Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/331061
centers have to be more than simply places to buy stuff. Land Securities owns and manages some of the U.K.'s most prominent shopping centers, including Gunwharf Quays, in Ports- mouth; Cabot Circus, in Bristol; and Trinity Leeds, which opened in March last year. Troughton's years at X-Leisure gave her valuable experience for the challenge to raise the entertainment value of shopping centers. "We were very close to operators and gained huge insight into a whole range of subsectors across the leisure indus- try," she said. "We also had experi- ence as operators of the snow slopes within the Xscape Entertainment Destinations, and so we could bring our expertise as tenants and opera- tors, as well as landlords." Another advantage of family-leisure operators is their resilience during re- cessions, according to The Case for Lei- sure, published in 2010 by X-Leisure. "One of the most positive things about leisure is that operators need long leases," said Troughton. "Many of ours are 25 years with a 15-year break, and cinemas are 25 years straight. Our lei- sure offer seeks to target all age groups, from families to single young profes- sionals and those retired who have time to spare." Such things as restaurants and cinemas keep people in shopping centers longer, Troughton says. The J.P.Morgan Cazenove report found that British Land's cinema-and-restau- rant extension at Glasgow Fort, com- pleted last September, increased dwell time by 20 percent and boosted expen- diture. Unibail-Rodamco's La Maqui- nista Barcelona's dining facility, which opened in July 2012 with 20 new res- taurants, drove a 7.4 percent increase in footfall after opening, including about 14 percent between 9 p.m. and midnight, and some 23 percent on Sundays, when only restaurants and the cinema were open. Tenant sales also increased by 5.4 percent as a result of this new leisure offering. Another bonus is that they often take space on higher floors that retail- ers shun. Troughton says she is especially excited with Trinity Leeds, which last October began inviting five street-food concepts at a time to set up shop on the center's first floor for a month. "Its success is phenomenal," she said. "But it's about as far from a food court as you can imagine and fulfills our cus- tomers needs for more-experiential shopping. It's about creating theater as well as an amazing experience." In Europe, as elsewhere, landlords can be anything but relaxed when it comes to the business of leisure, which is their trump card against Internet shopping. S C T 54 S C T / J u l y 2 0 1 4 SCT in your pocket Download it now from your app store! w w w . i c s c . o r g /s c t m o b i l e / i n d e x . h t m l 53-54_SCT_JUL14_News Makers .indd 54 6/12/14 6:00 PM