London Designer Outlet has good Easter, beats 2019 figures

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 9, 2022

Outlet malls are continuing to turn in strong performances and London Designer Outlet said on Monday that footfall during the Easter weekend surged by over a fifth compared to 2019.

That’s crucial because it showed the Wembley Park fashion and lifestyle destination having fully recovered from the pandemic in terms of visitors numbers and with total sales also up by 3.8% against three years ago.

Footfall actually surged by 22% and retail sales on a like-for-like basis were up as much as 10.4%. That followed a series of new lettings and store upsizes across LDO and Wembley Park. Sales densities – or the total number of sales per square foot – rose sharply by 15.5%.  

The overall footfall figures for the extended easter school holidays looked good too with the 10-23 April period seeing visitor numbers up 21.9% against three years ago.

As mentioned, there’s been a lot of letting and upsizing activity at LDO with Nike growing from 9,200 sq ft to 15,500 sq ft, while Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein also recently announced substantial expansions. The former is trebling its footprint from 2,500 sq ft to 7,800 sq ft and the latter has expanded by 50% from 2,700 sq ft to 4,100 sq ft.  

Matt Slade, Retail Director at Quintain, said: “Following a series of upsizing and new lettings across the Wembley Park neighbourhood and London Designer Outlet earlier this year, we were very much of the mind that spring had already sprung early for us.  

“With Covid restrictions firmly behind us, visitors continue to flock back in even greater numbers compared to 2019. As we continue to invest in both our retail and leisure offer, coupled with the return of even more large-scale events at OVO Arena Wembley, we are confident that London’s leading premium fashion destination is only set to go from strength to strength over the coming months.”