Merry Hill marks strong year with 330,000 sq ft of new deals
Sovereign Centros has reported a notable year at Merry Hill, with 65 leasing deals covering more than 330,000 sq ft completed.
The shopping centre experienced a 7% increase in sales in 2023 compared to 2022, with December showing a 6.5% year-on-year rise, and a 9.4% boost in footfall over the 12 months.
Among the 65 leasing deals, 30 new brands opened at Merry Hill in 2023, representing over 30% of the destination’s units.
Notable additions include Nike Unite, KENJI, and Rituals. The leisure quarter welcomed Hollywood Bowl, Wagamama, ASK Italian, the UK’s first Sides fried chicken restaurant outside of London, and a second Starbucks at Merry Hill.
Further developments are expected, with four brands exchanging for a 2024 launch, including the re-anchoring of the former Debenhams with Harvey Norman and XTRAFIT making their UK debut at Merry Hill.
Graeme Jones, director at Sovereign Centros, said: “2023 was yet another successful year for Merry Hill, one in which we further evolved the experience for our visitors by attracting best-in-class operators across our retail, dining, and leisure portfolio.
“Merry Hill’s strength is exemplified not just in the volume of new leasings, renewals, and regears achieved – having over 30% commit in one year is vindication of the work done in 2023 – but in the quality of the brands we can introduce as the most important regional destination in the West Midlands.
“The results for footfall and sales are telling us this evolved offer is starting to resonate with Merry Hill’s customers, and we will continue to push this ambitious approach for the destination throughout 2024, and beyond.”
