The weather in Cannes for this year’s MAPIC was glorious – cloudless blue skies and temperatures that hovered around 20c.
The parties were also back, albeit without the glitzy hilltop venues or 1980s pop stars that were wheeled out at the top of the market pre-2009.
Delegate numbers, at the 17th annual event – held on 16-18 November – were also up by 8% on last year to more than 8,000, with 2,200 retailers attending the show (see box).
All seemed well, and there was plenty of talk of business being done. But dig a little deeper under this cheery facade, and there were mutterings of uncertainty, gloom, and worries about Christmas retail figures and retailer administrations.
Ongoing economic woes and problems in the eurozone resulted in more than 75% of attendees describing the mood at the conference as overcast in last week’s Estates Gazette Big Question.
Summing up the feeling, one top retail agent went as far to predict a retail meltdown.
“We are getting to the darkest moment,” he said, blankly. “Trade is tricky and Christmas is going to be tough. Figures that retailers are going to be reporting in January will show that trade is going to be hard. And the weather [in the UK] hasn’t helped because it’s been too hot.”
Poor state of the market
The lack of any notable retailer gimmicks at this year’s show was also something of an indication of the poor state of the market.
There was also whispered conjecture about who would be the next retailer to go into administration, with many echoing the opinion of one agent that “there will be another clear out [of retailers] in the next few months”.
Another hot topic was Westfield’s intentions for Croydon. The Australian developer remained tight-lipped on what it wants to do with the south London suburb’s Whitgift Centre, now that it is in exclusive talks to become development partner on the scheme (12 November, p37).
There were also rumours about Marks & Spencer pulling out of Land Securities’ and Henderson’s extension to Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.
Four years ago, the retailer had said it would take a 150,000 sq ft store in the development, but the overriding gossip being traded at all of the Wednesday evening parties – hosted by CBRE, Savills, and Cushman & Wakefield – was that it had dropped out of the 1.3m sq ft scheme.
M&S vehemently denies an about-turn, while LandSec managing director for retail Richard Akers is more cryptic.
He said the scheme had been altered in the four years since M&S originally agreed to take space, and while the retailer was on the original schematic, it was not on the present one.
Scaling back UK openings
The hint about scaling back UK openings may have already been given by M&S international director Jan Heere.
In his opening keynote speech, he told delegates that the retailer was planning to expand overseas by 50-60 stores a year – a total of 1m-1.2m sq ft.
“It’s clear,” said one agent, “that M&S wants to concentrate on international deals now.”
But despite the cautious undertone for the coming few months, the words of one song, blasted out from the ever popular Morrison’s Irish bar -D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better – summed up the overall mood of retail agents and developers.
With 2012 comes the London Olympics, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and football’s European Cup, all of which should bring the retail market some joy, and potentially some more positive conversations at MAPIC 2012.
noella.piokivlehan@estatesgazette.com
