The Banbridge-based premium scheme is bucking the industry trend with +12% footfall, +16% turnover, +14% ROI visitors, and 30+ consecutive weeks of footfall and turnover growth to date – compared to 2017. The uplift comes after a relaunch in 2018, including a high level of investment totaling over £7 m. These improvements are only set to continue with new store openings from Adidas, Jack Wills, Asics, Skechers, Ninja Boxx, Guess, Kurt Geiger, and many more in 2019.
Alastair Coulson, Managing Director of Lotus Property, highlighted what it takes to drive footfall in the current climate of major retailer and customer uncertainty: “The current economic climate and the unknown entity that is Brexit has weighed heavily on the retail industry over the past 12 months, bringing with it a dark cloud. At Lotus, we have strived to stay positive and continued to push forward with our development and redevelopment plan. We are always focused on enhancing the shopper experience, really understanding what they want, and have undertaken extensive customer research to ensure we can roll this out to create the perfect environment to maximize growth.”
The Boulevard has had a consistent increase in footfall since Lotus purchased the scheme in May 2016, with a massive +70% footfall increase since take over. Topped off with a recent Revo Gold Award, this cements the schemes positioning as Northern Ireland’s only premium outlet shopping destination.
