BCSC VIDEO: Costa Coffee has been crowned the UK’s most acquisitive retailer for the second year running.
The coffee shop operator took the top slot in Estates Gazette’s annual retail rankings, signing 50 deals in the year to the end of June 2014, almost double its nearest contender, fashion chain Blue Inc.
Costa’s success is despite an overall drop in coffee shops’ share of the deals done this year. The sector fell by 0.86% in the year to end of June, behind charity shops, fashion and department stores.
But James Hamilton, Costa’s head of acquisitions and estates, said the sector was not reaching saturation point and there was still room for further expansion of the Costa brand.
“We are still expanding in the traditional high streets and market towns but one thing we’ve been good at is working out where this is a customer need such as drive-throughs. We opened our first one three years ago and there are now over 20. And there’s our link-up with Next,” he said.
Value chains were the fastest risers in EG’s rankings with Poundstretcher moving from 102nd position in the year to end of June 2013, to 10th in the same period this year. Sam Foyle, head of in-town retail at Savills, said: “Their expansion has been through the huge amount of space on the market with very few operators there to take that space in the second-tier towns. We do see consolidation but for the time being that theme is here to continue.”
| EG’s most acquisitive retailer |
|---|
| 1. Costa Coffee (50) |
| 2. Blue Inc (31) |
| 3. Poundland (29) |
| 4. Ladbrokes (25) |
| 5. Phones 4U (24) |
| 6. Morrisions (21) |
| 7. Cex (20) |
| 8. Greggs (17) |
| 9. Iceland (17) |
| 10. Poundstretcher (17) |
| figure in brackets shows number of deals |
