The UK retail landscape is poised for potential upheaval. With Wilko - one of the UK's largest privately-owned retailers - teetering on the brink of administration, the repercussions could be felt across the retail property spectrum. At Trevor Wood Associates, as a leader in retail property intelligence, we provide some insight into how these developments could reshape out-of-town and shopping centre retail environments across the country.
Wilko currently operates from 400 stores nationwide with 255 prominently positioned within shopping centres and out-of-town retail locations.
Our analysis of this part of Wilko's estate, encompassing 255 out-of-town and shopping centre locations, or 5.5 million square feet of store space, illustrates the possible impact from the retailer's financial predicament. The impact would be felt across shopping centres, retail parks, and smaller retail sites, creating challenges for landlords and the wider retail sector to overcome.
Wilko's retail presence is both extensive and diverse, with units ranging from smaller sites in places like St Mary's Place and Merrion Centre, Leeds, to sprawling stores exceeding 50,000 sq ft in locations such as The Mercury Shopping Centre, Romford, Beacon Shopping Centre, North Shields, and Union Square Shopping Centre, Torquay.
However, the potential fallout from Wilko's administration extends beyond shopping centres, reaching into retail parks, shopping parks, and retail warehousing developments. These sites have traditionally relied on the high footfall attracted by Wilko, a staple store offering a diverse array of household goods.
However, our recent research on low vacancy rates across the UKs retail parks suggest the larger retail park locations could be in high demand in the event of a Wilko exit. Or likely retained as prime space in any sale. While the traditional UK high streets face yet another hammer blow with low footfall single high street locations potentially becoming vacant.
As the retail landscape continues to evolve, Trevor Wood continues to monitor the UK retail property market. To access our tools to gain insight into how the UK retail landscape could change and how this might affect your investment, development, or retail strategy please get in touch.