Springboard reports better performance on the malls
The last dregs of summer last week brought some good news for retail destinations with a drop in footfall of just -1.0 per cent from the previous week and -1.2 per cent from the same week last year; a stronger result than in the same week last year when footfall dipped by -2.5 per cent from the week before and -1.4 per cent from the same week in 2016.
However, the results varied significantly between destination types, ranging from a year on year increase of +1.2 per cent in retail parks to a drop of -3.0 per cent in shopping centres, with high streets straddling the two at -1.4 per cent. The week was definitely a tale of two halves, with footfall averaging +2.2 per cent for the four days from Sunday to Wednesday, but then shifting downward into negative territory on each of the subsequent three days with an average of -4.9 per cent.
Performance also varied substantially across the UK, ranging from +0.6 per cent in Greater London to a drop greater than -4.0 per cent in the East Midlands, Scotland and Wales. And looking at the results from a wider perspective, it appears that the hottest summer on record was actually in fact too hot for retail, with footfall for the year to date now standing at -2.0 per cent across all destinations compared with just -0.6 per cent for the same period in 2017.
