London most desirable city for international retailers

A total of 31 new international retailers entered the UK last year, including J Crew, Isabel Marant and Tom Ford who opened their first standalone stores, according to a report by property agent CBRE.

CBRE executive director for luxury goods & international retailers Eric Eastman said: “A flood of brand-hungry overseas shoppers, many from China, has swept into Central London. Space demand from luxury and international retailers has moved into hyperdrive as a result.

“There are simply too many global brands now for the traditional pitches in London to absorb them, which is why we are starting to see lettings to Dior and Chanel in Covent Garden and Philip Lim and Carven in Brompton Cross.” 

Whilst London is the most popular destination overall, Paris is catching up rapidly. Paris rose from seventh place in the list of the cities, welcoming 50 new entrants last year, more than any other city.

Tokyo is second as the most attractive city for global retailers, seeing double the number of new entrants during 2013 (48) than it did in 2012, reflecting renewed confidence in the economic prospects of Japan. Half of all new entrants (24) came from the US while a further 18 were from Europe. Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi were the third and fourth ‘hottest’ markets with 43 and 35 new entrants respectively.

EMEA Senior Director of Cross Border retail at CBRE Jose Luis Martin added: “The improving economic prospects in Western Europe and North America is leading global retailers to refocus their expansion plans on mature markets and the world’s major retail destinations, with Paris, Tokyo, London and Berlin the top targets. Retailers have also turned their attention to recovering European markets and Asian and South American cities where they are still under represented.”