Outlet festive growth figures buck high street trend

In stark contrast to the more challenging retail picture, outlet retail continues to be resilient, with Realm’s assets enjoying a combined sales increase of 4.5% in the six weeks up to Christmas.

Specific retail and leisure categories have experienced exceptional performance leading up to Christmas, including:

• 50% increase in food and beverage sales at Resorts World Birmingham, in the four weeks prior to Christmas, with like for like beauty and health sales up 29% in this period at the scheme
• Livingston Designer Outlet enjoyed an increase in beauty and health sales of 42% during Christmas week. The Scottish scheme also saw a 23% increase in men’s clothing sales in the four weeks leading up to Christmas
• Under Armour opened in early December at Livingston and has performed well ahead of expectations, demonstrating the growing demand for sportswear in outlet schemes. Sports brands at London Designer Outlet also continued their strong performance growing by 9.5% year on year in Christmas week
• Aside from the impact of new lettings and store refits, Dalton Park in Durham still posted an impressive Christmas week with a like for like sales increase of 14.5%

Commenting on this festive performance, Angus Fyfe, Commercial Operations Director at Realm, said:

“This December in particular our schemes have benefited from the impact of new lettings in some key categories and a greater sense of dependability that an outlet can comfortably service the needs of Christmas shopping. While price is always going to be an inherent part of our appeal, we have seen larger volumes of footfall drawn to our more relaxed destinations at what is becoming an ever more stressful time of year.”