MAPIC, Cannes, 15th November 2017 – McArthurGlen Group, Europe's leading owner, developer and manager of designer outlets, has announced another year of impressive growth with total sales across its 24-centre portfolio increasing to 4.5 billion euros in 2017. A strong performance that demonstrates continuous year-on-year sales growth.

Julia Calabrese, McArthurGlen’s CEO, said: “These results prove that our strategy of an excellent shopping proposition and an all-round entertainment experience across our portfolio is resonating with local and international consumers.”

“Over the past 12 months our programme of new development, acquisition and expansion has added 85,000 sq m of new retail space in major catchment and tourist locations, taking our collective 90 minute catchment to 160 million consumers. Through these new centres and expansions McArthurGlen has delivered 400 additional stores, partnered with over 100 new brands, grown footfall to 90 million visits and created nearly 3,000 new jobs, bringing the total number of people employed across our portfolio to over 30,000.”

“We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Enraght-Moony as our new Chief Customer Office, reinforcing our commitment to delivering an outstanding service to our customers and brand partners.”

The past 12 months

In April 2017 the Group opened the first designer outlet in the South of France, Designer Outlet Provence, which is set to attract nearly two million visitors by the end of the year. The 120 million euro centre will unveil its latest store this November, as the iconic department store Printemps opens the doors to its first ever outlet store in 150 years.

April 2017 also saw McArthurGlen complete the acquisition of the Rosada Fashion Outlet in the Netherlands, which benefits from a 90 minute catchment of 19.8 million people, one of the largest in the McArthurGlen portfolio. In addition, four of McArthurGlen’s most successful centres - Serravalle and Noventa in Italy, Roermond in the Netherlands and Parndorf in Austria - have opened new phases.

With a portfolio of 3000 stores the Group completed over 500 leasing deals in the past 12 months. It was a record year for the number of luxury, premium and lifestyle brands partnering with McArthurGlen for the first time. The Group’s retail offering has been enhanced with over 100 new brands from Longchamp and Montblanc in Roermond to Hotel Chocolat in Cheshire Oaks and Fendi in Serravalle.

Adrian Nelson, McArthurGlen's Group Leasing and Brand Development Director, said, “McArthurGlen has a track record of producing high performance results for nearly 1000 leading brands. As part of our strategy we are continuously testing new concepts across the portfolio in line with consumer demand. In the last 12 months we have introduced several new product categories, with each centre evolving its brand mix in line with its customer profile.“

“Over the past two years we have also been strategically reviewing our food & beverage (F&B) offering to reflect evolving consumer habits, and we recently appointed Michiel Reuvers as our new Director of Hospitality. By developing a balanced mix of internationally renowned F&B brands combined with iconic domestic operators, we have increased like-for-like F&B sales by 15 per cent. Looking forward to next year we will introduce around 20 new F&B concepts to the portfolio, further elevating our brand mix to enhance guest experience.”

Tourism remains a key driver for McArthurGlen. In the past 12 months tax free sales have risen by 13 per cent, with like-for-like international spend growing by 50 per cent over a three year period. China, Russia and South Korea remain the most prominent markets, accounting for over 50 per cent of all tax-free sales, spending on average 6 times more than other customers.

The future

Mike Natas, McArthurGlen's Joint Managing Director of Development, said, “The outlet sector in Europe continues to outperform the wider retail industry, and McArthurGlen is perfectly positioned to capitalise on this continued market strength through new acquisition opportunties, joint venture partnerships and by expanding our existing portfolio.”

“We are on track to grow total GLA to 900,000 sq m over the next three years, further strengthening our market leading position in Europe. Building on a record year of expansion, we have an active development pipeline of approximately 150,000 sq m of new retail space in six strategic locations, which will see around 700 new stores join the portfolio.”

Key developments include:

Due to open in autumn 2018, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Malaga will be southern Spain’s first designer outlet and marks the Group’s entry in to the Spanish market. Developed in partnership with Sonae Sierra, the new 115 million euro centre started construction this summer and will be built in two phases to total 30,000 sq m of GLA with 4,350 parking spaces.

Spring 2019 will see the launch of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport Phase II which has one of the highest average sales densities of all shopping malls in Canada. In a continued partnership between McArthurGlen and Vancouver Airport Authority, the centre’s second phase will add 40 new stores and take its total GLA to 29,700 sq m.

Opening in autumn 2019, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford Phase II will add 35 new stores, restaurants and cafes and 1,200 additional parking spaces to this popular Richard Roger’s designed centre, taking its total GLA to 26,300 sq m.

Taking the McArthurGlen portfolio to 26 centres and scheduled to open in 2020, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Remscheid will be the next new centre to open in the highly sought-after German market. Investing 165 million euros in the project, the new 27,000 sq m centre and its 2,500-space car park will serve an exceptional 90-minute catchment of 21 million people.