by Duncan Lamb
In what is proving to be an uneven sector of the property market, motor accessory retailers Unipart have decided to sell off a dozen of their prime superstore sites as part of a reassessment of expansion strategy.
Unipart’s agents, Goddard & Smith, confirmed this week that sites in Edgware Road, London, Widnes, Cwmbran, Bromsgrove, Ashford, Barnstaple, Edinburgh, Harlow, Northwich, Banbury, Stoke on Trent and Preston were all being marketed.
The retailers now say that they are re-examining their strategy and, according to Chris Edwards of Goddard & Smith, they hope to be “on the expansion trail again soon”.
However, the teething problems of the motor accessory sector — a relative newcomer to the retail warehouse scene — continue.
In a recent report, Clive Lewis & Partners noted: “During the course of last year, we were invited to write an article entitled Motor mania which focused on the fierce competition between Halfords, Unipart and Arlington Motor Care.
“If we were to write the same article today, it would perhaps be more appropriately titled Motor failure. Arlington withdrew from the market before opening a single store.
“Unipart failed to expand as quickly as had been hoped and had severe problems in opening units on time, and in a number of instances failed to start trading at all.”
Against this, the agents note, Halfords had an outstanding year with operating profits up by 43% to £25.6m — opening 44 stores in 12 months. They now have a total of 105 units trading out of town — well ahead of their competitors and, according to Clive Lewis & Partners, heading for a “monopolistic position”.
It is believed that Unipart had taken the step of offering their surplus sites to their competitors. Accordingly, the sell-off may prove to be an interesting indicator of the sector’s weighting of location, retail ideas and the retailer concerned.
