Bullring & Grand Central enjoys footfall strength in January as ‘flight to quality’ continues

The Bullring & Grand Central mall in Birmingham has continued to attract big-name retailers and increase year on year footfall with strong visitor numbers continuing through January, operator Hammerson has said.

And the gains reflect the property giant’s “focus on its repositioning of the asset”, it noted.

Overall, footfall at the Bullring increased 6% in January, compared with a year earlier, “reflective of the influx of new store openings” (200,000 sq ft) and entertainment offers the group introduced last year.

“This further endorses the quality of Hammerson’s unique city centre portfolio which is fast evolving into vibrant 24/7 estates, part of the fabric and infrastructure of the city”, it said.

Those high-profile additions included Nike, which opened its first-ever ‘Rise’ concept store outside of London at Bullring, and Inditex’s Bershka and Pull&Bear, which made their regional debuts. It also included TAG Heuer’s first ever boutique in Birmingham and M&S’s new 65,000 sq ft food-led flagship – now its largest in the Midlands.
 
Sport and streetwear brand JD Sports also led a number of important upsizes and expansions, after more than doubling its footprint with a new 27,500 sq ft store. This is now its best performing site in the region, including Manchester and the West Midlands, the retailer said. Goldsmiths also upsized to a new 8,000 sq ft boutique “meeting high-demand for jewellery”, which continues to be a top-performing category across Hammerson’s portfolio.

In parallel to the retail and entertainment offer, Hammerson’s placemaking focus also created new reasons for customers to visit, “in turn driving footfall and stronger levels of engagement across the destination”. Highlights include Late Night Out, which transformed Bullring into a late-night live entertainment venue, featuring celebrity performances, DJs and bars — a market first. A new Club Paradiso Ibiza themed summer pop-up bar and the return of the B Side Hip Hop Festival and Birmingham Weekender.

Toby Tait, Director of Asset Management at Hammerson, said: “It is great to see such a strong start to 2024, following a remarkable 2023 at Bullring & Grand Central, as we continued to deliver on our strategy with new brands, concepts and market firsts.

“The demand we are seeing for our space reinforces that ‘flight to quality’ and really does reflect the strength of our location and quality of our assets. We have more announcements to come in 2024 as we continue to drive our offer for our Birmingham community.”