Events and attractions in Wembley Park boosted revenue and footfall across the Easter school holiday period at the London Designer Outlet (LDO), the capital’s only fashion & lifestyle outlet centre.
Total revenue for the Easter break increased by +21.3%, YoY, across all stores and restaurants. Like-for-like revenues rose by +19.0%, YoY. This excludes newly opened stores such as Hamleys, TM Lewin, Dr Martens, Lee Wrangler and Raging Bull, plus new restaurants and bars like Lost Rivers Brewing Co. and Sugar Dumplin Caribbean BBQ & Bar.
Footfall was strong during the two-week period, compared with the 2016 fortnight up to Easter Monday, when local schools in the catchment area were on holiday. Visitors were attracted this year by activities celebrating the richness and quirkiness of Britain in LDO’s ‘Iconic London’ themed experiential events that featured Beefeaters, designer buses, karaoke in a black cab, a British brass band and much more.
Many stores reported increases sales and customers flocked to stock up on chocolate at Lindt, which reported treble digit growth compared with last year. The absence of rain much of the time tempted shoppers to stock up on newly introduced summer ranges in retailers like M&S and Guess who both had a record breaking Easter.
Some 5.8 million people have LDO as their nearest outlet centre, the largest such catchment in the UK. Almost twice as many people visit LDO each year than go to the Wembley Stadium and The SSE Arena, combined.
Additionally, overseas tourists are seeing LDO as an important part of their trip to London. Tax-free sales rose +31.6% YoY to the start of April. Of the visitors from outside the EU, some 22.6% were Chinese, including from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Sue Shepherd, centre manager for LDO, said: “The Easter period emphasised the growing trend for outlet shopping. Our events highlighted the interest by millennials seeking experiences as part of their shopping trips, and we welcomed even more savvy-shoppers wanting year-round bargains.”
LDO is one of a small number of ‘new wave’ outlet centres that blend retail, f&b, leisure and residential within an urban setting. It is a premium retail & leisure destination, with the appeal of major retail brands, a choice of popular restaurants and bars, and a range of experiential events, with the added bonus of serious, year-round discounts.
LDO offers aspirational and desirable brands at up to 70 per cent off RRP throughout the year. Its premium fashion, sports/urban and lifestyle names include Nike, Kurt Geiger, Superdry, Guess, H&M, Gap, Lee Wrangler, Dr. Martens, M&S and Hamleys. This includes the world’s top Guess outlet store for the past two years, and one of Nike’s top 3 outlet stores in Europe. In 2016 and 2015, LDO was ranked in the top 10 best performing outlet centres in Europe.
As well as the outlet stores, casual dining restaurants and bars give plenty of choices during a daytime shopping trip, or for an evening out, such as Ping Pong, Cabana, Nando’s, PizzaExpress, wagamama, Prezzo, Zizzi, handmade burger Co and Las Iguanas. LDO has some 265,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space which includes 70 outlet stores, restaurants and bars, a nine-screen Cineworld and a large children’s play park.
LDO is owned by Quintain, as part of its Wembley Park mixed use development, and is managed by Realm, the UK’s largest specialist outlet operator.
