Edinburgh buying centre St James Quarter has achieved record-breaking gross sales in December, bucking wider UK retail traits.
Footfall within the last full week earlier than Christmas rose 7.4% year-on-year, peaking on the 21 December, when it elevated by 30% in comparison with the identical day in 2023.
Tremendous Saturday footfall was up 20% on the identical interval in December 2023, and Black Friday footfall rose by 13% on the earlier yr, on one of many busiest weekends in St James Quarter’s historical past, with footfall exceeding 310,000.
St James Quarter, which opened in June 2021, is on observe to achieve its goal of 20 million guests by the tip of 2024 because of a 5% uplift on year-end figures.
The massive-scale growth boasts an 80-strong retail providing, together with manufacturers like Zara, H&M, & Different Tales, and luxurious labels similar to Hugo Boss and The Kooples. In addition to a spread of eating places, bars and cafés, the centre homes an Everyman cinema and Marriott lodge.
Anne Ledgerwood, Property Director for St James Quarter, mentioned: “We’re celebrating an unimaginable December, which has bucked wider UK retail footfall traits because of our dynamic mix of style, magnificence and hospitality, alongside our most spectacular Christmas programme so far, which captured the magic of the season with a well-crafted calendar of music, dance and interactivity.”
In accordance with Rendle Intelligence and Insights, wider UK footfall within the last week earlier than Christmas was down by 11.4% year-on-year.
The December slowdown might be attributed to ongoing cost-of-living pressures and the comfort of on-line purchasing for busy shoppers or these deterred by doubtlessly busy city centres. Information from the Centre for Retail Analysis has revealed that just about 10,500 UK retailers closed for the ultimate time in 2023.
Over the 12-month interval, the sector skilled the lack of greater than 119,000 jobs. Information from the centre reveals that, by mid-November 2024, over 8,543 shops had already closed, with greater than 130,000 retail jobs misplaced.
