‘Reinvention’ ensures city shopping centre stays ahead of the retail curve
The owners of The Merrion Centre in Leeds Arena Quarter said a programme of investment and reinvention has increased footfall, despite the backdrop of uncertainty in the wider UK retail sector.
Listed property developer and car park operator Town Centre Securities (TCS) said the centre has been transformed over the last decade from a shopping centre to a “true mixed-use destination property”. The businesses added its strategy to re-purpose and continually invest is paying dividends, with a 3% uplift in internal shoppers and visitors over the summer.
TCS has invested more than £70m in its biggest asset to ensure the centre continues to evolve and remains relevant for today’s shopper and the growing community around it.
The company said a series of shopping and tourist attractions launched in July this year, including Professor Humboldt’s ‘Chamber of Time’ and participation in the city-wide Dinosaur Trail, helped improved footfall. More than 817,000 people visited the centre over the launch four-week period alone, resulting in a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.
The Merrion Centre has seen a raft of new tenants open over the summer, including Starbucks, PizzaExpress, Ambassador Barbering, Riva Home, Rude Studios, Union Square, Oodles and the new look Arnold’s Bar & Kitchen taking a combined total of more than 16,500 sq ft of space.
In a first for both parties, the inaugural Chamber of Time immersive educational experience created by family-run Yorkshire company, Bi-Frost Entertainments, took families through Tudor, Stone Age and Medieval times in state-of-the-art set designs using live actors.
This proved so successful that TCS have again partnered with Bi-Frost to stage its next attraction – the Black Death Zombie experience, a five-night zombie scare. This started on 28 September and runs until 31 October. It is being held after hours in the Merrion Centre’s 1m sq ft shopping mall.
Edward Ziff, Chairman and Chief Executive of TCS, said: “We are delighted with the increased footfall to The Merrion Centre during the summer which coincided with the launch of the experiential shopping experiences we implemented.
“We are continually looking to create a destination for our customers, while moving forward with our strategy to add value to the shopping experience which also supports our retailers.
“Our excellent position adjacent to the First Direct Arena and ever-growing student population within the immediate vicinity makes the Merrion Centre an obvious choice for businesses looking for a unique location in the heart of the city. We look forward to seeing footfall continue to grow in the coming months.”
