1 February 2023
SECONDARY AND TERTIARY RETAIL MARKETS DRIVEN BY ‘BUY LOCAL’ TREND
Retail & Leisure, SHW News
Prime retail continues to struggle across the South East, while secondary and tertiary demand remains driven by the ‘buy local’ trend, according to SHW’s Q1 2023 South East Retail Focus.
Richard Pyne, Partner at SHW says: “2022 continued to be a challenging year for retail with many occupiers continuing to realign their businesses to reflect the changing High Street. Despite the many reports of ‘doom & gloom’ on the High Street with a number of established brands calling time, there are a number of successes and many seizing the opportunity to expand and expand in to new areas. Our retail department remains busy on lettings throughout our core areas and beyond.”
As prime retail continues to see the effects of the change in customers’ shopping habits, rents in many areas are being re based to reflect this change and to keep attracting retailers. In contrast, despite many workers retuning to the office for the majority of the week, secondary and tertiary rents have remained broadly static and in some cases increased due to demand following a repositing over the last few years and are expected to remain level throughout 2023.
Richard concludes: “Many retailers continue to reinvent the way they trade in order to survive. For the traditional high street to remain vibrant and viable, owners and local councils need to work with tenants to keep shops open and consider diversification to ensure footfall is increased.”
To read more and to see the latest retail rental values, the Retail Focus is available upon request.
