Manchester’s Lowry outlet mall is bucking the downturn with improved footfall and sales. And it is set to receive a boost from the neighbouring MediaCity project

Manchester’s 250,000-sq ft Lowry outlet mall is proving to be a contra-cyclical success story. After a slow start in the early years of this decade the scheme has now established a comfortable niche in Manchester’s retail scene.

Outlet malls traditionally do relatively well during a recession as their value proposition becomes even more attractive to cash-strapped shoppers, but the Lowry has been outperforming the sector with some sparkling figures. Footfall is up 12 per cent since January, and sales are up 9 per cent year-on-year. And centre manager Robert Hallworth is confident that this reflects a long-term trend rather than just the short-term impact of the credit crunch.

Hallworth says: “The mall has performed way above expectations. The success has been down to strong, targeted marketing to really drive footfall as well as adding some great brands to our offering.”

Research by CACI shows that the Lowry, situated in the growing Salford Quays area, has a more affluent catchment population than the average outlet mall. And as the area continues to attract new business occupiers as well as residents, Hallworth is finding increasing demand from office workers driving lunchtime trade.

All that is set to increase substantially as the massive MediaCity project takes shape directly opposite the mall. The first occupiers will move in next year and over the following two years its population will increase to 15,500 workers including 2,500 that the BBC is relocating from London.

Partly in response to this changing demand Hallworth and his team have beefed up the centre’s catering offer by revamping the existing food court, adding ‘pit stop’ coffee shops along the malls and creating a new focus for restaurants at the east end of the centre, which is already proving successful in drawing in visitors from the adjoining Lowry arts centre.

Pizza Express, Pond Quay, Café Rouge and Lime Bar have been joined there by the latest arrival Bella Italia.

Hallworth also attributes the centre’s improved performance to a sustained focus on tenant mix. “We’ve widened the tenant base to reflect our positioning midway between the city centre and the Trafford Centre,” he says. “Niche brands like Moulton Brown, Antler and Cadbury’s are as much of a draw as Marks & Spencer.”

The ground floor of the centre has always traded well, anchored by M&S and Nike, but Hallworth says it took six years to find an appropriate mix for the upper level. This area is now focused on the homewares sector with brands like Black & Decker, Bodum and Denby. “With fashion, gifts and homeware we have a balanced product offer,” he says.

The Vue cinema also acts as an anchor for the first floor of the centre, and a recent refurbishment has transformed the cinema experience. “It has to have been one of the area’s best kept secrets,” says Hallworth. “With waitress service to your chair in the 38 seater Gold Screen, an intimate bar for patrons and six other state-of-the-art screens, it really is the only way to watch the latest blockbuster movies.”

Hallworth has also spent the first half of this year working intensively with tenants. “We spent six months talking to every tenant at head office level, making sure that when stock is allocated it comes to the Lowry,” he says. And that was a two-way process leading to a number of changes to reflect retailers’ concerns.

For example opening hours were reduced to keep staff costs down, with stores closing at 6pm every day apart from Thursdays when the centre trades until 8pm. “Now we’ve got the leasing right we’re focusing on delivering a reduction in the service charge,” says Hallworth.

Charges have been static for two years, and retailers received a 3 per cent rebate last year. Energy saving measures and changes to working practices are aimed at keeping the downward pressure on costs. “It’s about working smarter,” Hallworth says.

Source : /www.shopping-centre.co.uk, 02 October, 2009