The number of retail development schemes delayed by the recession has affected the expansion plans of a number of retailers, hitting department store retailer Debenhams the hardest.
A report released by research company Experian has found Debenhams’ plans for eight new stores has been hit by the development delays.
Other retailers such as John Lewis, which has seen five of its planned stores affected, and Next with four proposed stores affected, have all been hit by the collapse in the development pipeline.
Other retailers such as River Island and New Look as well as leisure businesses, such as cinema operators Cineworld and Vue, have also been affected.
The report, The Impact of Shopping Centre Delays on Retailer Expansion Plans, highlights schemes that have been delayed including: Hammerson and Town Centre Securities’ Eastgate and Harewood Quarter in Leeds, Capital Shopping Centre’s Westgate shopping centre extension in Oxford, Westfield Bradford and Modus’s Friars Walk in Newport.
It said that the postponement of schemes would: ‘not only impact their localities, delaying regeneration and job creation, but also slow the expansion plans of retailers. Despite the recent media coverage of the impact on John Lewis’ expansion plans due to scheme delays, it is actually Debenhams that will be impacted most.’
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