Landsec reports record retail sales around Black Friday
Landsec has said the UK’s adoption of Black Friday – the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, associated with retail deals and the start of Christmas shopping – is having a greater impact on retailers’ fortunes than ever before.
Last week, footfall across the REIT’s shopping centres – which include Bluewater in Kent, St David’s Dewi Sant in Cardiff and Trinity Leeds – reached 4.5m.
That marks a 6.5% uplift on the same period last year and is a level that the company does not usually see until the second week of December.
Landsec has said the UK’s adoption of Black Friday – the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, associated with retail deals and the start of Christmas shopping – is having a greater impact on retailers’ fortunes than ever before.
Last week, footfall across the REIT’s shopping centres – which include Bluewater in Kent, St David’s Dewi Sant in Cardiff and Trinity Leeds – reached 4.5m.
That marks a 6.5% uplift on the same period last year and is a level that the company does not usually see until the second week of December.
“Black Friday has evolved from being the one-off ‘shopping phenomenon’ that it was when it first hit UK shores,” said Bruce Findlay, Landsec’s managing director for retail. “Over the past few years, we have observed our retail partners of all sizes and sectors offering discounts and deals to be taken advantage of in the weeks before Black Friday, and this year was no different.”
Several retail brands reported record-breaking sales, Findlay added, and Landsec’s outlets – Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, Clarks Village in Street, Somerset, and Braintree Village in Essex – had their best trading weeks ever.
Photo © Landsec
