Autumn opening for Wembley development specialising in end-of-season designer gear
The country’s first designer outlet inside the M25 is due to open this autumn near Wembley Stadium.
The developers of the London venture believe the project will mark a new era for shopping in the capital and help to revitalise one of its most under-invested areas.
Plans for the London Designer Outlet are set to be unveiled by developers Quintain next month, with an opening date slated for the following month.
The 350,000 sq ft development is expected to emulate the success of centres outside London such as Cheshire Oaks, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, and Bicester Village, which sell end-of-season products at discounted prices. The project could be considered a gamble given that the centre is located next to Wembley Stadium and is more than 10 miles from the centre of London.
The operators believe it will benefit from the 4m annual visitors to the stadium, an under-served local population, and the fact it will be London’s only outlet village.
James Sanders, chief operating officer at Quintain, said: "London has plenty of standard shopping centres. We are three miles from Brent Cross and five miles from Westfield. It didn’t need another standard shopping centre."
The London Designer Outlet is more than 70pc let, with just one of the 15 restaurant units left and a handful of the 70 retail units.
The retailers to open at the centre will include the biggest outlet store from Marks & Spencer, which is also the company’s first store in the London borough of Brent for 25 years.
The other companies include Nike, Gap, LK Bennett, Superdry, Adidas, and Asics while the London Designer Outlet will also introduce quality branded coffee shops to the Wembley area.
"We are reintroducing quality brands that Wembley hasn’t had," Mr Saunders said. "We think we will have best run of sports shops in the UK."
Mr Saunders hopes that the restaurants and Cineworld cinema at the outlet will encourage sports fans to stay in Wembley longer, rather than getting in and out of the stadium area as quickly as possible, as has been the case in the past.
"We expect to serve people coming early and leaving late," he explains.
Designer outlets have proved popular with cash-strapped shoppers since the financial crisis, but are also an attractive way for retailers to offload unwanted stock.
They have proved popular with tourists too. Bicester Village is the most visited attraction outside the capital for Chinese tourists, lured by the prospect of luxury products at bargain prices. International tourists account for 65pc of shoppers at Bicester, which is run by Value Retail and sells brands such as Alexander McQueen, Armani, Gucci and Lacoste.
Cheshire Oaks, at Ellesmere Port, is also popular with the Chinese, with sales to visitors from that country up 20pc.
Opened by McArthurGlen in 1995, it was the first designer outlet in Europe and claims to have more than 145 boutiques and restaurants, making it the UK’s biggest such outlet. McArthurGlen now has seven in the UK, including a site at Livingston in Scotland and an outlet at Bridgend in Wales.
"There will be more in London," Mr Saunders said "We are proud to be called the London Designer Outlet."
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