday last year.
The Placemaking strategy employed by the team has focused on: utilising the vacant units for pop-up shops or activations with sustainable brands such as Know The Origin, The Pop-Up Club, Community Clothing and Forever Manchester taking temporary space on the street.
As part of the wider strategy, King Street is also recognising and supporting key events or initiatives across the city including The Manchester Flower Show which launched across the city in celebration of the Jubilee weekend.
This saw six floral activations across the street including a pop-up pizza bar at newly launched Franco Manca, King Street’s iconic ‘Floral (Mon) Arch’ display and a pop-up bar from Kuoni. The event saw 70,000 people visit the city across the weekend.
This Summer will also see the launch of ‘Al Fresco’ Dining which has given several outdoor seating options to King Street’s hospitality venues including Franco Manca, El Gato Negro and TAST.
Live music will also be launched on the street which will see a selection of local bands and artists perform over a period of eight weeks.
Fundraising for Manchester Pride will also continue for the third year. The last two years have seen a total of £1,500 raised. The team has aspirations to double this for 2022.
The strategy has been paramount to the success of the destination and has been key in securing and delivering various brands on the street. The strategy evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic has been recognised by Property Marketing Awards in the Best Marketing Campaign – Placemaking where it was shortlisted.
Tom Royston from DTZ Investors said: “When we took over King Street it was our vision to make the iconic retail and leisure district a destination within Manchester. We implemented a new lettings strategy as well as a placemaking campaign which highlighted our vision for the brand.
“We are delighted that this has been recognised through our award nomination and look forward to announcing our Summer schedule at King Street.”
Over the past year, DTZ Investors has completed three deals across 7,918 sq ft welcoming some renowned brands to the street including: Cinnabon, Pretty Green’s flagship store, George Thornton Art, King Street Grooming, Yorkshire Building Society, Smile Direct Club, Franco Manca and CrepsLocker. White Stuff & The White Company have also renewed their leases.
DTZ Investors became a majority stakeholder of King Street in 2016 and has since worked to reposition the street to bring forward one of Manchester’s most creative and culture-focused city centre areas. The ambitious growth strategy has seen collaborations with global brands as well as increased flexibility for the street’s commercial tenants.
King Street is home to an array of luxury, recognised brands including The White Company, TAST, El Gato Negro and Boodles.
LTL and Orme are joint leasing agents on King Street.
