With demand for prime West End sites continuing to outstrip supply, retailers have to think more inventively about where to position stores so they can capitalise on consumer spend. And that means new retail hot spots on the horizon. Other factors such as transport project Crossrail, and the redevelopment in east London because of the Olympics, will continue to create retail opportunities. What’s more, London’s residents and its visitors are receptive to change. “It’s interesting quite how mobile the consumer population of London is,” says Robin Bevan, director, retail locations and shopping centres for retail consultancy Javelin Group. “People are prepared to dispense with more obvious choices to try something new.”
Even if a brand is more apt for the streets of Mayfair, this might just be too expensive to consider, especially for a small, emerging retailer. So now, offshoot streets that might not have been worth looking at even two years ago are becoming highly sought-after because of their lower rents.