Spotting retail formats that are more resilient with value-add potential

As online retail competition and evolving consumer trends put traditional sectors under increasing stress, the retail warehousing sector has emerged as one of the stronger retail formats. This is because it’s able to defend itself in an increasingly digital marketplace by offering ‘high engagement’ products.

Research shows that consumers purchasing large, expensive items, such as furniture, prefer to ‘try before they buy’ – a factor that drives footfall resilience. With this in mind, we identified the asset management potential of Octagon Retail Park in Stoke-on-Trent, which has the highest concentration of retail space between Birmingham and Manchester.

Acquired with zero vacancy, the 137k sq ft site is an ideal opportunity for a number of asset management initiatives to build on the region’s key strengths – and create the ‘go-to’ out-of-town retail park for consumers looking to buy furniture and bulky homewares.