Having spoken to Retail owners of city centre businesses I then sought the view of an out of town “Outlet Village”, the biggest in Europe (last week). This week I gain an insight from a person who spends their entire time focusing on helping retailers find exactly the right place for their business to work. Gaining deep insights into those trends that are making some retail operations grow fantastically well.
Staying in Scotland, I speak to James Godfrey, who is Edinburgh born and bred, a Partner at Culverwell, he has in depth knowledge of high street and shopping centre leasing. His company have been tasked with the biggest transformation to Edinburgh’s retail space, the £1 billion investment at St James, the east end of Princes Street.
“Retail runs through my veins and I love the buzz of everything it encompasses. As a Chartered Surveyor specialising in retail I get to work with the best brands as well as being able to help young fledgling retailers get established. I’m a Dad of two, husband and an aspiring golfer.”
Why is Edinburgh a great place for you and your clients?
“Edinburgh is an incredibly beautiful and cosmopolitan capital city and offers an excellent quality of life. It’s home to the Scottish parliament, has the busiest airport and the highest number of tourist visits in the UK outside of London and hosts the largest international arts festival in the world. Throughout the city there’s a great mix of retail, leisure, culture, green spaces and residential making it very vibrant with a strong evening economy. This mix has improved over time and with it an affluent population base has been established.”
Edinburgh’s St James Development “mock-ups”.
“Edinburgh’s affluence and high tourist spend makes it very attractive to our retail clients especially as “Christmas” comes twice with the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe in August providing a second spike in sales. Despite this the city still under performs from a retail perspective. This is in part due to the poor quality of the commercial buildings on Princes Street with many simply not fit for purpose and unable to satisfy the tenant demand. Culverwell are currently advising TH Real Estate on the letting of the new Edinburgh St James that will provide the city with a world class 1.7M sq ft mix use development. This will comprise 750,000 sq ft of retail anchored by John Lewis and set in an incredible environment that includes a 5 star W Hotel. This development will create the space and environment occupiers are seeking and finally put Edinburgh on the retail map by attracting the best retailers from the UK and internationally.”
Tell me about Culverwell and what is your role?
“I’m a Partner at Culverwell; Scotland’s leading boutique retail and leisure commercial property agency. We work with high-profile and active property owners, developers and occupiers from across the UK. I have over 20 years experience working in the retail and leisure sectors focusing primarily on the Scottish market.”
If you were to pick a selection of retail businesses that are winning and on top of future trends for city centre activity, who would they be and what are they doing that’s working?
“We read a lot about the decline of the high street due to online retailing, however
I truly believe retailers who create an amazing customer experience through great product, store design and customer service will continue to win.
Many retailers have created flagship stores to ensure a high level of brand engagement, bringing their brands to life and allowing the customer to touch, smell, feel, try on and familiarise themselves with the product in a way that is impossible online.”
“Examples of retailers who really engage well with their customers are; Lululemon who offer yoga classes in store; Jack Wills who showcase films, writers and musicians at special store events; Nespresso who offer coffee tastings in an incredible environment; Missguided has used retail space as an extension of their online expression and have created opportunities for “Instagram” pictures throughout the store which in turn promote the product through viral marketing on social media. In addition their fit-out breaks several established rules of traditional retailing, to create a completely immersive brand experience; Estée Lauder create beautiful stores for their many brands, they are masters at gifting and offer free make overs; and of course Apple with their immaculate store design, engage with customers through their free product lessons and workshops. All of these retailers offer a fantastic customer experience and service and this remains key to building brand loyalty.”
Do you have a trade or regular “go-to” magazine that you refer to for market place updates to help you in your role?
“There are several magazines I read weekly and these are Drapers, Retail Week, Property Week and Estates Gazette.”
Big thanks to James at Culverwell for agreeing to take part; do you know someone in luxury or city centre retail who is keen to share their opinion?